Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking (2004) (TV)

Director:

Simon Cellan Jones

Writer:

Allan Cubitt (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

26 December 2004 (UK)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

A serial killer stalking the teen-aged daughters of the aristocracy brings Sherlock Holmes out of his drug-filled semi-retirement. |

Plot Keywords:

Aristocracy | Serial Killer | Sherlock Holmes | Daughter | Opium

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Rupert Everett	...	Sherlock Holmes
Nicholas Palliser	...	Dr. Dunwoody
Neil Dudgeon	...	Lestrade
Ian Hart	...	Dr. Watson
Anne Carroll	...	Mrs Hudson
Tamsin Egerton	...	Miranda Helhoughton (as Tasmin Egerton)
Perdita Weeks	...	Roberta Massingham
Jennifer Moule	...	Georgina Massingham
Eleanor David	...	Mary Pentney
John Cunningham	...	Bates
Michael Fassbender	...	Charles Allen
Jonathan Hyde	...	George Pentney
Gina Beck	...	Maid
Helen McCrory	...	Mrs. Vandeleur
Andrew Wisher	...	Constable (as Andy Wisher)
Julian Wadham	...	Hugo Massingham
Penny Downie	...	Judith Massingham
Stewart Bevan	...	Proprietor
Anthony Cozens	...	Young Constable
Guy Henry	...	Mr. Bilney
Rachel Hurd-Wood	...	Imogen Helhoughton
Christine Kavanagh	...	Lady Helhoughton
Roger Monk	...	Workman
Jonathan Emmett	...	Policeman
Max Harvey	...	Master of Ceremonies
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Greg Bennett	...	Police Constable (uncredited)
Alisha Smith	...	Vestil Virgin (uncredited)

Directed by
Simon Cellan Jones

Writing credits
Allan Cubitt		(written by)
Arthur Conan Doyle		(characters) uncredited

Produced by
Greg Brenman	....	executive producer: Tiger Aspect Productions
Allan Cubitt	....	co-executive producer
Elinor Day	....	producer
Rebecca Eaton	....	executive producer: WGBH
Kate Murrell	....	line producer
Gareth Neame	....	executive producer: BBC

Original Music by
Adrian Johnston

Cinematography by
David Katznelson		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Paul Garrick

Casting by
Kate Rhodes James		(as Kate Rhodes-James)

Production Design by
David Roger

Art Direction by
Fleur Whitlock

Set Decoration by
Jo Kornstein

Costume Design by
Andrea Galer

Makeup Department
Brandon Day	....	hair colourist
Pat Hay	....	hair & makeup designer
Helen Johnson	....	makeup artist
Liz Michie	....	chief hairstylist
Jamie Pritchard	....	hair stylist
Aaron Sherman	....	prosthetics
Sandrine Mugglestone	....	makeup trainee (uncredited)

Production Management
Ian Hutchinson	....	unit manager
Kim Simon	....	post-production supervisor
Kate Murrell	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cara Cheeseman	....	third assistant director
Ben Howard	....	second assistant director
Harry Jones	....	third assistant director
Nige Watson	....	first assistant director
Angharad Jones	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Emma Caplin	....	graphic props designer
Katy Harvey	....	stand-by art director (as Katy Pain)
Tony Hefferman	....	construction manager
Patrick Henshaw	....	dressing props
Tony Henshaw	....	props master
Peter Holden	....	stand-by carpenter
Robert Jones	....	production buyer
Paul Mitchell	....	dressing props
Paul Mitchell	....	stand-by props
Craig Price	....	stand-by props
Laura Treen	....	stand-by painter
Melissa Magna	....	assistant production buyer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Kevin Brazier	....	dubbing editor
Wayne Brooks	....	dubbing editor
Steve Fish	....	sound maintenance engineer
Tom Jessup	....	sound assistant
Richard Manton	....	production sound mixer
David Old	....	dubbing mixer
Anthony Faust	....	adr mixer (uncredited)
Steve Fish	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Tom Jessup	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Matthew G. Armstrong	....	special effects technician (uncredited)
Bernard Newton	....	special effects senior technician (uncredited)
Nick P. Phillips	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Stunts
Andy Bradford	....	stunt coordinator
Derek Lea	....	stunt performer
Matt Price	....	stunt performer

