Watson writes, "To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex."
Holmes met Irene Adler in answer to a plea from Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein and hereditary King of Bohemia. The heir presumptive, about to marry a proper member of the nobility, had engaged in a passionate affair with Adler, known to society as an adventuress. A photograph of the two in Irene Adler's possession would compromise the nuptials if she uses it maliciously or for gain. Holmes calls upon every bit of his skill plus a cunning disguise to learn where she keeps the photo. When he returns to claim it, however, he discovers she is gone, leaving him a letter...and the photograph. It seems that while she might have been an adventuress, she also was a woman of honor, humor and wit. She was one of the very few people, and the only woman, to outsmart Sherlock Holmes. He asked to keep the photograph as the only payment he desired from Wilhelm.
But the writers of this erratic television program have turned Irene Adler into a cold-blooded killer. Shame on them.
The case starts when one of the Baker Street Irregulars, a group of ragamuffin street urchins who occasionally assist Holmes, goes missing. Sherlock Holmes (Jonathan Pryce) says he will help find the boy, but first he becomes involved in a separate case involving murdered policemen, poison gas and jade pipes. The Irregulars won't wait...and soon they discover clues that may tie the two problems together. By this time, however, Holmes has been accused of murdering the two inspectors out of jealousy. Now under house arrest, he must depend on the Irregulars to do his legwork. This will involve theft, breaking and entering, burglary and a general application of initiative. Along the way they will encounter an embalmed corpse and a heartless woman. Yes, Irene Adler. (This is no spoiler. The writers are so inept there is no mystery as to the "who," only what the "who" is up to.). Only after a perilous search in the moldering dockside warehouses of London and a splashing run through the London sewers is Irene Adler caught. Her arrest required the selfless courage of each of the Irregulars and the sharp cunning of Sherlock Holmes.
If only this program had been better. It's by no means a flop, just too placid. More to the point, the writers were either too careless or didn't care enough to respect the era in which the story is placed. All too often one member or the other of the Irregulars will say something that is far too contemporary. The result is a jarring reminder for us not to relax. The story also has a vital plot development that depends on the most improbable bit of makeup lazy writing could come up with. The acting is as variable as the script. There are one or two nice jobs from the kids playing the irregulars, but most of the time we're just watching adequate child actors, and who don't look grubby, just made-up to look grubby. Pryce creates a curious Sherlock Holmes. He's an extraordinary actor, but here he makes Holmes almost grandfatherly. I suppose that if we accept that the story really is about the adventures of the Irregulars and not so much about Holmes, we'd be happier.
Some fine actors play the major adult roles. To see Pryce at his amazing best, just watch him as Lytton Strachey in Carrington. Bill Paterson plays a congenial Watson. He's a fine, intelligent character actor and was excellent as Jack Lithgow in Traffik. Anna Chancellor is Irene Adler. Unfortunately, she's excellent at turning the charming memory of the original Irene into a ruthless (and beautiful) monster. She made a notable Miss Bingley in 1995's Pride and Prejudice. Michael Maloney is Inspector Stirling, a man who detests Holmes at the top of his voice. Even Maloney can't do much with the role. He can play some most agreeable characters. Try him as Jasper Pye in Love on a Branch Line and as Joe Harper in A Midwinter's Tale.
Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars might be adequate family fare as long as the family doesn't know much about Holmes and even less about Irene Adler. I think it's best to let Holmes keep the memory of the original Irene in his heart. Old men need their memories. This Irene he'd gladly send to the gallows, and probably will.
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