The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (TV Series) The Eligible Bachelor (1993) User Reviews

A Weird and Satisfying Mystery

[ericksonsam60 · 8/10 · 15 October 2011]

This final Sherlock Holmes film from Granada Television is disliked by many fans but I might be among the few who enjoyed it. In fact, in my mind it is an under-appreciated production. It is absorbing from beginning to end. It is powerfully directed by Peter Hammond with superb acting and scripting. The film is one of the few outings from the Granada series that invites multiple viewings.

During the early nineties Granada started producing Holmes films that were loose, expanded versions of short stories with "The Master Blackmailer" and "The Last Vampyre".This film is also an overextended adaptation. It is based on the story called "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" but even purists would admit that it was one of Arthur Conan Doyle's lesser tales. This film improves what was a mediocre story by turning it into dramatic feature-length film.

This film is rather unconventional for a Sherlock Holmes film or mystery movie. T.R. Bowen's script is solid but it requires patience and careful attention. It gradually reveals interspersed clues where the viewer and Holmes eventually put together. Some might find this storytelling approach irritating but it keeps you thinking all the way until the end. This also adds pretensions that you would not see from Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories as this film suggests something spiritual beyond the rational thinking that Holmes himself is known for. Its script has elements of nightmares, premonitions, freundianism, etc.

The acting is excellent. Jeremy Brett gives one of his best performances as Sherlock Holmes. He was certainly ill at the time the film was made but it only benefits his acting as Holmes in this film is in fact suffering from trauma. Edward Hardwicke continues to make a dignified and intelligent Watson. Simon Williams is strong as Lord Robert Simon and Paris Jefferson is splendid as the beautiful Henrietta Doran. Anna Calder-Marshall is also good in a dual role as Agnes Northcote and young Lady Helena (who incidentally is the wife of David Burke, the actor who played Watson in the Granada series before Hardwicke).

The atmosphere in this film is also top-notch. You could say this is the most cinematic of Granada's Sherlock Holmes films. Peter Hammond's direction is superb if not brilliant in creating the film's Gothic, bizarre nature. He skillfully blends visual and audio during Holmes surreal dreams as well the echoing noises that can be heard as Holmes walks through streets of London during the night. It is also has great close-ups particularly with the moment where Doran looks into the eyes of the Jaguar. Set direction is rich in particular such as with the look of Lord Simon's secret mansion known as Glaven, which turns out to be full of empty rooms, cobwebs, and torn furniture.

The Eligible Bachelor is certainly weird, off-putting, and uneven but it is far from being rubbish. It's oddities are part of what makes it unique and different from so many other Sherlock Holmes films. This film is definitely not for the Holmes purists. However, casual viewers (like myself) who enjoy watching Sherlock Holmes but aren't exactly Sherlockians should enjoy it just fine.

"A Science of Instability"

[Ian_Jules · 8/10 · 23 April 2013]

In this stylized and expanded adaptation of Conan Doyle's "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor", Lady Helena (Anna Calder-Marshall) refers to her elaborate plot to escape captivity as "a science of instability". Director Peter Hammond appears to have replicated this approach in his conception of T. R. Bowen's surreal teleplay. Just as Helena painstakingly reconstructed, one stone at a time, the structure of an old, dilapidated chapel, only to deliberately topple the entire edifice in order to secure her freedom--the chapel being a particular apt metaphor for Helena's struggle, as her confinement originated with subjugation to the institution of Holy Matrimony--so Hammond dramatically breaks down and reassembles the detective story structure to facilitate the most evocative and--ironically--cogent possible visualization of a script that, admittedly, may go a bridge too far in expanding the horizons of Brett's volatile, sensitive Holmes.

Bear in mind that in previous episodes, particularly The Musgrave Ritual and The Devil's Foot (both excellent), we have already seen Homes battling with his over-stimulation, drug dependency, and consequent physical exhaustion--qualities all of which, incidentally, were suggested throughout Doyle's original stories, even if the author didn't intend to challenge or subvert the detective genre with more pronounced, incisive character development.

