The
lowdown: Many British actors have played the role of Sherlock
Holmes over the years, including Tom Baker in the BBC's
1982 adaption of 'The Hound
of the Bakervilles', although Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett are probably
the most well-known.
It was Douglas Wilmer's
turn to take on the role of the iconic detective in 1965, in a BBC series
simply titled 'Sherlock Holmes'.
The 12-episode series was
broadcast on BBC1 between 20 February and 8 May 1965, and was preceded
by a pilot episode in
1964, which was broadcast
as part of an anthology series called 'The Detectives'. Nigel Stock played
Dr Watson in the 1965
series, and continued in
this role when Peter Cushing replaced Wilmer as Sherlock Holmes in 1968.
Like many TV shows from
this era, some episodes
of the 1965 series are incomplete, although none are completely missing.
The
episode: 'The Devil's Foot' was the second episode, and was
broadcast on 27 February 1965. Holmes and Watson are
holidaying on the Cornwall
coast when Mortimer Tregennis (Patrick Troughton), seeks the great detective's
assistance after a
tragic incident befalls
his family. Tregennis had enjoyed an evening of whist with his two brothers
and his sister, who had all
stayed on in the family
home after the death of their parents. Tregennis himself lived separately,
following a disagreement over
the sale of the family business,
although he maintains that he is now on good terms with his siblings. Tregennis
left early in the
evening, but when the housekeeper
arrived in the morning she found the sister dead (wiith a look of abject
horror on her face),
while both brothers had
been driven insane. Holmes detects an unusual smell in the room, and suspects
foul play. Tregennis is
the prime suspect, but he
is then found dead at his home in the vicarage, with a similar look of
horror on his face. Holmes soon
discovers that Tregennis
had used a rare poison called Devil’s-foot root on his family, but who
then killed Tregennis? Dr. Leon
Sterndale, a famous explorer,
admits to killing Tregennis, as he had been in love with the sister, and
vengeance for the death of
the woman he loved but could
never marry due to the nation's divorce laws.
The
verdict: The 1965 version of Sherlock Holmes will please fans
of Conan Doyle's famous detective, although viewers who are
less enthusiastic about
all things Holmesian may find it rather slow-paced. Given that it is more
than 40 years old, the production
values are quite low, and
it suffers from the keep-filming-even-if-you-forget-your-lines policy that
seemed to be common in that era.
Nevertheless, it is great
to be able to see one of the best actors to take on the role of Sherlock
Holmes.
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