Camera and Electrical Department
Paddy Blake	....	focus puller
Andy Cole	....	best boy
Frank Dawson	....	electrician
James Philpott	....	grip
Mike Rees	....	clapper loader
Boris Rybin	....	camera assistant
Carolina Schmidtholstein	....	electrician (as Carolina Shmidtholstein)
Otto Stenov	....	gaffer
David Taylor	....	genny operator
Roger Tooley	....	Steadicam operator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Andy Morgan	....	casting assistant (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Claire Collins	....	costume assistant
Sally Crees	....	costume supervisor
Jason Gill	....	crowd costume assistant
Mark Lord	....	costume assistant
Charlotte Morris	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Gerald Morris	....	assistant editor
Vincent Narduzzo	....	colorist (as Vince Narduzzo)
Graham Portbury	....	on-line editor

Music Department
Terry Davies	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Peter Anderson	....	title designer
Ian Hutchinson	....	assistant location manager
Karen Jones	....	script supervisor
Adrian Kelly	....	assistant production coordinator
Bridget Kenningham	....	assistant location manager
Kevin Khan	....	production accountant
Neil Lee	....	location manager
Steve Monchar	....	assistant accountant (as Steven Monchar)
Eleanor Moran	....	development executive: BBC
Hilary Norrish	....	script executive
Rachel Salter	....	production executive for TAP
Julie Scott	....	production executive for BBC
Lucy Anthony	....	unit nurse (uncredited)
Hannah Brown	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Mitchell Mcgee	....	unit security (uncredited)

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (as BBC)
• Tiger Aspect Productions
• WGBH (as WGBH Boston)

Distributors

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2004) (UK) (TV) (original airing)
• BBC Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• RTL Klub Televízió (2008) (Hungary) (TV) (original airing)
• AXN Mystery (2010) (Japan) (TV)
• Just Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)  with thanks to (as CBC)
• Casting Collective  extras casting (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green, London, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Daniel Webb played Lestrade in Hound Of The Baskervilles but was not available to play the role again

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Boom pole visible in the church graveyard scene in the high shot looking down in the fog.

Quotes:

Dr. Watson:Once again, Holmes, you've deliberately held me at arm's length. I really think you might treat me with a little more frankness.
Sherlock Holmes:My profession would be a drab and sordid one, Watson, if I did not sometimes set the scene to glorify the results.
Dr. Watson:You have a peculiar secretive streak in you, Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes:The only safe plotter is he who plots alone.
Dr. Watson:Thank you for that vote of confidence.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Time Shift: A Study in Sherlock (#5.1)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

String Quartet No.14 in D Minor,'Death and the Maiden', the 4th Movement

Superb Acting; Trite Script

Rupert Everett has the aquiline profile and world-weary vocal delivery that are necessities for a screen Holmes, but he (and the excellent actors around him) are hamstrung by a cliché- ridden script. Sherlock Holmes, telling Watson to "keep your breath to cool your porridge"?? The last two times I heard that expression on screen were both in adaptations of Pride and Prejudice--and I certainly mean no disrespect to either of them. Holmes is also made to deploy a Mary Poppins aphorism about pie crusts and promises--perhaps you remember it from your childhood Disney viewing.

This is a good-looking production (apart from the occasional wobble from the annoyingly popular unsteadicam), though I have it on good authority that London fog did not swirl rapidly around the lampposts and chimneypots. Beautifully designed interiors include a Duchess' drawing room, a Victorian graveyard, an underground lair of the villain (he always has a lair, doesn't he), and a ceramic-tiled morgue. Costumes are in a muted color palette of cream, black, olive green, and brown, and the girls in their costumes for a classical tableau look as if they have stepped out of a Alma-Tadema painting.

In addition to Everett as Holmes, the production is graced with a uniformly strong cast. Ian Hart brings an acerbic vigor to the role of Dr. Watson, and Neil Dudgeon injects Lestrade with some humor. The superb Helen McCrory, as Watson's American fiancée, initially appears brash and pushy (she calls Holmes "Sherlock" throughout, even though his best friend Watson invariably calls him by his last name), an often-observed trait of American women in British film/TV productions, but she is too good an actress to keep to that one-note character. Guy Henry is disgracefully underused--give him a bigger role!

The story is a new one, which is not in itself a criticism; it is creepy and intriguing. The most glaring problem of the show is with the script; I hope that director Simon Cellan Jones continues to make more Holmes stories--but that writer Allan Cubitt will not.