Given Brett's layered portrayal of Holmes throughout the Granada series (in particular, an unwell Holmes vacillating between moody distance and almost delirious fits of giggles in The Musgrave Ritual is a significant precedent), his fragility and flightiness here are a credible--if ambitious--move to take the character to a logical extreme. The dream sequences perhaps take this a step beyond logic, and it is here that Bowen's script may be overreaching, but the result--with Hammond, in his plunge from the white cliffs of scientific deduction to the uncanny valley, taking the only remotely feasible approach to this material--offers a fascinating, quite effective film experience when taken on its own aesthetic merits, as an expressionistic and occasionally surreal visualization of chaotic mental interiorities.

In short then, I can understand why this installment isn't especially well-liked by fans, but I think some of the ire is unwarranted. Superficially, the first issue with its very loose adaptation: Conan Doyle's original storyline is relegated to a subplot, the surrounding circumstances of which are morphed beyond recognition. On the other hand, a straight adaptation of that short story would have been pressed to fill up 50 minutes of screen time, let alone tell a truly engrossing story of relevance to contemporary audiences. And in large part, the job of dramatists in adapting these stories has always been to find, and shape for TV, an effective balance of Doyle's own characteristic synthesis between detective work and florid, Watson-style melodrama. If anything, this episode simply leans a little too far in favor of the later, eschewing the former by necessity of its bold decision to develop the detective-protagonist in directions not usually humored by the genre.

If the only reason you watch this series is to see close adaptations, you may be disappointed--but I recommend giving it a chance anyway.

As a film, it has a lot to recommend it. The presentation is sophisticated and sumptuous. Gloven, one one of the main settings, is beautiful. The sequences introducing the title character, Lord Robert (Simon Williams) and Hettie (Paris Jefferson) are beautifully acted and filmed. I'm almost certain it was designed to appeal to drama-lovers. There are expansive views of the estate, glistening sunlight-on-water shots, clever panning shots to pull us into the next section. Williams and Jefferson are also standouts among the episode cast. These shows always had excellent actors and Paris Jefferson is especially powerful for me as Hettie, who most definitely is not a damsel in distress. When Lord Robert teases that she's more "wild and beautiful" than a great cat, he ironically does not realize how true that is.

While the film has been called both boring and confusing, I'd take issue with those. "Confusing" I can understand. Especially in the first third or so, you could say some parts are disjointed. I think we're purposely being fed scraps of information. "Boring" is the last word I'd use. I guess it doesn't move quickly, but for me it's a comfortable pace that allows the story to unfold and the viewer to absorb the things happening on screen. There are one or two sequences that are a bit shoehorned but they are minor to some other pretty effective editing choices. Such as the sequence of events on Holmes' night out or intercutting the wedding with Holmes in his flat.

Speaking of Holmes, I think Jeremy Brett is tremendous here: one of his finest performances as Holmes, however out of sorts the character may be--not a moment gone amiss. Some people think Brett is theatrical, affected, flamboyant, over the top, and so on. Guess what? He is and it's a style that, by the this point, he had, for my tastes, honed to perfection. It's evident to me that there's an incredible depth and intensity emotion that Brett drew upon in these performances. His depth shines on through as Sherlock's depth.

Regarding acting, props also to Anna Calder-Marshall, who has a strong dual role playing sisters. I'm not sure why she was cast in both roles (other than saving money) but it's done cleverly, as the actress's appearance is obscured for different reasons for both characters. Really, the whole cast cast is strong except for the man playing Hettie's love. Although he only appears briefly, he seems lifeless. I doubt he was/is authentically American. Maybe he was more preoccupied with the accent than the acting.

Contrary to some other reviewers, I would definitely recommend Holmes/mystery/film fans give this film a fair try, with as little clouded judgment from negative reviews as possible. Sure, it's weird; what's wrong with that?

Enjoyable, if a bit heavy going.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 4 August 2016]

I'll start by saying, whenever I see those words T R Bowen (Screenplay writer) in the opening scripts, I always feel like I'm in safe hands, and that only good things await.

I'd class myself as a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, and watching this, it's either a case that I've never seen it before, or I've seen it and don't remember it. 1991 to 1993 had been a lean time for fans of the great Detective, with only a few offerings. Reading the reviews, this seems to be one of the least favoured episodes. I can see why some may not love it, but I really enjoyed it, and found some great features.

The usual attention to detail is paid to costumes and sets etc, it looks wonderful. Simon Williams, gives the usual upper class British performance you'd expect from him, the trio of old ladies are excellent, as is Anna Calder Marshall. A deep and dark story, one of revenge, no real suspense or mystery, more one of 'when?'

