The Man with the Twisted Lip

It is hard to imagine that any other actor will ever come close to Brett's interpretation of Sherlock Holmes. More than that, the production values of this series are just fantastic.

In this episode, we are transported away to a different time and place, London 130 years ago. Obviously I wasn't there, but this, and almost all the other shows, are fantastic at creating a sense of realism and evoking a marvelous mood. I just can't praise them enough. Staging, photography, acting, all first rate.

As to this particular episode, the plot is very good, though certainly not the best of the series. The ending is a surprise (I can't imagine anyone guessing it), and the denouement wonderful. It has some of that special emotional kick that the best of these have.

• henry

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.

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.

Fellow Agatha Christie fans may agree with me, when I say I see parallels between this outing for Holmes and Watson, and Poirot's 'The disappearance of Mr Davenheim.' Lots of parallels between the two.

I am a fan of this episode, I really like the story, it darkens as it deepens. Also there was an energy, an exuberance in these early episodes, it's slick and fast paced. Great performances all round, from the supporting cast, Eleanor David and Clive Francis are on fine form. Francis steals it.

As always the production values are sublime, the costumes and sets, even the opening credits, the music player being robbed etc. There is a depressingly grim realism about the scenes in the opium den, the accompanying music works well, so dark.

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