Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle   (British Telefilm)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Film: B

 

 

In a very pleasant surprise, someone finally figured out a new angle in dealing with the Sherlock Holmes legacy.  They have done the classic stories to death, the Jeremy Brett series is overrated, they have made him a teenager (Barry Levinson’s Steven Spielberg-produced Young Sherlock Holmes in 1985), and even put in as a teenager in the future in an animated cartoon!  Well, it says something about the shadow the literary giant still casts.

 

Then there is the giant behind the giant, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  We have seen the biography info to death on countless DVDs, especially low-budget ones.  But what the 2000 BBC TV movie Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle decides to give us is the supposed story of the events that inspired him to create Holmes.  Though fictionalized and maybe stretched here and there, perhaps, this is a compelling teleplay by David Pirie.  Director Paul Seed should be doing theatrical features by now based on this.

 

In 1878, Doyle (Robin Lang form the HBO mini-series Band of Brothers) is attending his medical studies at Edinburgh University, but things are changing around him.  They are beginning to let women in, but not without a fight from some of the misogynists, students and teachers.  Doyle is not happy with that, but things get worse when he gets wind of some bizarre murders, then gets more intimately involved with the brilliant Dr. Bell (Ian Richardson, recently of The Hughes Brothers’ underseen From Hell the year following).  Bell is breaking ground in criminal investigations, detective work, and the rising forensic sciences.

 

Horrified by the fact that the police only go after the cases that can be easily solved, and only for those with money or in moneyed company, Bell starts to teach Doyle about the sciences and life.  One path leads them to a married couple, the wife of whom is ill and the husband (Charles Dance, of For Your Eyes Only (1981), Alien 3 (1992) among other films) who is powerful and suspect.  While they land up going in the streets of London, its darkest depths, and overturning its deepest secrets, they get closer to the truth.  Too bad they are the next targets and the murderer(s) are on to them.

 

This is some great television and the casting is exceptional down to the last extra.  It runs for about 2 hours, but you will wish it were a mini-series.  There is also no sequel.  The film itself is told in flashback, as Doyle years later has caused a worldwide outrage and civil rights-caliber protests in the killing off of Holmes in his writings.  This is never dealt with again, but in real life, Doyle did bring the character back, but it was never the same again.  Nevertheless, no matter what is true or not, it is believable.

 

The full screen, color image is not bad, but not spectacular either.  It will do for what is there, and the print and transfer are clean.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is a bit better, decoding nicely in Pro Logic.  This makes for a presentation just above cable or satellite, making the DVD worthwhile to own.  The extras include a DVD-ROM with the complete text of Doyle’s original The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, more text info than usual about Doyle and the cast or the film, and some production notes.

 

Though not well known yet, Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle is bound to become at least a minor classic in the cannon of Sherlock Holmes on film, even if it is his creator.  So very many programs have attempted and failed to bring the creators of a great character to life, but this is one of those rare exceptions.  If you are a Mystery fan or just love great television, you have to see it!

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo