TORONTO - William Shatner is not a fan of facial hair.

"I stay away from moustaches because they're irritating," says the 84-year-old TV icon. "They make you short-tempered. They're prickly. It gives me no insight at all into why somebody would wear facial hair."

Shatner made the comments between takes on the set of "Murdoch Mysteries" in Toronto last spring. He was sporting a big, burly white 'stache as he played American author Mark Twain. The episode will air Monday on CBC.

The story is set in 1903. Twain's financial fortunes had taken a hit at the time, and the story has him in Toronto to pick up some much needed cash on a speaking tour. Twain makes enemies by saying the wrong thing at the speaking engagement. He's threatened and that puts him temporarily under the watchful eye of detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson).

"It was great working with somebody that you idolized and looked up to your entire life, never mind your career," says Bisson. "He's just as present and just as cool today as ever."

Shatner's not the only big name popping up on CBC's No. 1-rated drama, which returned with an overnight tally of 1.1 million viewers last week in its ninth season premiere. A special, two-hour Christmas episode will feature Ed Asner as well as actor Brendan Coyle who plays John Bates on "Downton Abbey." Historical figures such as Lucy Maud Montgomery and Sir Wilfrid Laurier also show up in season 9.

With homes in Los Angeles and Kentucky, Quebec-native Shatner rarely comes north for Canadian episodic appearances. He was most recently seen in "Rookie Blue." He also plays a coachman in the upcoming shot-in-Vancouver Hallmark movie "Just in Time for Christmas."

He acknowledges he looks nothing like Twain.

"He was tall and thin, and I am not," says Shatner. He's content to channel Twain through the moustache and a southern accent, drawing the line at wearing a white curly wig.

"Everything is an impression, right? What's necessary is to hold to the truth in a scene."

Before "Star Trek" took him into a Hollywood orbit, Shatner spent many years in Toronto as a young actor and still has friends and family in that city. He was shocked, however, at how much the downtown has changed.

"Every time I come back I can't find my way," he says.

He's particularly alarmed at the tall, dense corridor of condos and hotels flanking the Gardiner Expressway.

"It's become cavernous," he says. "We're looking at a social disaster."

Shatner knows expressways. Shortly after wrapping his scenes on "Murdoch," he embarked on an eight-day, 4,000 kilometre motorcycle ride from Chicago to Los Angeles. A Harley-Davidson man, he took the journey to promote a three-wheeled motorcycle he helped design for Rivet Motors. The ride was also a fundraiser for the American Legion.

Back when he was a student at McGill University in Montreal, Shatner embarked on an even more adventurous cross-country U.S. trip, much of it along fabled Route 66.

"I thumbed it," he says. Before he embarked on his acting career, Shatner hitchhiked from Montreal to San Diego, up to Vancouver and then back across Canada to Montreal.

Shatner feels people too often become fearful of "what dangers lurk on the road."

Boldly go, he says.

He often tours with a one-man show where he preaches that "there's a joy to life that people miss. People aren't going to kill you. Take a chance, say yes to the opportunity. If the job isn't good, say no. Saying yes is just saying yes to the opportunities in life."

Shatner doubts he will say yes to another series lead role.

He's had enough of the long days on sets, like the work required for his Emmy-winning turn as Denny Crane on "Boston Legal."

"The last time I did a nine-to-five series job was about five years ago," he says.

— Bill Brioux is a freelance TV columnist based in Brampton, Ont.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2015