That said, it is quite a dark production, in appearance, it's very grey and heavy, and the tone too, it's not a jolly affair. The flashbacks and dreams are a little overplayed, it is heavy viewing, you need to concentrate hard.

Not my favourite, but enjoyable 7/10

Don't get cocky..

[Marmadukebagelhole · 16 May 2013]

One can only assume that the producers of Granada's overall fantastic series had become emboldened by its success and reputation, and had decided to show off by the time they came to make this and some of the other feature length stories. Justified though they may be for presuming that they had possibly made the definitive films of Conan Doyle's work, they clearly didn't recognise that Brett is mainly responsible for bringing the mythology so vividly to life. That can be the only explanation for totally illogical sequencing, disorienting camera-work and the altogether odd atmosphere. If they were trying to reflect Holmes state of mind at the time then they went way over the top. How the viewer is expected to accept that Holmes could solve this case while being as confused as they are in trying to figure out just what is happening on screen and in what sequence we are seeing it. Would have been better if this had resolved itself or been shown to be contextually relevant. But by the end it becomes apparent it was just for its own sake.

The final scene between Holmes and Lestrade in The Six Napoleons evokes more pathos, conveys more emotion and reveals more surprises while at the same time delivering the familiar more satisfyingly than in the entire duration of this film.

Nevertheless, Brett and Hardwicke are great. Always.

not good as the original one

[Hunky Stud · 6/10 · 20 January 2009]

I first saw "the adventures of sherlock holmes", those short episodes were intense, and well "dramatized" as they always listed at the beginning of each episode as "dramatized by someone".

The same sherlock seemed a little crazy in this show, he seemed like a different person even though it was the same actor. He lost his coolness in this show.

It was badly directed, because the storyline did not flow smoothly like those TV episodes in "the adventures of sherlock holmes". I actually was reading a book while it was played on TV. I didn't want to miss anything, but it is not worthy of my complete attention, either.

And now for something a little different...

[lewis-51 · 9/10 · 21 February 2011]

I read a few of the reviews here before watching this for the first time. I adore Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes, and all of the adaptations this company made of the original stories by Conan Doyle. I saw "The Last Vampyre" (not from Conan Doyle) and thought it stupid and silly. So I was prepared to dislike this one, also a late entry in the series.

It takes some getting used to. There are odd interpolated scenes that don't seem to make any sense. There are foreshadowings and flashbacks. There are a lot of extreme closeups. There are also brilliantly constructed scenes with impressive lighting effects. It's very non-linear and often puzzling.

The overall effect? I'm impressed. All the strange scenes make sense at the end, even granting, upon rational reflection, that the ending is perhaps a bit unlikely. This is a superbly crafted, acted, and presented film. It is a worthy addition to the Canon, and a triumph by Brett and Edward Hardwicke.

By all means, give it a shot. Don't be dissuaded by the negative reviews. This is truly a great Sherlock Holmes mystery.

• henry

More style than substance

[grantss · 4/10 · 2 January 2023]

Sherlock Holmes is a wreck. He's hardly been sleeping and when he does he has the same recurring dream. He is approached by Lord Robert St Simon to find his wife. She disappeared immediately after their wedding. Lord St Simon is renowned as a very eligible bachelor but upon investigation his past relationships did not end very amicably. Moreover, this is not his first marriage.

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes started very well and seemed a decent follow-up to the excellent Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the almost-as- good Return of Sherlock Holmes. However, from a point the episodes got weaker and weaker, as if all the best stories had been taken and the producers were happy to adapt any Sherlock Holmes story into an episode. Nothing was bad enough to be unwatchable. Until now.

This, the final episode of The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, is without a doubt the worst episode in the series. The plot is all over the place and significantly padded. The padding is all dream sequences and flashbacks that add nothing to proceedings, except try to look arty when it is really just empty. It could easily have been done in half the time and been much more coherent in the process.

Sherlock Holmes?

[meglos · 10/10 · 23 September 2001]

Of the three feature length adaptations Granda made of Conan-Doyle's novels (rather than the usual 50 min ones) this was the one that veered the most from the original tale. The original idea of mistaken identity is turned into a surreal gothic horror, with the hero of the original story now a serial murderer and bigamist. Holmes is also turned into a detective with a more tortured soul and what appears to be second sight.

