The Naval Treaty

In this third episode in the Granada series, Watson receives a request from an old "friend," who has found his career and his health doomed by a mystery that he can't comprehend. While he has left his office, a document of great importance has disappeared from his desk. This is one of those Holmes stories where someone in a position of trust has been victimized. Still, the circumstances make it impossible to see how the document got out of the office and into the hands of someone wishing to start a war or to exacerbate the politics of the time. The strength of the story has to do with the physical makeup of the building which is the scene of the crime. There are a series of possible answers, but they never seem to satisfy the requirements of discernment. Holmes strength in all these cases is that he doesn't buy into the obvious solutions, but rather assumes nothing. An interesting factor for the modern reader (or viewer, in this case), is the incredible emotion expended by the victims. Having read all the Holmes stories many times, I recall that there seemed to be something called "brain fever" that was sort of a catch-all malady for people like the victim of this crime. I think another thing that makes this enjoyable for the average viewer is that while this is a serious crime, we've all had that experience of being careless and paying a price of some sort. Brett is again an intriguing Holmes and this is a very enjoyable episode.

Sherlock Holmes is hired by someone Watson knew at school, Percy Phelps. Mr Phelps works at the Foreign Office and was tasked with making a copy of a top secret Naval Treaty between Britain and Italy. This incredibly important document has been stolen, leaving Mr Phelps a broken man.

Another great adaptation of a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story. Very intriguing as Holmes and Watson go about gathering clues as to the identity of the culprit.

Jeremy Brett once again puts in an excellent performance as Holmes with David Burke giving solid support as Watson. Some good guest performances too.

As always the exquisite recapturing of 1890s London, and England generally, adds a further dimension to proceedings.

The Naval Treaty is a strong episode with a lot that makes the Granada Sherlock Holmes series so great evident. It's not one of the best, with the perpetrator rather obvious from the get go due to a lesser amount of suspects as usual. However, the story is the usual clever and mostly compelling standard, and the script is of high quality, thought-provoking and sometimes playful with some suspenseful parts too. The music is wonderful, I always find the music in this series haunting, beautiful or often both, and this episode is an example of the music being both. The production values are typically splendid, evocative and very beautiful-looking. The photography is always focused and fluid. The acting is strong too, the support cast are good but nobody as such stood out. David Burke is a composed and intelligent Watson, but this episode belongs to the supreme Holmes of Jeremy Brett, who never fails to delight with his gritty baritone and towering presence. All in all, not one of my favourites but still very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

An old school chum writes to Dr. Watson and asks for Sherlock Holmes' help: an immensely important naval treaty document, which was entrusted to him for copying, has been stolen. The poor guy, devastated and hardly able to carry a conversation for two minutes before getting into another nervous fit, is hopeless.

This is the first time where the plot involves a mystery in the true sense of the word, because while Holmes is putting the pieces together in his mind, the audience isn't given much of a clue.

I admit this was my least favorite episode when I first binge-watched this series, since I found the constant whining and nervousness of Percy Phelps (the character who lost the treaty) too tiresome and annoying. But upon a couple of repeated viewings over the years, I now find it better than most episodes. Recommended.

Watson receives a letter from a person from his past, Percy Phelps. Or, more correctly, it's from Phelps but was dictated to his fiancee who sent the letter. It seems he's in need of help and he asks Watson to bring Holmes to see him. This is, apparently, because Phelps is weak and has bedridden.

Once they arrive, they learn that Phelps works for the British government. His problem is that he had a top secret naval treaty in his possession...and it was stolen! Since, Phelps has been delerious and in ill-health...an unusual reaction to this disaster, I know. Holmes takes the case and, of course, eventually manages to solve it.

This is a very good but not particularly outstanding outing. In other words, it's still excellent as all the Sherlock Holmes shows featuring Jeremy Brett are joys to watch. Well made and worth seeing.