"The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" The Cardboard Box (1994)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Sarah Hellings

Writers:

Arthur Conan Doyle (writer) and
T.R. Bowen (screenplay)

TV Series:

"The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (1994)

Original Air Date:

11 April 1994 (Season 1, Episode 6)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Susan Cushing asks Holmes' help in solving the disappearance of her sister Mary Browner, but it doesn't seem Holmes' type of case until he is told of a Christmas present's grisly contents. |

Plot Keywords:

Detective | Male Female Relationship | Based On Short Story | Sherlock Holmes | Private Detective

Cast

Jeremy Brett	...	Sherlock Holmes
Edward Hardwicke	...	Doctor Watson
Rosalie Williams	...	Mrs. Hudson
Ciarán Hinds	...	Jim Browner (as Ciaran Hinds)
Joanna David	...	Susan Cushing
Deborah Findlay	...	Sarah Cushing
Lucy Whybrow	...	Mary Browner
Tom Chadbon	...	Inspector Hawkins
Thierry Harcourt	...	Marcel Jacottet
Richard Dixon	...	Mr. Bradbrook
Renny Krupinski	...	Murdoch Gull
Andrew Readman	...	Postman
Ann Rye	...	Mrs. Clyde
Rachel Smith	...	Lucy
Andy Tomlinson	...	Policeman

Filming Locations:

Liverpool docks, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK

One of the last of the series and possibly the best of all

This, one of the last of the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series, is a class above the earlier episodes in terms of the power of the story as well as of the acting. Whilst nearly all Holmes stories involved violent death they were as written essentially entertaining puzzles rather than literature with any artistic pretensions. This adaptation though raises it to art due to the inclusion two fine actors: Joanna David and Ciaran Hinds, the powerful script and excellent direction. It is more in the league of a classic book adaptation. As mentioned by an earlier reviewer, the tone is considerably darker than others in the long running series and not quite the comfortable tea-time viewing of its predecessors.