Silver Blaze

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson head out to horse training stables in the country, hired by wealthy horse owner Colonel Ross. His trainer has been murdered and his prize racehorse Silver Blaze has disappeared just days before the prestigious Wessex Cup.

An intriguing episode of Sherlock Holmes with a fairly original setting of country stables. A reasonably clever and watertight plot, complete with very good twists in terms of both crimes involved. A good ending too that closes off the story well.

As always, Jeremy Brett is in great form as Sherlock Holmes and Edward Hardwicke lends solid support as Dr Watson.

Peter Barkworth appeared in several episodes of The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes as Martin Hewitt. He elevates this episode as Colonel Ross the owner of the race horse Silver Blaze who has gone missing in the eve of a famous horse race. The trainer is found dead, thought to have been stabbed when fighting with the abductors of the horse.

Colonel Ross has no time for Sherlock Holmes but reluctantly accepts his aid as the police are getting nowhere.

Holmes and Watson go off to Dartmoor. Suspicion lies with the neighbouring race horse breeder. Colonel Ross blames the gypsies.

The short story starts off slowly but then races ahead. It is cleverly put together and Sherlock even has a flutter at the race course. The episode is very atmospherically shot.

I think both Brett and Hardwicke were delighted to have Barkworth among the cast.

What happened to the famous race horse Silver Blaze on the eve of a significant race? Sherlock Holmes must find out who took the horse, where the horse is, now, and who brutally murdered its trainer.

This is one of the great Brett episodes.

To be honest, knowing nothing about racing or horses, the story left me cold in the book.

This story does contain one of the most famous Holmesisms, but I won't spoil it.

The Brett version keeps everything clear. And as the stable owner, Colonel Ross, guest star Peter Barkworth is perfectly cast and even brings a touch of humor to an unpleasant role.

We Brett fans despaired when Burke left the role of Doctor Watson. In this episode Edward Hardwicke proves why he was such a readily-accepted replacement. It was not the actor but the perception of Watson that mattered. And Hardwicke was the more common perception of what Watson looked like in the mind's eye.

I would have been bored if this turned out to be a racetrack story, but SILVER BLAZE is a very clever mystery about a missing horse who disappears from his stable and goes somewhere on the moors. It takes Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to solve the mystery of his disappearance.

Not overly complicated with baffling clues, it's one of the better Holmes stories. Little by little Holmes puts together pieces of what might have happened by questioning servants and stable boys and dealing with the owner of a nearby estate who knows something about the whole episode.

The usual good photography, especially for the outdoor settings on the moors and a nice performance by PETER BARKWORTH as the owner of Silver Blaze.

One of the best episodes from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" volume of the Granada series. Holmes and Watson visit Dartmoor (the setting of "The Hound of the Baskervilles") to investigate the disappearance of a missing horse with a winning streak named Silver Blaze. Along the way the Horse's keeper is brutally killed. The story manages to be really clever as it is fun to watch as Holmes is able to little by little piece together all of what happened. The solution to it all is satisfying as well. Jeremy Brett as usual reminds us yet again as to why he is the perfect actor to play Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary sleuth and Edward Hardwicke makes for a Dr. Watson of equal perfection. The photography and location work is excellent here too. I definitely recommend it.