Heartland and Murdoch Hit Twenty

Twenty seasons is a number most series never see. Earlier this month, two CBC dramas reached it on consecutive nights. Heartland opened its 20th season on Sunday 4 Oct, and Murdoch Mysteries followed with its 20th on Monday 5 Oct, both on CBC and CBC Gem. If either has slipped off your schedule, here is what is coming and how to catch up.

Heartland, season 20

Heartland has aired since 2007 and follows Amy Fleming-Borden (Amber Marshall) and her family on a horse ranch in the Alberta foothills that, according to CBC, has been in the family for six generations. The series is based on Lauren Brooke’s novels and shoots mostly around Calgary, High River and Millarville. CBC calls it Canada’s longest-running one-hour scripted drama and says it is popular in more than 120 countries.

Season 20 runs 10 hour-long episodes, per CBC’s fall schedule. New episodes air Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC, leading into the 10th season of The Great Canadian Baking Show at 8 p.m. CBC says new episodes of its fall series stream on CBC Gem from 9 a.m. ET on their premiere dates.

Murdoch Mysteries, season 20

Murdoch Mysteries is the period crime drama set in early-1900s Toronto, where Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) and Dr. Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy) solve murders with then-novel forensic methods such as fingerprinting and ultraviolet light. CBC lists the core cast as Thomas Craig as Inspector Thomas Brackenreid, Jonny Harris as Constable George Crabtree, Lachlan Murdoch as Constable Henry Higgins, Daniel Maslany as Detective Llewellyn Watts and Shanice Banton as Chief Coroner Violet Hart.

The new season is the longer haul of the two: 21 hour-long episodes, airing Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC. That puts it on air through most of the broadcast season.

The two shows have crossed paths before. Last December, CBC promoted a Murdoch Mysteries episode set at the Calgary Stampede with Marshall as a guest star.

Catching up

Twenty seasons of either show is a lot of television, and CBC has made the back catalogue easy to find. Past seasons of both series stream on CBC Gem, and since September 2024 each has also had its own free ad-supported channel on the service, running episodes around the clock, CBC says.

Heartland: the Alberta series the world watches

CBC describes Heartland as Canada’s longest-running one-hour scripted drama. It is based on Lauren Brooke’s bestselling book series and is filmed entirely in Alberta, mostly around Calgary, High River and Millarville. CBC says the show has fans in more than 120 countries and is especially popular in the United States, Australia, Brazil, the UK and Southeast Asia. Its milestones give a sense of scale: the 100th episode aired in March 2013 and the 125th in October 2014.

Season 20 is a 10-episode run, half the length of its CBC neighbour on Monday nights, and it leads into The Great Canadian Baking Show, whose 10th season has nine episodes.

Murdoch Mysteries: who is on the case

The CBC program page lists the core ensemble around Yannick Bisson and Hélène Joy: Thomas Craig as Inspector Thomas Brackenreid, Jonny Harris as Constable George Crabtree, Lachlan Murdoch as Constable Henry Higgins, Daniel Maslany as Detective Llewellyn Watts and Shanice Banton as Chief Coroner Violet Hart. Paul Sun-Hyung Lee joined the cast in season 18.

The show also has a holiday tradition: A Merry Murdoch Christmas, the first special, aired on 21 December 2015, followed by Once Upon a Murdoch Christmas on 12 December 2016, and CBC previewed another holiday episode to press last November. On Monday nights the series follows Family Feud Canada, now in its eighth season and airing Monday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The fine print on CBC times

CBC’s schedule times are local, and the broadcaster notes that viewers in Newfoundland and Labrador should add half an hour. The two 24-hour channels on CBC Gem carry 17 seasons of each show, according to CBC’s 2024 launch announcement, and the CBC Gem app runs on Roku, Samsung, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, LG, Google Chromecast, Android TV and Xbox.

For other ways to watch at no cost, see our guide to free, legal streaming options in Canada; for what an ad-free tier adds to the monthly bill, see what each Canadian streaming plan costs. The rest of CBC Gem’s fall lineup is sorted in our guide.

Where to watch

• Heartland Season 20: CBC and CBC Gem · CA · Sundays, 7 p.m. on CBC.
• Murdoch Mysteries Season 20: CBC and CBC Gem · CA · Mondays, 8 p.m. on CBC.
• Heartland and Murdoch Mysteries, past seasons: CBC Gem · CA · Streaming now, plus 24-hour channels for each show.
• The Great Canadian Baking Show Season 10: CBC and CBC Gem · CA · Sundays, 8 p.m. on CBC.
• Heartland and Murdoch Mysteries free channels: CBC Gem · CA · 24 hours a day, 17 seasons each

Sources

• CBC Media Centre: CBC sets Fall 2026 premiere dates, 5 Aug 2026
• CBC Media Centre: New to CBC Gem in October 2026, 25 Sept 2026
• CBC Media Centre: Heartland program page, accessed 10 Oct 2026
• CBC Media Centre: Murdoch Mysteries program page, accessed 10 Oct 2026
• CBC Media Centre: Murdoch Mysteries Calgary Stampede episode featuring Amber Marshall, 8 Dec 2025
• CBC Media Centre: Heartland and Murdoch Mysteries FAST channels on CBC Gem, 24 Sept 2024
• CBC Media Centre: Heartland program page, accessed 23 Oct 2026
• CBC Media Centre: Murdoch Mysteries program page, accessed 23 Oct 2026
• CBC Media Centre: CBC sets Fall 2026 premiere dates, 5 Aug 2026