Details

Release year: 1964

Storyline

A brilliant detective in Victorian London solves complex cases using logic, science and disguise. With his friend Dr. Watson chronicling their adventures, Sherlock Holmes became one of literature's most iconic characters.

Top credits

Cast

Nigel Stock — Dr. Watson, Doctor Watson
Peter Cushing — Sherlock Holmes
Douglas Wilmer — Sherlock Holmes
Peter Madden — Inspector Lestrade, Bill McCarthy

See all 279 credits →

Did you know

• Douglas Wilmer was infuriated when he first received some of the scripts for the series. He said that the dialogue ranged from being acceptable to downright deplorable. As a result, the actor spent many hours into the night at home, re-typing most of the scripts. The actor stated that the officially credited writers, hadn't bothered to carry out their research, regarding the Holmes stories in general.

• Practically all of the first series survives intact: the concluding reel (approximately the final 20 minutes) of The Abbey Grange (1965) and the opening 25 minutes (plus the full soundtrack) of The Bruce-Partington Plans (1965) are the only known existing extracts from those stories. The second season fares far worse, with only A Study in Scarlet (1968), both parts of "The Hound of the Baskervilles", The Boscombe Valley Mystery (1968), The Sign of Four (1968) and The Blue Carbuncle (1968) still known to exist. In 2019 brief extracts were discovered from The Second Stain (1968), The Dancing Men (1968), The Naval Treaty (1968) and Black Peter (1968), whilst a largely complete soundtrack for The Solitary Cyclist (1968) has also been recovered.

• Douglas Wilmer later recalled that Peter Cushing told him he would rather sweep Paddington station for a living than go through filming this series again.