Wisteria Lodge

An episode that is divided into two parts in the literary form. It starts with a Mr. Eccles who has been invited to the signature lodge. He spends an evening with a group of nervous people who get even more nervous when they receive a message. When Eccles awakens, everyone has disappeared. The house is empty. Now a series of events ensues, involving a vicious murderer and his henchmen. In the mix, however, is revenge for the death of a loved one and a plot to exact that revenge. It leads to a daring effort to infiltrate the evil man's domain and Holmes and Watson getting in a bit deep. I like this episode because of the complexity of the network that develops from the actions of the villain. It is much more intense than many of the stories and moves us along with great pacing.

I agree that Freddie Jones was fantastic. He is the best policeman foil to Holmes that I have seen.

The story was quite odd and not believable in parts; nevertheless, I watched with rapt attention from start to finish.

I don't consider Wisteria Lodge up there with the best Granada Sherlock Holmes adaptations, but I can think of worse(ie. Eligible Bachelor), however it is in my opinion quite good. The story itself is wonderful, and quite unique for reasons that have been explained so well already.

The story here is intriguing and starts off grand, it's just that in the middle where the atmosphere get darker and gloomier and some of the pacing gets a little too languid for my liking, the storytelling does get perhaps too murky.

However, the adaptation once again is well made. I have always admired the authenticity and look of the costumes, sets and scenery, and Wisteria Lodge is no exception. The photography and editing is not among the best of these adaptations but they are good.

My quibble with the production values though is some of the lighting where some scenes are too dimly lit, so it is not always easy to see what's going on. In its defence though, Wisteria Lodge is not the first Sherlock Holmes to have this problem, of the many I've seen I think Mazarin Stone(one of those interesting but failed attempts) is especially guilty of this.

Back to the positives, I have always loved the music of this series, I find it so haunting and beautiful. Again Wisteria Lodge is no exception to the rule. The writing is as thoughtful and sophisticated as ever, some may find the mirror gimmick annoying I actually found it interesting and crucial to the mystery, and as superb as Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke are in the leads, the real kudos when it comes to the acting is Freddie Jones. His Baynes is a very interesting character and very enjoyable to watch, and Jones, always a fine actor, nails the role.

In conclusion, it is a slight disappointment, but it is quite good all the same. 7/10 Bethany Cox

For me, watching "The Adventures", now "The Return" series I'm so glad I chose the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes collection to view. There isn't an episode so far I didn't fully enjoy. Even with changing Watsons and Brett's declining health semi shocks. I jumped ship on Endeavour after maybe 5 episodes or so. These stories are crisp, no filler, great acting. Endeavour stories are good, but silly complex, and ultra dry up to the ending. Hopefully these are strong to the last one.

I wonder if Arthur Conan Doyle's Wisteria Lodge was inspired by Arthur Morrison's The Affair of the Tortoise which was published earlier.

The latter was dramatised as an episode of The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes featuring the detective Martin Hewitt.

Both stories feature people with a murky past from the Americas who are now hiding out in Britain.

A cartographer Scott Eccles consults Sherlock Holmes. He was invited to a country estate as a guest of an amateur Spanish cartographer, Garcia. The next morning, Eccles wakes up and find the house deserted. The police later turn up wanting to question Eccles over the death of Mr Garcia.

Freddie Jones gives a fruity performance as Inspector Barnes. He comes across as pompous and pig headed at first, telling Holmes that he can follow his path while Barnes will tread his own. Holmes is convinced that Barnes has the wrong suspect.

Holmes and Watson investigate a neighbouring house. Dr Watson thinks he has spotted a lady in distress. It is an elaborate revenge tale featuring a fugitive dictator from Latin America. To Holme's surprise Barnes was never too far off the scent.

There is a lot of plot here, it just starts off in a very subdued manner. Jones actually livens things up a little and at the end it is a rather tragic tale of revenge.