''Houdini & Doyle'' is a British television drama series loosely based on the real-world

friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept o ...

of Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A 10-episode first season was ordered by

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

in the United States, ITV in the United Kingdom, and

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

in Canada. The pilot episode was written by co-creators

David Hoselton David Hoselton (born October 29, 1968) is a Canadian screenwriter and television producer, best known for his work on the television series ''House'' and the animated films ''Over the Hedge'' and ''Brother Bear''. Hoselton attended the University ...

and David Titcher. The first episode was broadcast simultaneously on ITV and

ITV Encore ITV Encore was a British drama pay television channel in the United Kingdom that was owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. The channel was exclusive to Sky's digital satellite platform, Sky Go, Now TV, and Sky Store. The ...

on Sunday 13 March 2016. On August 3, 2016, Fox cancelled the series after one season.

Premise

Harry Houdini is a cynical skeptic and atheist whereas Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle is a believer in the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

and supernatural. The drama opens in 1901

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, shortly after the publication of Doyle's ''

The Great Boer War ''The Great Boer War'' is a non-fiction work on the Boer War by Arthur Conan Doyle and first published in 1900 by Smith, Elder & Co. By the end of the war in 1902 the book had been published in 16 editions, constantly revised by Doyle. The Intr ...

''. Houdini and Doyle become involved in the investigation of several mysterious deaths. They debate over whether the causes are natural or supernatural, and often bet on the cause, which causes their police liaison, Constable Adelaide Stratton, some embarrassment.

Cast

Main

Michael Weston Michael Weston (born Michael Rubinstein; October 25, 1973) is an American television and film actor. His best-known roles are the private detective Lucas on ''House'', the deranged and sadistic kidnapper Jake in the HBO serial drama '' Six Feet ...

as Harry Houdini *

Stephen Mangan Stephen James Mangan (born 16 May 1968) is an English actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in ''Green Wing'', Dan Moody in ''I'm Alan Partridge'', Seán Lincoln in '' Episodes'', Bigwig in ''Watership Down'', Postm ...

as Arthur Conan Doyle *

Rebecca Liddiard Rebecca Liddiard (born ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Constable Adelaide Stratton in the 2016 trans-Atlantic mystery series ''Houdini & Doyle'' and as morality officer Mary Shaw in ''Frankie Drake Mysteries''. Life and c ...

as Adelaide Stratton *

Adam Nagaitis Adam Matthew Nagaitis (; born 7 June 1985) is a British actor best known for his roles as Caulker's Mate Cornelius Hickey in the AMC television series ''The Terror'' and firefighter Vasily Ignatenko in the HBO miniseries ''Chernobyl''. Nagait ...

as George Gudgett *

Tim McInnerny Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''. Early life McInnerny was bor ...

as Horace Merring

Recurring

Emily Carey Emily Joanna Carey (born 30 April 2003) is an English actor. She began her career as a child actor on stage and in the BBC One soap opera '' Casualty'' (2014–2017, 2021). She went on to play young versions of characters, such as Diana Prince ...

as Mary Conan Doyle *

Noah Jupe Noah Jupe (born ) is a British actor. He is known for his roles in the television series ''The Night Manager'' (2016); the dark comedy film '' Suburbicon'' (2017); the drama film '' Wonder'' (2017); the horror film '' A Quiet Place'' (2018) and ...

as Kingsley Conan Doyle *

Diana Quick Diana Marilyn Quick (born 23 November 1946) is an English actress. Early life and family background Quick was born on 23 November 1946 in London, England. She grew up in Dartford, Kent, the third of four children. Her father was Leonard Qui ...

as Cecelia Weiss

Guest

Louise Delamere Louise Alexandra Delamere (born 17 June 1969) is an English actress, best known for her roles as Lia in the Channel 4 comedy drama ''No Angels'' and Colette Sheward in the BBC medical drama '' Holby City''. Career Delamere appeared in ''Agatha ...

as Touie Doyle *

Laura Fraser Laura Fraser (born 24 July 1975) is a Scottish actress. She has played Door in the urban fantasy series ''Neverwhere'', Kate in the film '' A Knight's Tale'', Cat MacKenzie in the BBC Three drama series ''Lip Service'' and Lydia Rodarte-Quay ...

