- Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes
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Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes is a BBC television drama series originally broadcast in 2000 and 2001. It was inspired by the fact that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based the character of Sherlock Holmes on his tutor at the University of Edinburgh Dr Joseph Bell, and that Bell did occasionally do forensic work for the Edinburgh police. It is said that Dr. Bell had similar deductive and observation skills as the famous Sherlock Holmes.
The series exaggerated the similarity between Bell and Holmes for dramatic effect, with Doyle acting as Watson, and included several scenes from the books (the assumption being that these would later inspire Doyle's fiction).
One of the most notable Holmes references is a version of a scene in The Sign of Four in which Holmes deduces that a pocket watch provided by Watson was formerly owned by a drunkard, upon which a furious Watson believes Holmes has callously acquired information about his unfortunate brother for the sake of a cheap trick. The series' version of the scene has Bell deduce the mental state of Doyle's father, inspiring much the same reaction. (This scene also appeared in the otherwise unrelated drama The Strange Case of Arthur Conan Doyle, also by David Pirie.)
The 2000 episode starred Ian Richardson as Dr Bell and Robin Laing as Arthur Doyle, and was filmed in Scotland and in Cromer in Norfolk. Richardson had earlier played Sherlock Holmes in two 1980s television versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four.
The original episode was followed by an extended series of four feature-length stories under the same title. Richardson reprised his role as Dr Bell but this time Doyle was played by Charles Edwards. Produced by the BBC's Films arm rather than the drama division, no second series was commissioned despite critical and audience success. One BBC insider wryly commented that it was "too successful for the wrong department".
Pirie also wrote three episode novelisations: The Patient's Eyes (2001), The Night Calls (2003) and The Dark Water (2004).
Plots
- Dr Bell and Mr Doyle - The Dark Beginnings Of Sherlock Holmes: Following the ‘death’ of Sherlock Holmes, Doyle finds himself reflecting on his old friendship with Doctor Joseph Bell, as well as his long-gone romance with fellow student Elspeth Scott, the victim of a killer he and Bell failed to capture.
- Murder Rooms - The Patient's Eyes: Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle and his mentor Dr. Joseph Bell investigate the case of a woman who believes she's being followed by an apparition while bicycling along a lonely road.
- Murder Rooms - The Photographer's Chair: Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle and his mentor Dr. Joseph Bell investigate the strangulation deaths of two persons found floating in the river, Doyle finding himself captivated by spiritualism while Bell’s suspicions lead him to a photographer who believes he saw his wife’s soul leave her body at the moment of death.
- Murder Rooms - The Kingdom Of Bones: A museum curator hires two professors (one being Dr. Joseph Bell) to publicly unwrap an Egyptian mummy, but it proves to be a man's three-week-old corpse, the subsequent investigation uncovering a group of expatriate rebels plotting to create havoc.
- Murder Rooms - The White Knight Stratagem: Dr. Joseph Bell helps the police investigate the murder of a money lender, but old animosity between him and the officer in charge leads to conflict, with matters becoming worse when Doyle sides with the lieutenant’s theories over Bell’s.
External links
Novels A Study in Scarlet (1887) · The Sign of the Four (1890) · The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) · The Valley of Fear (1915)Story
collectionsThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) · The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894) · The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905) · His Last Bow (1917) · The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)Characters Related topics Canon of Sherlock Holmes · Cases · 221B Baker Street · List of investigators · Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes · SherlockianaScreen adaptations of Sherlock Holmes stories Silent films - Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900)
- Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; or, Held for Ransom (1905)
- Arsène Lupin contra Sherlock Holmes (1910)
- A Study in Scarlet (1914)
- Sherlock Holmes (1916)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1921)
- Sherlock Holmes (1922)
- The Sign of Four (1923)
Wontner series - The Sleeping Cardinal (1931)
- The Missing Rembrandt (1932)
- The Sign of Four (1932)
- The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935)
- Silver Blaze (1937)
Rathbone-Bruce
series- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)
- Voice of Terror (1942)
- Secret Weapon (1943)
- Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
- Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
- The Spider Woman (1944)
- The Scarlet Claw (1944)
- The Pearl of Death (1944)
- House of Fear (1945)
- The Woman in Green (1945)
- Pursuit to Algiers (1945)
- Terror by Night (1946)
- Dressed to Kill (1946)
Igor Maslennikov
series- Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (1979)
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (1980)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1981)
- The Treasures of Agra (1983)
- The Twentieth Century Approaches (1986)
By actor - The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
- The Masks of Death (1984)
- Silver Blaze (1977)
- Murder by Decree (1979)
- The Sign of Four (1983)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (2000)
- The Sign of Four (2001)
- The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire (2002)
- The Royal Scandal (2003)
Ian Hart (as Watson)- Sherlock Holmes (2009)
- A Game of Shadows (2011)
Other films - The Speckled Band (1931)
- Sherlock Holmes (1932)
- A Study in Scarlet (1933)
- A Study in Terror (1965)
- The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
- Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976)
- The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)
- Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
- The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1987)
- Sherlock Holmes Returns (1993)
- Sherlock: Case of Evil (2002)
- Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars (2007)
- Sherlock Holmes (2010)
- Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes (2010)
Comedies
and parodies- The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes (1937)
- They Might Be Giants (1971)
- The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975)
- The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978)
- The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
- Without a Clue (1988)
- A Samba for Sherlock (2001)
Television series - Sherlock Holmes (1954)
- Sherlock Holmes (1965–1968)
- Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House (1982)
- The Baker Street Boys (1983)
- Sherlock Hound (1984–1985)
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984–1994)
- Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (1999–2001)
- Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes (2000)
- Sherlock (2010)
Categories:- BBC television dramas
- Sherlock Holmes television series
- Edinburgh in fiction
- University of Edinburgh
- Arthur Conan Doyle
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