Genre:
Mystery
Release Date: 10/07/2003
Sound: DD
Run Time: 116 min
Distributor/Studio: BFS Entertainment Entertainment
The focus of this two-part British
drama was not on the fictional
Sherlock Holmes but on his creator,
Arthur Conan Doyle. Set in 1878, the story found young physician
Conan Doyle (
Robin Laing) working as an apprentice to Edinburgh forensic specialist
Dr. Joseph Bell (
Ian Richardson). In keeping with the conventional wisdom that
Bell was the inspiration for
Sherlock Holmes, the doctor and his youthful assistant attempt to capture a serial murderer through the means of scientific deductions. The script was full of amusing "inside" jokes referencing future
Holmes short stories and novels, while the cast was surprisingly topheavy with comic actors. Originally seen over the
BBC2 service on January 4 and 5, 1999,
Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes aired on American TV as a single two-hour "movie" on May 18, 2000.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
