The Bruce Partington Plans

Sherlock Holmes is urgently contacted by his brother Mycroft. Top secret submarine plans have been stolen and the man believed responsible, Cadogan West, found dead on a train track with some of the plans on his person. The most important parts of the plans of the plans are still missing. Mycroft needs Sherlock to find the missing plans before they land in the hands of a foreign power.

An interesting, intriguing mystery. A tale of espionage, murder and honour.

As always, Jeremy Brett is excellent as Sherlock Holmes and Edward Harwicke is great as Dr Watson. Good to see Charles Gray back as Mycroft. It's a pity he only appears in two Holmes episodes: he and Sherlock make a great combination and it's wonderful to think that there's someone Sherlock regards as more intelligent than himself.

The Bruce Partington plans is another great episode from a top notch series, the story itself isn't particularly deep or complex, it is simply a case of find the missing papers, but it is hugely absorbing, beautifully acted, and superbly produced.

The appearance of Mycroft always elevates an episode, Charles Gray a fantastic performer, who seemed to inspire Brett. There's a great scene where Mycroft dismisses Holmes vocation as something minor, almost pointless, but of course Sherlock has the last laugh.

The episode is fast paced, energetic, edgy and has an energy to it that wasn't evident in the last few episodes. Not the standard of The Devil's Foot (What is though?) but certainly better then Silver Blaze and Wysteria Lodge.

Excellent. 9/10

I'm interested in Holmes because he changed the nature of narrative, a revolution every bit as significant as the invention of human rights. I'm interested as well because he reflects an odd battle we haven't settled and probably won't: the battle between those who believe in the supernatural and the other extreme, that all behavior and especially human behavior is rational. Its a fascinating war that we all see ourselves in somehow.

And I'm interested in Holmes because it is almost a perfect textbook case of the challenges of mapping the core notions of the literary to the cinematic. Well, other authors would be more interesting, but this one is so well known...

But I don't find the stories themselves that much fun. The much advertised Holmes method of deduction is often tossed and we have disguises, what today would be called footwork by the Baker Street irregulars, and traps. (This story has more actual deduction than most.) Of all the Holmes stories, the one feature that I love is the usually invisible brother, Mycroft. He's seven years senior and very much Holmes' superior in logic. He's as far from Holmes in talent as Holmes is from Watson, our designated ordinary man. He's obese and never leaves his comfortable chair at the Diogenes Club, where he entertains a stream of needy supplicants including his brother. Imagine Orson Welles.

He's an amazing character. He's in this story. He's not impressive or interesting here.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

As people may well know by now, I am a big fan of the Granada Sherlock Holmes series. As far as the episodes in The Return of Sherlock Holmes go, I still think The Devil's Foot is the standout of this particular series, but The Bruce-Partington Plans is one of those episodes that shows why I love the series as much as I do.

The pace is mostly solid, if dragging a tad once or twice. That said, the story is an interesting and well-told one, and is further helped by the thoughtful dialogue, the meticulous production values(one of the series' best assets), the wonderful music and the top notch acting of Jeremy Brett, Edward Hardwicke and Charles Gray.

All in all, a great episode. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is yet another "missing important document" mystery just like "The Naval Treaty" and "The Second Stain" but it is still very well done. This time it features Holmes's older, wiser brother Mycroft as he presents Sherlock with a case involving missing naval documents called "The Bruce Partington Plans" that were taken from a man who died coming off of a moving train. Everything in the story comes together nicely and the explanation as to how the man was killed from the train is as Watson states "a masterpiece." The pacing is very good and the production values are superb. As usual Brett and Hardwicke delight as Holmes and Watson and Charles Gray is wonderful as the man that Holmes's often refers to as "Brother Mine." Fun Fact: BBC's "Sherlock" did a modern twist on this story in the episode called "The Great Game."