"Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes" The Patient's Eyes (2001)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Tim Fywell

Writer:

David Pirie (screenplay)

TV Series:

"Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes" (2000)

Original Air Date:

4 September 2001

Plot:

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.

Cast

Katie Blake	...	Heather
Charles Edwards	...	Arthur Conan Doyle
Alexander Armstrong	...	Turnavine
Simon Quarterman	...	Baynes
Gem Durham	...	Hettie
Paul Butterworth	...	Fainting man
Michael Webber	...	Nearby Man
Ian Richardson	...	Dr. Joseph Bell
Malcolm Sinclair	...	Blythe
Andrew Woodall	...	Greenwell
Dragan Micanovic	...	Coatley
Simon Chandler	...	Inspector Warner
Sarah Peirse	...	Agnes
David Maybrick	...	Captain Horler

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Television Production Company (TPC)

Movie Connections:

Follows "Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes" (2000)

Arthur Conan Doyle should be proud

When thinking about this programme the word marvellous comes to mind but brilliant or superb will do just as well.

I feel I must write a separate review for each episode of this four part series as they are feature length and stand just as well on their own as part of a perfectly crafted series. This means that to stop myself being unoriginal but not letting any aspect of these programmes go un-praised this review shall be long and the others very brief.

I started watching 'Murder Rooms' with a very sceptical mind. I am a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fan, well more than that, he is probably my hero, a man I look up to in almost every respect. So a fictional series on his early experiences spent with Joseph Bell, written like Sherlock Holmes stories did not sound to my liking. Why make up new stories when Doyle wrote enough great fiction to satisfy anyone or why not document his real life?

However I was stunned. This series is excellent. More than excellent. The historical accuracy is somehow unimportant. All you need to know is Doyle met Bell in 1876 at Edinburgh University and was taught by him, Doyle did base some of Holmes' science of detection on Bell's diagnostic methods AND the series is set between 1882-1890 when Doyle worked as a doctor in Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Doyle is portrayed as the most moral and gallant man I have seen on screen. Charles Edwards is one of the few men alive who could attempt to portray my hero and actually pull it off. He does more than this, Edwards is an extremely competent actor and slips into his role with ease. I only wish he was in more. Not only is he a very talented actor playing the role of a truly gifted and considerate man with an exceptional script he also has physical attraction, though does seem to be constantly worried for some reason. Here I'll briefly mention Ian Richardson as Bell who is also a very good actor but this is more of a well known fact so I needn't dwell.

If I wanted to I could talk for hours praising this programme but would result in only sickening you rather than convincing you to watch it as is my real motive. So I'll briefly cover the other merits then finish.

The scripts weave drama, mystery, a little despair or romance, surrealism and almost laugh out loud humour so skillfully together I have seldom come across such brilliance. Added with the setting, camera angles, proxemics. mis-en-scene and music at just the right moment this programme is more than a success.

This particular episode starts like the Holmes story 'The Solitary Cyclist' but soon goes down a very different path with plenty of twists along the way. Poor Doyle has just moved to Southsea and is doing rather badly as a doctor as he is too kind for his own good and then is crushed in love for the second time. This episode has one of those great things, rarely done- a funny fist fight, but don't get too relaxed, there are plenty of horrors too.