''Doctor Watson and the Darkwater Hall Mystery'' is a 1974 British

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...

directed by

James Cellan Jones Alan James Gwynne Cellan Jones (13 July 1931 – 30 August 2019) was a British television and film director. From 1963, he directed over 50 television series and films, specialising in dramas. He was particularly associated with the "Classic Ser ...

and starring Edward Fox as

Doctor Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel '' A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle ...

Plot

While Sherlock Holmes is away on holiday, Watson journeys to Darkwater Hall in the Cotswolds to protect a woman's husband from harm.

Cast

* Edward Fox as

Dr. Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle f ...

* Elaine Taylor as Emily * Christopher Cazenove as Sir Harry * Jeremy Clyde as Miles * John Westbrook as Bradshaw *

Terence Bayler Terence Bayler (24 January 1930 – 2 August 2016) was a New Zealand film, television, and stage actor. His most memorable roles were in '' Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (1979) and ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (2001). Biograph ...

as Carlos * Carmen Gómez as Dolores * Anthony Langdon as Paul "Black Paul"

Production

Filmed at

Stow-on-the-Wold Stow-on-the-Wold is a market town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, on top of an 800-foot (244 m) hill at the junction of main roads through the Cotswolds, including the Fosse Way (A429), which is of Roman origin. The town was founde ...

, Watson was portrayed as competent and intelligent as opposed to the popular idea of a bumbling character as

Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was a British character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series ''The New Adventures of Sherlock ...

portrayed him in an earlier series of fourteen films. He is also portrayed as a virile womanizer as the character claims to be in ''

The Sign of the Four ''The Sign of the Four'' (1890), also called ''The Sign of Four'', is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes by British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring the fictional detective. Plot ...

''. The film references ''

A Study in Scarlet ''A Study in Scarlet'' is an 1887 detective novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become the most famous detective duo in literature. The book's title der ...

'', "

The Adventure of Black Peter "The Adventure of Black Peter" is a Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle. This tale is in the collection ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes''. It was originally published in ''Collier's'' (US) in February 1904 and in ''The Strand Magazine' ...

", "

The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" is a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The story was originally published in ''The Strand Magazine'' in the United Kingdom in May 1893, and in ''Harper's ...

" and "

The Adventure of the Speckled Band "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" is one of 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the eighth story of twelve in the collection ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. It was originally published in '' Strand Ma ...

". Fox would go on to play the character of Alistair Ross in another

Sherlock Holmes pastiche Sherlock Holmes has long been a popular character for pastiche, Holmes-related work by authors and creators other than Arthur Conan Doyle. Their works can be grouped into four broad categories: *New Sherlock Holmes stories *Stories in which Holm ...

, ''

The Crucifer of Blood ''The Crucifer of Blood'' is a play by Paul Giovanni that is adapted from the Arthur Conan Doyle novel ''The Sign of the Four.'' It depicts the character Irene St. Claire hiring the detective Sherlock Holmes to investigate the travails that her ...

''.

Reception

According to author

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social a ...

, "the reviews were excellent." Alan Barnes calls the film "part-deconstruction, part-parody of Doyle" that "ends up resembling a long drawn-out

shaggy dog story In its original sense, a shaggy dog story or yarn is an extremely long-winded anecdote characterized by extensive narration of typically irrelevant incidents and terminated by an anticlimax. Shaggy dog stories play upon the audience's precon ...

References

External links

* 1974 television films 1974 films 1970s mystery films British television films British mystery films Films set in 1913 Sherlock Holmes pastiches Sherlock Holmes films Films directed by James Cellan Jones 1970s British films {{UK-tv-film-stub