The
lowdown: 'The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes' is a British
anthology show featuring a number of literary detectives who
were lesser-known contemporaries
of Sir Arthur Conan Dolye's legendary creation in Victorian England. While
Holmes is
still very popular and continues
to be the subject of films, TV shows and books, many of his literary "rivals"
were destined
to be largely forgotten.
How many modern fans of detective stories are familiar with Victorian sleuths
such as Dixon Druce,
Max Carrados, Horace Dorrington
or Duckworth Drew? T he series ran for two seasons of 13 episodes, and
broadcast on
ITV1 between 20 September
1971 and 7 May 1973. Well-known actors who played detectives in the series
included Peter
Vaughan, Donald Pleasance
and Donald Sinden. Several of the detectives appeared in more than one
episode.
The
episode: 'Madame Sara' was the seventh episode of the
first series, and was broadcast on 1 November 1971. John
Fraser (The Monitor in Logopolis)
stars as Dixon Druce, a fictional detective who was created by L.T. Meade.
Druce works
for Werner's Inquiry Agency,
and is approached by an old friend, Jack Selby (William Corderoy), who
has recently married
a wealthy young woman named
Beatrice (Jasmina Hilton). Beatrice has an older sister named Edith (Caroline
John, a.k.a.
Liz Shaw), and a much older
half-brother, Henry Silva (Roger Delgado), whom she has nothing to do with.
Their rich uncle
has provided in his will
for the siblings to share the annual income from his fortune for the rest
of their lives, and the capital
(more than two million pounds
sterling) is to be inherited by the sibling who outlives the other two.
Beatrice will soon be 21
years old and will then
be entitled to receive her share of the income directly. However, Silva
must sign a number of papers
in order for her to receive
her money. However, Silva has disappeared and cannot be found. Selby asks
Druce to find Silva,
but in the meantime Edith
dies unexpectedly, after falling under the influence of the mysterious
Madame Sara. Selby fears
that Beatrice may suffer
a similar fate, so that Silva can inherit the entire fortune. Druce tracks
down Silva with the help of
Inspector Vandeleur of Scotland
Yard, and find that he is a sick man and does not have long to live. Silva
believes that he
is responsible for Edith's
death, as he ran up a large gambling debt in Rio, and the man to whom he
owed the money had
proposed to bet on Silva
outliving his sisters and inheriting his uncle's fortune. But is Silva
as ill as he claims? Meanwhile,
Druce becomes infatuated
by Madame Sara, but just how is she connected to the case?
Who
connections: Many actors who will be familiar to Doctor
Who fans were in the series, including Nicholas Courtney,
Richard Hurndall, Michael
Sheard (The Invisible Enemy), Paul Whitsun-Jones (the Marshal in
The
Mutants), Paul Darrow
(Timelash), Jacqueline
Pearce (The Two Doctors), Julian Glover and Catherine Schell (City
of Death), Michael Gough (The
Celestial Toymaker),
Philip Madoc (The Brain of Morbius), Derek Jacobi (Utopia)
and Jean Marsh (Battlefield).
Video
clips: Henry Silva
11.2mb A
dying man? 3.2mb |
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