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.

Watching The Naval Treaty in The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes my mind wandered to Woodrow Wilson and one of his 14 points which was 'open covenants openly arrived at', something he was trying to get into the Treaty of Versailles. It was against just such things as this, a secret Naval Treaty between the British and the Italians, something the foreign offices of any number of European powers would have loved to have gotten their hands on in those days before World War I.

The document, written in French, because in Europe that was the universal language of diplomacy, is entrusted to David Gwillim, a clerk in the foreign office. Gwillim is in that position because of his uncle is the foreign minister. One night the document is stolen and Gwillim facing personal ruin as well as the potential crisis in foreign relations the United Kingdom could suffer calls on a friend of a friend. Gwillim went to school with David Burke as Dr. John Watson and we know who his friend is. Jeremy Brett is the one man in the country who could untangle this potential crisis and keep it from coming to a head.

Given the limited number of characters in a short story, let alone one of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories about the master sleuth, we only have a limited number of suspects. It was obvious to me who the guilty party was almost from the beginning. Yet Conan Doyle's stories are mind games, the treat in reading and watching a dramatization is to see how Sherlock Holmes's mind works.

We don't have secret treaties any more, not because nations wouldn't like to have them. But in this the day of the internet, such secrets can't be kept for too long. What Wilson couldn't get by treaty, technology has forced upon nations.

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 one of the Conan Doyle short stories that had to be expanded to an hour's length.

It features a strong performance from David Gwillim. He plays Percy Phelps, a foreign office who has lost an important document. Embarrassingly his uncle is also the foreign minister. Phelps has literally fallen to illness brought about by the shock of losing the papers. He calls on his old school friend, Dr Watson for help.

Sherlock Holmes is certainly intrigued by the puzzle. Phelps working late at night only left his office briefly and the document swiftly disappeared. However Holmes knows enough to serve Phelps something special for breakfast.

This is a well adapted story, Jeremy Brett looks suave in his light coloured suit as he spends an afternoon in the country. It does lose some mystery because of the well known guest star syndrome.

The Naval Treaty is an episode I always enjoy watching, mostly for the acting, characters and the story itself. I think it's fair to say it is lacking in any suspense or mystery, I would argue that even a casual viewer would guess 'whodunit' within minutes.

As mentioned the performances are particularly fine, Brett is particularly strong in this one, commanding you to watch him, when he's not even so much as uttering a word. David Gwillim gives a particularly fine performance as Percy, the victim, you watch him and truly believe he's suffering. The late Gareth Thomas is also great in his role, he had such a command and presence.

So it lacks any real mystery, but it's a fine watch nonetheless. The production values, costumes etc are the glorious standard expected from this series.

One of those episodes it's nice to watch curled up with a cup of tea. 7/10