The fog shrouded mists of Merrye Olde London towne swirl once again. Though you won’t find Sherlock and Dr. Watson pursuing the game afoot in this set. This set concerns the fictional creations that rivaled the famous consulting detectives literary reign.
When you think of James Bond your mind might also wander to Derek Flint, Matt Helm, or even Austin Powers. Literary creation Sherlock Holmes also had his rivals. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had the rivals as other authors tried to capture the success that Doyle had with Holmes.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and Holmes was one that was flattered often. In 1971 Thames Television televised the adventures of some of those literary contemporaries of the consulting detective, based on the series of anthologies by Hugh Greene.
This series would highlight the sleuthing creations of authors R. Austin Freeman, Ernest Bramah, William Hope Hodgson, Arthur Morrison, the Baroness Orczy, Guy Boothby, and Max Pemberton. Conan Doyle certainly has the more name recognition.
If you don’t recognize the authors, their literary creations might be even more unknown. Certainly you can ask a group of yahoos on the street who Sherlock Holmes is and you’ll get responses from most of them.
Ask them who Dr. Thorndyke is and you’ll get more looks of confusion than you will the answer that he was the fictional detective of R. Austin Freeman. Freeman’s creation is probably more like Holmes than the others, especially since he’s played by John Neville who portrayed Holmes on the screen, but just because these sleuths were created in the time of Holmes doesn’t mean that they’re not worth seeking out.
The discs do features some fine faces of British cinema and television. It also marks the first appearance of Jeremy Irons.
Disc 1 –
Episode 1: A Message from the Deep Sea Episode 2: The Missing Witness Sensation Episode 3: The Affair of the Avalanche Bicycle & Tyre Co. Ltd. Episode 4: The Duchess of Wiltshire’s Diamonds Disc 2 –
Episode 5: The Horse of the Invisible Episode 6: The Case of the Mirror of Portugal Episode 7: Madame Sara Disc 3 –
Episode 8: The Case of the Dixon Torpedo Episode 9: The Woman in the Big Hat Episode 10: The Affair of the Tortoise Disc 4 –
Episode 11: The Assyrian Rejuvenator Episode 12: The Ripening Rubies Episode 13: The Case of Laker, Absconded
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes is presented in fullscreen. Special features include text bios of the authors and more information about their literary creations.
The detectives might not have the press of Mr. Holmes and their creators are not as well known as Doyle, but it was a pleasure to get to know them through this fun British television series.
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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