The Golden Pince-Nez

As far as the adaptations go in the series The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes go, The Golden Pince-Nez is not as good as the brilliant Cardboard Box. But it is much better than the interesting-try-but-failed Mazarin Stone, which was not only the weakest of this series but also one of the weaker overall Granada Sherlock Holmes adaptations.

Apart from some dull spots in the middle and a rather obvious goof in regards to Anna's glasses, The Golden Pince-Nez is a very interesting episode. The writing is good on the whole, the conversations between Holmes and Mycroft are particularly intriguing and the story is compelling with a good atmosphere and a solution that did grab and surprise me.

The production values are superb, I always love how evocative it all is, and the music is often hauntingly beautiful. The acting is fine, the supporting cast do everything they can without standing out too much, but the real joys are Jeremy Brett and Charles Gray who are both brilliant and their chemistry is delightful.

Overall, an interesting episode if not quite one of the best. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is quite a good classic mystery story and one of the better offerings in the Holmes saga. It involves a mysterious murder of a young secretary. He has been stabbed in the neck with a letter opener and has bled to death, his dying statement: "Professor...it was she." The secretary has also grabbed a golden pince nez (those old fashioned spectacles that sat on a person's nose). The professor in question is a bed ridden, chain-smoking historian. He is a harsh man with little patience. Holmes has been called in, assisted by brother Mycroft (apparently Edward Hardwicke, the Watson of the series, was unavailable for this episode). Holmes has been approached by a young police detective, who has produced a layout of the house and offered a few opinions. Of course, the two brothers are incensed by his basic incompetence. This leads to an investigation that banks on how someone could commit a murder in this house and not be seen by the housekeeper or the maid (who discovered the body). There is also a subplot about a women's temperance group, whose leader has become a possible suspect. There are also forces going back to events long ago involving an attempted revolution. This is also the time when Mycroft quotes their father concerning eliminating the impossible, hence, leaving behind the truth. The ultimate maxim of Holmes. Excellent performances all around, especially the Professor, played by great British stage actor Frank Finlay.

Inspector Stanley Hopkins visits Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes at Baker Street to discuss the death of Willoughby Smith, a secretary to the irascible and invalid Professor Coram. As far as Hopkins is concerned there was no motive to the murder.

The dead man had in his hand a pair of golden pince-nez glasses. Both men are intrigued enough to set off to investigate.

As Edmund Hardwicke was filming the movie Shadowlands, Dr Watson does not feature in this episode, too busy dealing with an epidemic.

It is always great to see Charles Gray again as Mycroft. Frank Finlay is a hoot as the chain smoking Professor Coram, his bedroom being an haze of smoke from the Egyptian cigarettes. Even Sherlock wants those cigarettes. Coram thinks that his secretary's death is due to suicide. A theory that astounds both Sherlock and Mycroft.

Of course Finlay is too obviously a bad guy and the answer to the murder lies in the events of a Russian uprising and Coram's past.

A rather melodramatic ending to the episode and some very arty direction from director Peter Hammond.

This is the last episode in the Granada series in which we get to see Holmes and his brother Mycroft work together and one in which Watson is no where to found (Edward Hardwicke at the time was busy working on a feature film). It involves the murder of an old amanuensis who died with a small pair of reading glasses clutched in his hand. It nicely ties in historical elements of Woman's Sufferage and Russian Revolution, as well as adds twists and humor into the story. The visuals are artsy and the chemistry between Jeremy Brett and Charles Gray is always a treat. This turns out to be one of the more enjoyable of the later episodes in the series.

Sherlock Holmes is approached by Inspector Hopkins to help solve the murder of Willoughby Smith. He was the assistant of Professor Coran, an invalided expert on ancient writings and religions, and was found by the maid. His dying words to her were "Professor, it is she". As luck would have it, Dr Watson is not available and Sherlock's brother Mycroft is visiting so lends his intellectual might to the investigation.

Another intriguing mystery in the Sherlock Holmes canon and evidence that the great quality of the previous episode was not a once-off (the series suffered somewhat in the latter episodes of The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes and the first episode of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes wasn't that great either).

Good plot and Jeremy Brett is in good form as Sherlock Holmes. Making this episode even better is the presence of Mycroft Holmes (expertly played by Charles Gray). Sherlock once said that Mycroft was the only person who was his intellectual superior and the cerebral rivalry shows. There's even an element of jealousy in some of Sherlock's actions. It certainly makes for a refreshing different dynamic to the usual Sherlock-Dr Watson one.