Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes 

Certain events which had an impact on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, while he was still a medical student under the supervision of Dr. Bell, his teacher and mentor, on whom the character of Sherlock Holmes is partly drawn from.

Stars:

Ian Richardson, Charles Edwards, Simon Chandler

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Ian Richardson	...	Dr. Joseph Bell 5 episodes, 2000-2001
Charles Edwards	...	Arthur Conan Doyle 4 episodes, 2001
Simon Chandler	...	Inspector Warner 3 episodes, 2001
Mossie Smith	...	Mrs. Williams 2 episodes, 2001
Sean Wightman	...	Mortuary Clerk / ... 2 episodes, 2000-2001
Ben Macleod	...	Innes Doyle 2 episodes, 2001

Storyline

Certain events which had an impact on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, while he was still a medical student under the supervision of Dr. Bell, his teacher and mentor, on whom the character of Sherlock Holmes is partly drawn from.

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Plot Keywords:

tv mini series | sir arthur conan doyle character | sherlock holmes character | character name in series title | eight word series title | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 May 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ian Richardson previously played Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of Four (1983) and The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983).

User Reviews

Poorly conceived

It is well known that Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes was based in part on Dr. Joseph Bell, whom he clerked for. When I heard that there was a series based on the relationship between Doyle and Bell I was quite curious, hoping to learn what Bell was like, how he used his remarkable powers of observation to diagnose patients, and in what ways he inspired Doyle.

That's not what I got.

Instead, this completely fictionalized series simply turns Dr. Bell into an elderly Sherlock Holmes to Doyle's young Dr. Watson. The result is Sherlock Holmes minus Sherlock Holmes, and the blander character of Bell is far less engaging that the quirky Sherlock.

I only watched the first episode, which was poorly designed. The plot was a ramshackle construct, the pieces fit together poorly, and the show dragged inexcusably; at two hours it was twice as long as it needed to be.

I feel certain that the story of a brilliant, original physician teaching medicine would be far more interesting than this fanciful concoction. Perhaps someday that show will be made. For now the closest thing, I suppose, is House, a series about a brilliant doctor with fine deductive reasoning. As different as House is from Sherlock Holmes, he is far closer to the spirit of the Holmes books than Murder Rooms.