The story, however, benefits from this as the original short story was a little bland and boring. Brett rises to the challenge and gives one of his best ever performances, and Simon Callow is suitably suarve and evil as the main protagonist.

Generally, a sumptious adaptation, given a 90's polish and reworking!

Sad

[metropolnik · 1/10 · 4 December 2006]

This feature length episode is - apart from the equally dreadful "The Last Vampyre" - the worst adaption of a story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. One really wonders what was going on in the producer's mind wasting Jeremy Brett's rapidly diminishing energy and life-span for this crude story, especially after having been so faithful to the spirit of Doyle's works before. The theme of Holmes' dreams depicting exactly the events to come stands in stark contrast to his previously stated belief in rationality, facts and logical deduction. One can't help feeling the scriptwriters took to Holmes' former vice of drug abuse. Sad and unworthy of Jeremy Brett's talents.

a long farewell to Jeremy Brett

[carlphillips408 · 8/10 · 29 September 2010]

ho hum,this is the last (i believe) of three episodes that i have found of the Shelock Holmes Adventures featuring the excellent Jeremy Brett & as every minute goes by,i am watching what i consider to be Jeremy Brett's last performance. A lot of screaming,hysterical women in this episode.More than usual.Why can't they just accept that they are wrong & leave it at that?Not worthy of mine or Sherlock Holmes attention. The dream sequence,is it true?If a brain lies numb for a length of time can it see into the future?If drugs played a part as some sort of amplifier for the brain then maybe.Geronimo,who was at one with the land & done a lot of pipe smoking had visions. As the plot unravels before my very eyes i cannot help but be riveted to the spot by Jeremy excellent performance. At the end of the show,where they are sitting in the opera box & one of the ladies thanks Sherlock,the cameras zoom out slowly & credits start to roll.I think was that thanks worthy of the great Sherlock Holmes?Who's presence had so much effect on the outcome of the case.But wait,thinking about it,Sherlock Holmes did not really play much part in concluding the events.He did manage to solve the case but it would have solved itself if Shelock had just stood back. An excellent performance (i say again) by Jeremy Brett,a joy watching Shelock Holmes living & breathing once more.

To call this episode "weird" is an understatement...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 26 January 2010]

This two-hour version of a Sherlock Holmes story that has been embellished with a number of new ingredients and sub-plots taken from other works of literature (most notably, the mad wife from "Jane Eyre"), is an extravagant waste of time for the viewer.

I came upon this after the first ten minutes and from then on tried to make sense of the proceedings. This was nearly impossible until I watched at least an hour of it to get to the main thread of the story. Even then, the plot is all over the place with rambling, incoherently staged scenes that seem to lack any sense of continuity. It's as if the editor had a jumbled mess on his hands and didn't know how to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Of course, Sherlock has no such problem. With the thinnest of hints, he manages to solve the entire case using implausible practices. The weird underpinnings of the story are too improbable to bear much scrutiny.

Let's just say the settings are fine, the atmosphere proper and the acting is first rate except for Jeremy Brett who seems to be giving his all to an overbaked role that makes Sherlock Holmes look as though he needs a lot of clinical care. Brett looks pale and distraught most of the time, clearly not in the best of health with his asthma hurting his ability to draw his breath at times. Too bad he had to waste so much energy on a badly constructed episode that seemed endless.

seriously weird stuff

[didi-5 · 23 July 2003]

Re-watching this feature-length episode from the Granada Holmes series after a long gap I was struck by its extreme strangeness when compared to even the most off-the-wall episodes of the 50 min serial episodes. Simon Williams plays a much-married cad with a murky past and a gothic house which doubles as a dangerous private zoo ... he's about to marry an American heiress who disappears as soon as they are married.

Sherlock Holmes is bored, mentally unstable, and has a recurring nightmare in which images of insanity, spider's webs, and empty rooms merge to form a traumatic whole. All this of course is given extra resonance in terms of Jeremy Brett's portrayal given his own obvious decline around the time this was filmed, and he puts across this facet of the great detective brilliantly. Dr Watson comes to the rescue and helps to solve the mystery of Hattie's disappearance. Another solid performance from Edward Hardwicke.

Another point of interest within this confused jumble of a plot is a rare TV appearance of Mary Ellis, the actress/singer who collaborated on a number of Ivor Novello musicals in the 1930s and 40s. Spot her in a couple of key scenes.

