Silver Blaze

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.

Silver Blaze is a very clever mystery, it holds a fair amount of intrigue and has an excellent, unexpected conclusion. If I'm honest it's not one of my favourites, I definitely think the story benefits from being produced during a purple patch for the Granada show, having just put out The Devil's Foot, the show was very much on form. I feel the story is elevated by the superb production values, and the excellent performances, particularly from Peter Barkworth, a much missed, tremendous actor.

I like the story, I just prefer most of the others from The Return series. It's clever, well made, and definitely worth a watch. 7/10

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.

The short story is a very clever one. I can say the same for this episode and adaptation. While it is not my favourite episode of the series, it is just as clever and absorbing as the story. The solution whether you've read the story or not is enough to delight and surprise any Sherlock Holmes fan. The production values as is always the case with this series is of top quality with the costumes and sets authentic and the camera shots excellent. The music is still as beautiful and as haunting as before, and the writing as thoughtful and sophisticated. The cast are fine, Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke are superb and Peter Barkworth stands out of the supporting cast. In conclusion, a solid adaptation and well done episode. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The Granada Holmes episodes are hit and miss. This is a hit.

For this to work, you have to have a backbone that's strong. In this case, it is because Holmes is depicted here as an actual detective, someone who figures things out. No tricking, no undercover work, just thinking.

On that, you hope the adapter hangs appropriate cinematic storytelling. This isn't great, but compared to other episodes is refreshing.

This is the famous episode where an important clue is that the dog didn't bark.

This is the series where Holmes is depicted as the detective that does bark. It works, after a fashion.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.