The Man with the Twisted Lip

I can't explain the idea behind The Man With The Twisted Lip since that in itself would give the whole thing away. I only wish the story had been better developed as the idea was an original one.

Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke as the intrepid Holmes and Watson are called in on a missing persons case in which foul play is suspected. More than suspected because the woman who requested aid from Holmes and Watson actually saw her husband from the second story of an opium den in a seamy part of London. But by the time she got up there, he was gone and articles of clothes were later found in the Thames.

A rather scholarly beggar is arrested for the crime of murder, but it all doesn't add up. In other words it all isn't quite so elementary, even Dr. Watson is suspicious.

Eleanor David is the woman who hires Holmes and Clive Francis has an interesting role as the beggar with a knowledge of the classics.

I think Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had the kernel of a good idea, but he didn't develop it all that well. Still Baker Street purists will like it.

I do love the Granada Sherlock Holmes series to death, they are so well made and acted as well as interesting and most of them only get better on repeated viewings. Of the Returns series(if we were for a minute to exclude the feature length adaptations Sign of Four and Hound of the Baskervilles, both of which are superior in my opinion to this one), the best of that series is The Devil's Foot, followed by The Empty House. The Man With the Twisted Lip is not one of my favourites of the series like The Crooked Man, The Blue Carbuncle, The Dying Detective, The Final Problem, The Cardboard Box and The Devil's Foot, but it is still a solid enough episode. There have been more compelling stories of the series and perhaps more swifter-paced ones too, but The Man With The Twisted Lip is memorable for a wonderful denouncement and a scene in an opium den that is an all too haunting reminder of what drugs then and now could do to you. It is as always a splendidly made episode, it not just looks great though but also the atmosphere actually makes you feel you were there. The music is hauntingly beautiful and the writing has been stronger before but especially with the reflective and powerfully written final fifteen minutes or so it does show evidence of thoughtfulness. The acting is fine. Eleanor David of the support cast is the one who captivates, though Dennis Lill is an excellent Inspector Bradstreet and Clive Franis is good as St Clair. Edward Hardwicke is a subtle and composed Watson, contrasting wonderfully with the ever commanding Holmes of Jeremy Brett. All in all, solid enough but not one of the better episodes of the series. 8/10 Bethany Cox

The Man with the Twisted Lip is a scholarly beggar earning a good living in the city of London. Even Holmes has come across him several times.

The story begin with Dr Watson going to an opium den to find an errant husband only to bump into Holmes who is in disguise in the same drug den. He is also looking for altogether another missing husband. Neville St Clair, a genteel respectable businessman in the city whose wife spotted him in this very drug den a few days earlier.

Holmes fears that St Clair is dead and the police think that the scholarly beggar is the prime suspect.

Unfortunately this is an adaptation that does not leap out from the page to the screen. It seemed laboured and slow. It saddens me to say that I expected more from the legendary Alan Plater.

This was a difficult short story to portray on the screen without giving much of the twist away. It was still easy to work out.

It had been Holmes' painful duty to inform a loving, loyal and utterly determined wife that all hope was gone - her beloved respectable husband was dead, murdered in all probability by a crippled filthy beggar in some loathsome Thameside shack.

Of all the episodes in this famed TV series, the denouement to this story stands alone. Inspector Bradshaw of the "Yard" is forced in that moment to review his full 27 years of service and unable to find its like, Holmes cusses himself as a fool for failing to see what stood before his face and Watson - and the viewer - can merely stare in silent amazement. The equipment necessary for Holmes to reveal the true culprit was of the simplest kind, to be found in every household yet only Holmes could have revealed the secret and saved an innocent man from the gallows.

When the British resisted an end to the Opium Wars with China, they brought to their world a host of terrible results. The opium den became a fixture in the poorer streets of London and other cities and there was an open toleration. Even citizens, mostly me, found recreation in attendance of these places (this was true of prostitution and child neglect as well). The poor were victimized for economic reasons. In this episode, Watson is engaged by a young wife to find and bring home her husband, who has probably fallen into this habit. As he investigates, he finds his friend Holmes disguised, attending one of the worst of these places. He tells Watson he is on a case. They move forward in pursuit of clues as to the whereabouts of this man and at one point assume him dead. This is a story of persistence and faith. What it doesn't address is the ultimate price of all this. We sometimes speculate in amusement about Holmes cocaine use and Watson's seven percent solution. We are of a different time and place; hence, we cannot totally judge a culture on its terms. This is certainly unique among the original canon and very engaging.