The Resident Patient

Holmes is consulted by a renowned medical man. Dr Percy Trevelyan (Nicholas Clay) who with the assistance of a wealthy benefactor, Mr Blessington (Patrick Newell) has achieved a thriving practice.

Trevelyan is worried about Mr Blessington who has been behaving oddly when usually he is a man of rigid routines. Blessington ramped up security in his home which also serves as Trevelyan's practice.

When Holmes meets Blessington, he feels let down as Blessington is hiding something. The next morning, Blessington is found hanged.

This is a story that is difficult to adapt for the screen. A lot of it is flashbacks as Trevelyan recounts his story. Once Blessington is found dead, Holmes then speculates what might have happened.

The thinness of the story also meant a lot of padding was required. The opening minutes could easily had been something from Scrooge.

Director David Carson who would make Star Trek: Generations does his best to pep up the episode, he does rely more on Brett to deliver his theatrical flourishes.

Sherlock Holmes is contacted by Dr Percy Trevelyan. Dr Trevelyan's medical practice was set up and paid for by Mr Blessington, who lives on the premises. Of late Mr Blessington has had spells of intense anxiety and fear. The doctor also had two Russian guests who disappeared mid-consultation but appeared to enter Mr Blessington's bedroom. Dr Trevelyan is worried for his benefactor's health and life.

Another enthralling and intriguing Sherlock Holmes mystery. The setup is quite eerie and gives an indication as to the state of Mr Blessington's mind. Once Holmes gets involved the investigating and deductions begin and here Holmes is in fine form.

Once again Jeremy Brett gives a fantastic performance as Holmes with David Burke solid as the dependable Dr Watson.

A young doctor consults Holmes about a curious case: a wealthy man has approached the doctor with an unusual offer a few years ago, offering to set him up in a luxurious house for his practice, on condition that he hands over three quarters of his earnings, and treats the man as a resident patient. It's been a fine arrangement for a couple of years, until the man suddenly started to show great fear and anxiety, and finally sent the doctor to call Sherlock Holmes.

Yet another very enjoyable addition to the series with fine performances throughout, but the key element here is the great story. The nicely executed dream sequence is a treat.

I've always loved the Granada Sherlock Holmes adaptations, finding them so well made and acted as well as largely compelling. And The Resident Patient is no exception to that. It is not one of my favourites of the series with some(not all) of the mystery taking some time to get going, but it has everything that I love so much about the series. The story, while not the most grippingly-paced, is a clever one, with a suspenseful enough atmosphere, a very entertaining opening scene and one of my favourite Holmes-Watson moments involving Holmes playing the violin badly while Watson is trying to work. The script is as thoughtfully written as ever, the music is still of the hauntingly beautiful quality that adds so much to the atmosphere of the series and it is a splendidly made episode with everything down from the sets, the carriages to the costumes evocatively done. The acting is great, Nicholas Clay and Patrick Newell give strong supporting performances, but every Sherlock Holmes story and episode focuses on its two leads and both are superb, David Burke is suitably quietly intelligent while Jeremy Brett becomes the iconic character of Holmes. Overall, a solid episode and adaptation. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Dr Trevelyan meets with Sherlock because he's very perplexed by his partner, Mr. Blessington. It seems the doctor is a very poor man...too poor to open a decent medical practice. However, out of the blue, Blessington offers to set him up in a cushy office and Blessington will live upstairs. However, Blessington begins behaving very strangely...with horrible dreams, moodiness and more. Yet, strangely, he won't tell the doctor anything and denies something is bothering him. When Sherlock meets with Blessington, he insists he's fine and tells Sherlock to get lost. A short time after this, Blessington is murdered...revealing that something is indeed was bothering him. Now it's up to Sherlock to determine who killed him and why.

This is a case I enjoyed, though I thought the postscript at the end was a bit too perfect and was unnecessary. Still, it's very good as you'd expect with his amazing Jeremy Brett series and is well worth your time.