Although 'The Eligible Batchelor' is titled as such, it is the tale of a number of women linked by circumstance. It - despite it's faults - is one of the best episodes of the whole series, and worth persevering with through all its weird and wonderful conceits.

Turgid, dull, over long . . .

[ListerUK2001 · 10/10 · 16 September 2001]

This dramatization of a short story is stretched past breaking point. Far, far, far too much padding takes place before the story gets started. Even when it does, every scene is dragged out to painful length with no explanatory dialogue so as to make it impossible to comprehend nor actually care for any of the characters. Only Jeremy Brett's usual excellence as Holmes makes this awful mess even slightly worth watching.

Whatever Happened to THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR?

[theowinthrop · 1/10 · 12 November 2008]

This episode of the Jeremy Brett "Sherlock Holmes" series was the worst in terms of being a bloated two hour reconstructed story. Despite good work by Brett, Edward Hardwicke, and Simon Callow, it again demonstrates how the writers of a screenplay can wreck the work of a better writer.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR appears in the first collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories, THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. The story details how Holmes and Watson get involved with tracing the whereabouts of a young American woman, the daughter of mining millionaire, who was about to marry one Lord Robert St. Simon, a man of impeccable breeding and background - one of the most available high profile aristocrats in the marriage market. The young woman (Alice Doran) disappeared at the chapel where the marriage was about to commence. The police (Lestrade in charge again) are suspicious of the antics of a former girlfriend of Lord Robert, who may have threatened the missing bride. And then there is also a mysterious man who was seen near her hotel on several occasions. Holmes, in the end, is able to figure out what exactly happened, although it does not please his client.

Now Lord St. Simon appears to be a well-mannered, self-important jerk in the story, but he gives no indications of being the conniving monster that was created by the scriptwriters. They turn him into a violent version of Edward Rochester, with a still living wife hidden in the ancestral house, in squalor (similar to Bertha Mason Rochester in the attic in JANE EYRE). He is a fortune hunter who marries and gets rid of wives (so why not the first one?). The conclusion of this film is about as far off base as one could get from the short story, which ends on a friendly note.

When he wrote THE NOBLE BACHELOR, Conan Doyle was making subtle comments about a trend of his time.

SPOILER COMING UP:

Alice turns out to have been reunited with one Francis (Frank) Hay Moulton, a young American who prospected near her father in California, but had no luck. Mr. Doran (when he struck it rich) would have nothing of Moulton, pulled Alice away to Europe, and decided to buy a title for his daughter. It was very common in the "Gilded Age" for multi-millionaires in America to marry into French or British aristocracy. The best recalled marriages were of Consuelo Vanderbilt to the Duke of Marleborough, and of Jennie Jerome to Lord Randolph Churchill (the latter producing Winston Churchill). Anne Gould married Count Boni de Castlelaine. The trend continues to this day (Jackie Kennedy Onassis' sister Lee Bouvier becoming Princess Radziwell of Hungary). But it was at it's height in the 1890s - 1920s.

Conan Doyle was poking fun at this ridiculous right of passage of a new snobbish American aristocracy, and showed that Lord St. Simon really was not worth the trouble (when he learns the truth St. Simon will not congratulate the Moulton's on their marriage). Conan Doyle ends the story with Holmes demonstrating a better approach to good international relationships, in a memorable comment suggesting that one day the memories of the idiots who caused the American Revolution will fade and Britain and the U.S. may yet be reunited again.

As I have said before, Conan Doyle could write the heads off of some screenplay writers.

Good , although not quite easy to chase the story...

[mahsashaghaghi · 10/10 · 28 May 2021]

Well...Firstly,I believe Jeremy brett is an extraordinarily talented actor and best for being sherlock holmes... Secondly the mystery that spreads all over the film is just firmly outstanding in my opinion because the film actually 'begins' with mysterious dreams that holmes experiences ... And well after all in comparison with the story of noble bachelor this adaptation is really true to life (or to book to be precise) and well the mysterious environment was just appealing to me :)

Holmes? Is it really you?