as Lydia Belworth *

Nathan Stewart-Jarrett Nathan Lloyd Stewart-Jarrett (born 4 December 1985) is a British actor, best known for starring as Curtis Donovan in the E4 series ''Misfits'' and as Ian in the Channel 4 series ''Utopia''. Early life Stewart-Jarrett was born in Wandsworth, ...

as Elias Downey * Blake Harrison as Lyman Biggs *

Edward Akrout Edward Akrout is a Franco-British artist and actor. Early life and education Born in Paris, Akrout grew up between France and England. He studied philosophy at the Sorbonne before attending Le Cours Florent in Paris for theatre, followed by ...

as Henry *

Janine Duvitski Janine Duvitski (born Christine Janine Drzewicki; 28 June 1952) is a British actress, known for her roles in the BBC television sitcom series '' Waiting for God'', ''One Foot in the Grave'' and ''Benidorm''. Duvitski first came to national atte ...

as Martha *

James Fleet James Edward Fleet (born 11 March 1952) is an English actor of theatre, radio and screen. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film '' Four Weddings and a Funeral'' and the dim- ...

as Dr. Pilsen *

Ewen Bremner Ewen Bremner (born 23 January 1972) is a Scottish character actor. His roles have included Julien in ''Julien Donkey-Boy'' and Daniel "Spud" Murphy in '' Trainspotting'' and its 2017 sequel '' T2 Trainspotting''. Early life Bremner was born i ...

and Mark Caven as Sherlock Holmes *

Paul Ritter Simon Paul Adams (20 December 1966 – 5 April 2021), known professionally as Paul Ritter, was an English actor. He had roles in films including ''Son of Rambow'' (2007), '' Quantum of Solace'' (2008), ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' ...

as Bram Stoker *

Owen Teale Owen Teale (born 20 May 1961) is a Welsh character actor known for his role as Ser Alliser Thorne in the HBO fantasy TV series ''Game of Thrones''. Early life Owen Teale was born on 20 May 1961, in North Cornelly, south Wales, son of Roy and ...

as Professor Havensling *

Peter Outerbridge Peter Outerbridge (born June 30, 1966) is a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Ari Tasarov in the CW action series ''Nikita'', Dr. David Sandström in the TMN series ''ReGenesis'', Henrik "Hank" Johanssen in ''Orphan Black'', Bob Corbett ...

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

* Brandon Oakes as Walt

Production

The series was a treaty co-production between

Big Talk Productions Big Talk Productions Limited is a British film and television production company founded by Nira Park in 1994. Big Talk was acquired by ITV Studios in 2013. Film Filmography Released Upcoming Critical reception Commercial performance ...

in the UK, and

Shaftesbury Films Shaftesbury Films is a film, television and digital media production company founded by Christina Jennings in 1987. It is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Background Shaftesbury is a creator and producer of original content for television an ...

in Canada, in association with

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainme ...

in the US, where executive producer

David Shore David Shore (born July 3, 1959) is a Canadian television writer. Shore worked on ''Family Law'', ''NYPD Blue'' and ''Due South'', also producing many episodes of the latter. He created the critically acclaimed series ''House'' and more recently, ...

's ''Shore Z Productions'' is based. It was filmed in two stages at The Space Project in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

with

Liverpool Town Hall Liverpool Town Hall stands in High Street at its junction with Dale Street, Castle Street, and Water Street in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed build ...

and Water Street being used for some of the exterior filming.

Broadcast

The series premiered on ITV and

in the United Kingdom on the 13 March 2016. It premiered on the 2 May 2016, on

in Canada and

in the United States. The series aired on RTÉ in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

on the 18 May 2016 The series aired on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan on the 9 July 2019

Episodes

Reception

Ratings

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Houdini and Doyle 2010s American crime drama television series 2010s British crime drama television series 2010s Canadian crime drama television series 2010s American police procedural television series 2010s British police procedural television series 2016 American television series debuts 2016 American television series endings 2016 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings 2016 Canadian television series debuts 2016 Canadian television series endings American action television series American adventure television series 2010s American mystery television series Cultural depictions of Arthur Conan Doyle British action television series British adventure television series 2010s British mystery television series Canadian action television series Canadian adventure television series Canadian mystery television series English-language television shows Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Cultural depictions of Harry Houdini Television series by Corus Entertainment Television series by Big Talk Productions Television series by Shaftesbury Films Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in London Television shows filmed in England Biographical films about writers