The Crooked Man

Colonel Barclay is found dead in a room locked from the inside. His wife is also found in the room, having fainted. She is the obvious suspect. Due to his military background Watson encourages Holmes to investigate the matter and Holmes reluctantly agrees.

A fairly intriguing mystery and one typical of the series and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work. Even better is the backstory to everything, a story that comes to light once a certain person of interest is tracked down. The dramatization of this backstory is the highlight of the episode and is very interesting and engaging.

Also good to see Watson taking a more active role. As the case has a large military aspect to it he is more in his element in this episode.

This is a really clever story. Holmes finds himself trying to figure out why a murder has been committed. The victim, a military man in the time of British imperialism, the suspected murderer, his wife, whom everyone said he adored (and she him). Well, there is much more to this. There are several stories in the Sherlock Holmes canon where someone is living a lie or has some baggage that has never been revealed to a spouse. Part of the problem has to do with the society at the time. One could go off to India or some place and make a fortune off the indigent people and come back a hero. Things were often not that simple, and in a military setting, where honor was to play such a huge role, those with feet of clay sometimes lived out their lives if fear of retribution. This story hinges on this.The Crooked Man of the story would normally be seen as less than human (man authors equated ugliness with evil), but it's not so simple as that. There are elements of compassion in this portrayal. The case is a complex one and works very well. Brett and Burke are good as usual. Oh, and there's a large rodent involved. What more could we ask for?

Jealousy can ruin both perpetrator and victim - a well told story of human's basic instinct of jealousy . We see character of Sherlock Holmes a cold man without emotions but of high intellect. Whether he believes in God or not has never been revealed and it is subtly given to our understanding that he is aware of Scriptures which we can see at the closing of this episode he tells Dr . Watson to refer II Book of Samuel. In another story, he tells a man " there is a upper court where you will be answerable to your deeds". This story has also pitiable victim . An interesting character study is Sherlock Holmes though fictional it unfolds lot of human dimensions. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with his experience in India brilliantly incorporates his Indian experiences into some of his stories . A tons of appreciation to be given for Production Designer who gives us 18 th century furniture , streets, people , society etc in a very believable fashion.

A colonel is found dead in his home under strange circumstances, and his wife is the suspect. The colonel's second-in-command is afraid of a scandal, but Holmes and Watson delve deeper into the case and find out the truth.

If you're watching the series in order, this is the best episode so far: The story is simply wonderful (and quite sad), the acting perfect, the drama top notch. This is yet another example (you'll find many such examples throughout the Granada canon) where secondary characters make the show: Norman Jones (Henry Wood) Denys Hawthorne (James Barclay) and especially Lisa Daniely (Nancy Barclay) and in her short part, Fiona Shaw (Miss Morrison) are simply perfect. Highly recommended.

Dead Colonel in locked room with wife...fainted not killed and in custody mongoose is a ferret

A regimental commander and his wife are overheard by their staff arguing. However, the door to the room they're in is locked and a servant needed to go outside and climb through a window. Once inside, he found the Colonel dead and his wife in some sort of coma. Oddly, the door is locked still...and they cannot locate a key...and a key was not found on the Colonel nor his wife! Watson asks Holmes to investigate and the trail leads to a man with a crooked back and his 'mongoose' pet.

While these Sherlock Holmes episodes with Jeremy Brett are the best Holmes stories ever made, in this case they do make a silly mistake...the mongoose you see is clearly a Ferret. The animals come from different continents and a ferret is usually a very sweet animal that makes a decent pet...and I assume the cobra-killing mongoose isn't so friendly towards people.

As for the mystery, it is very interesting and memorable...and, as it turns out, wasn't a murder at all. See the story and see what I mean.