[trimmerb1234 · 5/10 · 14 December 2006]

Asks Watson. Unfortunately not at all. This feature length production concocts a Holmes who is not at all himself. Holmes, the archetypal steely-nerved arch-rationalist here, in the hands of this writer and director, instead becomes prey to nightmares and tortured by flashbacks and phantasms. Will he be forced to seek counselling we wonder? The writer stopped just short of this but he the director otherwise knew no bounds. Pointless over-elaboration - and a lack of point. If it's allusive they use it. Such things often are the hallmark of a lesser talent given too many resources. Surprising to find this in the work of a writer and a director with long track records. But what a shame that this fine cast (inc guests Simon Williams and Anna Calder-Marshal), these sumptuous interiors and costumes,these atmospheric exteriors were not put to better use.

Its always good to watch the Brett/Hardwicke combo in their struggles against criminality and injustice. Here though they are pitted against criminally bad writing and direction

A ray of hope. Re-editing might yet rescue it.

The definitive Holmes

[bomiranda2 · 10/10 · 20 February 2022]

He Brett is the ultimate Sherlock Holmes! His nuances are impeccable. So sad he didn't live past 61 but he will always live on as the ultimate Holmes!

So. Not. Doyle.

[Aziraphale615 · 1/10 · 23 December 2009]

One of the things that supposedly led Jeremy Brett to take on the mantle of Holmes was the fact that Granada wanted to do something that no other film or television producer had done before, namely, do the Doyle stories as they were written. And for the most part, they did. It seems that towards the end of Brett's life, when he was at his weakest, they gave him the weirdest, melodramatic and nonsensical adaptations to showcase his talents. Even if I didn't know the story The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor, "The Eligible Bachelor" would've had me confused, since it is just all over the place. We start out with the upcoming nuptials of Hattie Doran and Lord Robert St. Simon (along the lines of the original story). Then we veer into a very strange subplot with Sherlock Holmes being unable to sleep because he's having a recurring nightmare (which he sketches). Throw in an old estate with jungle animals, a maimed veiled lady (possibly borrowed from The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger)a murderous husband, a wife driven mad and all other sorts of wackiness that not only was never in the original story, but which just makes the whole piece unwieldy and a mess. I've appreciated other episodes where the writers were able to dramatize some elements of "backstory" but in this case, they just added in all sorts of things that made for an over-the-top piece of melodrama that probably has Conan Doyle spinning.

What Story Was That?

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 22 February 2014]

I have decided to stop evaluating these episodes because they fly in the face of the Holmes canon. This one is about a marriage between a young woman and her ne'er-do- well fiancé, who has had a series of conquests, each involving a death or disfigurement or annulment. Each has one thing in common. It pads his wealth, which he quickly dissipates. Holmes has had trouble sleeping. He has a recurring dream with strikingly horrible visions. The episode starts to fall apart when the dreams connect to reality. Conan-Doyle's character was incredibly critical of anything but deduction and fact. Here he moves in and out of a dream world. Several other factors enter in, including the sought after revenge of one of the previous conquests. There is a leopard running around loose and a man who shows up at the wedding. There are a few entertaining moments and visually the special effects are reasonable. But it doesn't seem to work. It's also hard to watch Jeremy Brett in the latter stages of his life, in the kind of distress we see here.

Missing Heiress - missing plot?

[nickjg · 1/10 · 5 August 2012]

A full and varied cast, a Victorian melodrama, a dastardly villain, what could go wrong? A semi-detached plot. The writer seems to have a detective story of his/her own that they wish to put on television. Unfortunately, on attaching it crudely to this Sherlock Holmes story, without rhyme or reason the result is a great bloated pudding of a melodrama. Even Jeremy Brett, providing broad slices of ham acting, cannot save this. Choppy direction and lots of short, dramatic 'takes' create a sinister atmosphere, but so does a fire in a cornfield. The result appears for most of the programme to be two period dramas spliced together in error. Most of Sherlock Holmes' part could have been left on the cutting room floor and condensed to a walk-on. The real Sherlock Holmes adventure doesn't begin until 50 minutes into the film. Presumably T R Bowen has read somewhere about Conan Doyle's interest in spiritualism. Perhaps a couple of pages of the biography got stuck together - as the rationalist, Holmes, would never have indulged in setting store by visions 20 years separate the Doyle of spiritualist 'research' and Shelock Holmes. Crude references to Victorian romantic paintings merely add a hotch-potch feeling as do the frequent 'Victorian' street scenes (taken from spare footage of a production of Oliver, mixed up on the same cutting-room floor). What a disaster for an otherwise acceptable series!

