The Crooked Man

I am a huge fan of the Granada Sherlock Holmes series, and in my mind The Crooked Man is one of the best. As is the case with all of the adaptations in this fine series, The Crooked Man production-values wise is very well made. As I have said before, you can never go wrong with authentic costumes and scenery and excellent photography, and The Crooked Man succeeds brilliantly here. The music is very beautiful and haunting, the story is well paced and interesting, as well as being a contender for the most emotionally affecting of the entire series, and the writing is sophisticated and thoughtful, Holmes' line on military morality is epic. At the top of my head, there is no other adaptation in the series where you not only hate the victim from minute one but also identify and feel great sympathy for the wronged "perpetrator". I would also like to credit The Crooked Man's atmosphere, Sherlock Holmes is a vast majority of the time very good with being atmospheric and especially with the ending(one of the series' most powerful) The Crooked Man is no exception. The acting is top notch, Jeremy Brett as always is nigh-on perfect as Holmes and David Burke is a composed Watson. While the support cast are solid, the best of the lot is Norman Jones, whose haunting yet often poignant performance, bringing heart-breaking pathos to a very long monologue that could easily have rambled, gives meaning to the phrase "once seen, never forgotten". Fiona Shaw has never been more entertainingly aloof either. Overall, The Crooked Man is brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox

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.

This episode is another one of my favorite adaptations in this great series. Everything about this adaptation is just right. Jeremy Brett and David Burke as Holmes and Watson are perfect and Norman Jones gives a haunting performance in the title role. The production values here are excellent (which is typical for this series). The music by Patrick Gowers is potent. It is a simple, powerful story mixing elements of history and tragedy as it unfolds into a tale of love and survival. Out of all the Holmes mysteries this one is a real sleeper. If there is at least one episode in the Granada Holmes series that you should watch let it be this one.

This episode may not get the viewer immersed in the plot as other stories, since most of the tale of the sordid events are told while sitting in a room more closely resembling a confessional, but there is still a nice air about the episode that is entertaining to the very end.

The story follows the lives of Colonel James Barclay and his lovely wife Nancy. They met in India where Nancy was the daughter of a well-to-do family and James just a lowly sergeant. Nancy had many suitors but it seemed that James won out and they were married. Many years later they are living outside of London but seem to be have some relationship problems.

It will all come to a head when Nancy is volunteering at the local charity when she meets a man with a crooked back. That evening Colonel Barclay will end up dead and Nancy will be accused of the murder. But there is more to this story and more to the man with the crooked back than we ever could have guessed.

Another nice mystery that has Jeremy Brett perfectly cast as Sherlock Holmes set on solving who killed Colonel Barclay. With the subtle tics that Jeremy Brett gives the character, it makes for a wonderful view just watching him play the part of the mysterious detective. There seemed to be much more dialog in this episode which makes the viewer keep on their toes but the entertainment value is not lessened. Good watch.

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?