- Title: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – The Speckled Band
- wiki: link
Sherlock Saturday takes us back to 221 B Baker Street and the Granada Television’s faithful adaptations of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. A locked-room mystery with a wicked reveal, “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” is one of my favorite Holmes short stories involving a dastardly plot by a greedy stepfather as Doctor Grimesby Roylott (Jeremy Kemp) targets the second of his two stepdaughters preventing a marriage which would force him to give up a sum for their dowry. As Holmes (Jeremy Brett) puts it here: “When a doctor goes wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has nerve. He has knowledge.”
After successfully killing the elder stepdaughter (Denise Armon) by means no one could discern, which we see play out in a flashback, Rylott is now targeting Helen Stoner (Rosalyn Landor) who is engaged to be wed. Events similar to those of her sister’s mysterious death, such as being relocated to her sister’s bedroom under flimsy reasoning by her stepfather and has hearing the same mysterious whistle late at night that her sister mentioned prior to her death, has sent Ms. Stoner to Holmes and Watson (David Burke) in a panic for help.
With only the clues Helen as provided, including her sister’s dying words (which give the story its title), and some oddities the detective notices about the layout of the room, Holmes suspects foul play. In the dead of night he confirms the method in which Helen’s sister was killed as Roylott’s weapon of choice backfires leaving the doctor to face the swamp adder sent to silently kill which Holmes forces back on to its master.
Although I found Kemp a bit over-the-top in the role of our villain, the Granada adaption makes good use of the mysterious whistle and laying out various clues and trepidation by Holmes before the reveal of the snake. The episode’s closing credits are also memorable showcasing the snake making its way down the bell rope hunting for its prey.
