Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The Real Sherlock Holmes (DVD)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Real Sherlock Holmes, is an interesting look at the life of Arthur Conan Doyle, the man who gave us arguably the greatest fictional detective ever. (There are some reasons for opting for GK Chesterton's Father Brown for this accolade, but I'll leave it as it stands, with Sherlock Holmes in this pole position.)

The video is well made and is quite clearly a labour of love by the director and producer,
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...effectively with the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, from the early start of his life which, due to the lack of achievement of his father and his slide into alcoholism and eventual dementia, as a result, meant that the family had it much harder than one might otherwise have expected.

Eventually Arthur (with the help of wealthy relations) was sent to a rather bleak minor public school in northern England. He then returned to his native ... more

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Real Sherlock Holmes, is an interesting look at the life of Arthur Conan Doyle, the man who gave us arguably the greatest fictional detective ever. (There are some reasons for opting for GK Chesterton's Father Brown for this accolade, but I'll leave it as it stands, with Sherlock Holmes in this pole position.)

The video is well made and is quite clearly a labour of love by the director and producer,

It is a well-realised production, and the atmospheric, expert violin playing by Sophie Coles really does add much to the programme.

The research and script was provided by Sue Hosler and the narration was undertaken by Liam Dale, who also worked on the production as a location cameraman, along with Judith McFarlane. Liam Dale also produced and directed the programme.

The film deals effectively with the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, from the early start of his life which, due to the lack of achievement of his father and his slide into alcoholism and eventual dementia, as a result, meant that the family had it much harder than one might otherwise have expected.

Eventually Arthur (with the help of wealthy relations) was sent to a rather bleak minor public school in northern England. He then returned to his native Scotland to study medicine, where he qualified as a doctor, taught by Dr Joseph Bell, a remarkable medical man who was able to diagnose much more than almost any other doctor. Sherlock Holmes was, largely, based on Dr Bell, a fact Conan Doyle acknowledged, especially by dedicating a Sherlock Holmes book to Dr Bell.

The programme brings to life some interesting facts. Apparently the most successful Sherlock Holmes novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles, came about as a result of several fortuitous events. A friend told Conan Doyle the story of a giant, spectral hound said to hold parts of Norfolk in terror. Conan Doyle saw the bleak and terrible Dartmoor Prison. Could he combine the two? The story of the spectral hound and Dartmoor and its prison? So was born the idea for The hound of The Baskervilles. And the name for the family so terribly afflicted? Baskerville was the name of the driver who took him round his trip round the Dartmoor area of Devon.

The programme looked at Conan Doyle's successes and failures as a medical man, how he decided to give up medicine for a life of fulltime writing whilst recovering from a severe bout of 'flu. It also touched on his private life (the terrible poor health of his first wife, and his chaste romance with the woman who was, eventually, to be his second wife) and his interest (despite being an agnostic) in spiritualism

There's one thing that I was disappointed in. Apparently Conan Doyle really did put the theories of analytical detective work that he had created for Sherlock Holmes into practice in some genuine cases. There is, however, no mention of this aspect of "the real Sherlock Holmes" in this production, which is a pity. However, if you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, this DVD programme (£3.99 produced by Delta www.deltamusic.co.uk) is a good purchase.

There is an extra on the DVD, an American radio play Sherlock Holmes in the Adventure of the Devil's Foot, or the Cornish Horror) with Nigel Bruce playing the part of Dr Watson. The start of the radio programme is marred by the ridiculously intrusive and lengthy exhortation to "men" to consider using some modern hair tonic, produced by the manufacturers of which sponsor the broadcasts, Kreml. Holmes was played by Tom Conway.
 

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