Awful, ugly.

[ablbodyed-2 · 2/10 · 19 March 2020]

This is NOT what I think of when I imagine Sherlock stories, life-long source of enjoyment for me. This was just mean-spirited, with no redeeming factors that I can find, though others might. Simon Williams, was a brute and wastrel and user, not much different than the character he played in "Upstairs-Downstairs" though in that there was less brutishness. This program is a sad decline to a series whose earlier episodes I loved.

Keep Away!

[tobermory2-1 · 3/10 · 25 May 2023]

This is just to add to the negative reviews and warn the uninitiated away from this twisted travesty of Conan Doyle. I suppose it's too much to ask someone to go read the originals-- which are uneven, of course, but which are generally a good read-- but when they are good, they are superb! Rather, just compare one of these later Holmes projects with any of the earlier ones and see just how atrocious the newer ones are. In this piece of claptrap, we have at one moment Holmes running around Baker Street in his bedclothes in the rain then jumping in front of a hansom cab and ending up rolling around in the gutter. It's not just that it's a contrived piece of nonsense, it simply isn't good viewing. And then there is the downright boring nature of Holmes dreams/prescience which are pounded on our heads until, when we see them in "real" life, we just don't care. Unless you need a lesson in bad screenplays or are horribly addicted to lush Victorian sets, keep away!

The Eligible Bachelor

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 5 March 2020]

The Eligible Bachelor is a short story that has been embellished as a gothic mystery. It even has elements of Jane Eyre.

Lord Robert St Simon (Simon Williams) is the eligible bachelor with financial troubles. He has married young American heiress Henrietta Doran who has disappeared.

Lord Robert has come to see Holmes. He is a man with a past, several women he has been close to in the past have disappeared. Holmes is concerned by the aura of bad luck or carelessness surrounding Lord Robert.

This expanded film uses all sorts of tricks to pad out the story. Holmes has been having strange dreams which concerns Moriarty. He is not himself so Watson has a bigger part to play.

The plot just does not hang together, there is a leopard on the loose as well as a man with a claw. Just not a scarlett one.

It is a shame that ITV went for the feature film route with some of these short stories. It did not work and deviated a lot from the original stories.

See it for some of the acting, music and the production values if little else

[TheLittleSongbird · 5/10 · 9 July 2010]

Along with The Last Vampyre, The Eligible Bachelor is one of the weaker Sherlock Holmes adaptations. If I have to marginally edge out which was worse, this probably because it is so weird and hard to get into. Well there are redeeming qualities. The production values are meticulous as usual with wondrous costumes, settings and scenery, while the music is haunting and just wonderful. And the acting is not bad at all, Jeremy Brett looks worse for wears but still has that commanding, sophisticated and gritty baritone and presence that makes him so wonderful to watch. Edward Hardwicke is rock solid as Watson, while Geoffrey Beavers and Anna Calder Marshall are good in their respective roles.

However I didn't care for Simon Williams as Lord Robert St. Simon, then again I didn't like his character, so conniving and such an unlikeable monster here he is horrible to watch. Then there is stodgy direction, pedestrian pacing and a plot that meanders all over the place. And the dialogue wasn't particularly noteworthy either, it wasn't sophisticated and intelligent enough and I missed the subtle humour that is evident at times.

Overall, not awful but not great. For a great Jeremy Brett-Holmes adaptation see Hound of the Baskervilles and Sign of Four. Both can be slow at times but they do have absorbing stories, stick to the spirit of their respective stories(not really a general problem as such) and have intelligent dialogue. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Visual treat. Plot mess

[brycefiona · 5/10 · 2 June 2018]

OMG this is stunning to watch! You are transported immediately into an era of lavish furnishings, overstuffed drawing rooms and gorgeous, rustling taffetas. The interior house shots are lit and filmed with a disturbing gloominess. The camera work is excellent.

However. The plot and execution are tedious. One or two shock revelations and a roaming leopard is the drama total. The slim plot about a cunning bachelor who marries three times for mortgage payments is padded out more than an over-stuffed footstool.

Jeremy Brett nearly falls into hysteria but reins in his acting, which given a coherent script could have been a legendary performance

Given the lavish production, it's frustrating to not see a perfect match with the script.