Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle - The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes (2000)

1911 London is the setting for this dark drama of sexual obsession and murder.

Out of death comes a detective who will not die

This made for BBC-TV movie tells how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Robin Laing) came to write mystery novels. The story begins with Mr. Doyle in Edinburgh's medical school under the tutelage of Dr. Joseph Bell (Ian Richardson). This is a tumultuous time for the school, since it's just been ruled women can be admitted. Tempers run high as some instructors refuse to teach and fellow medical students cast imprecations upon their new colleagues.

Doyle, who is initially suspicious of Dr. Bell's methods considers the man a wizard or a charlatan. As Doyle follows Bell's early forensic investigations, he realizes there is a science to what initially appears divination. For example, a referred-to 'unseen killer' turns out to be a gas furnace rigged to asphyxiate an inconvenient wife sleeping in her bedchamber.

Both men become entangled in a serial murder case involving beggars and prostitutes. The case gets politically shrouded when Sir Henry Carlyle's (Charles Dance) young wife comes down with syphilis and is slowly dying.

"Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle" is a fascinating study of history. Womens rights are birthing at the same time as the science of forensics and the way the two tie together fuses a riveting story. I rented this film initially, but am planning to add it to my mystery collection. The program is very well done and worth owning.

Rebecca Kyle, November 2008 November 19, 2008

delicious Victorian CSI......

As a Sherlock Holmes fan and a fan of period films-the premise of this series intrigued me. My husband and I watched this and both really enjoyed this production-which is saying a lot because my husband is not normally a fan of period dramas.

Anyone with a passing acquaintance of Doyle and Holmes should enjoy this production. Be forewarned-there is a lot more blood than in your typical period piece but it's tastefully done and intrinsic to the plot.

Ian Richardson is just fantastic in this and you can definitely see shades of Holmes in his performance-but so much more. We are looking forward to watching Murder Rooms - The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes next.

4.5 stars. Recommended. October 11, 2007

The Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holme

A great addition to every Sherlockian fan's DVD library, and must-have addition to the your BBC series with Jeremy Brett. These episodes are great, even as a stand alone series and a fantastic prequel to Conan Doyle's classics. Any fan will recognize the inspiration behind the Doyle stories with enough differences that are convincing that these stories are truly the "dark beginnings" of our hero's existence. Ian Richardson is one of my favorites and his performance is as compelling as his Francis Urquet of the House of Cards trilogy.

If there are anymore discs available other than 1 and 2, please let me know.

A must see for Sherlockmaniacs! July 14, 2007

Young Arthur Conan Doyle works with the "real" Sherlock Holmes

I have read most of the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, but I have avoided "new" Holmes stories by other writers. However, I have enjoyed the creative cinematic efforts that have dealt with the master detective, from "The Seven Percent Solution" to "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother," albeit with varying degrees of respect and affection. In that spirit I sought out "Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes." The sub-title is necessary for those who do not know that Doyle's inspiration for Holmes came, in part, from Dr. Joseph Bell, one of Doyle's teachers.

Bell was a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh's medical school, where he taught students the importance of close observation in making a diagnosis. This made him a forerunner in forensic pathology at a time when science was not yet a crucial part of solving crimes. Today we live in the world of what is called the "C.S.I. Effect," where juries demand the same sort of detailed forensic evidence they see on television, but Bell was breaking new ground. Doyle met Bell in 1877 when the future author was a medical student, and served for a while as his clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Much of Sherlock Holmes was clearly inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's creation, C. Auguste Dupin, but it was Dr. Bell's cutting edge work in deductive reasoning that gave the master detective his chief skill.

The conceit of "Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle" is that the young Doyle (Robin Laing) does more than study with Dr. Bell (Ian Richardson), becoming, in this fictional narrative, the "Watson" to the good Doctor's "Holmes." That should be enough to whet your appetite to check out this British made for television movie, originally shown as "Murder Rooms: "The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes." The biggest the literary creations and the "real" Bell and Doyle is that even though Bell is called upon as a consultant the police find his every hypotheses to be preposterous and the young Doyle has trouble believing Bell's deductions are anything more than cheap parlor trips. Another key elements in the initial story are the admittance of women to the University of Edinburgh's medical school. Doyle becomes enamored with one of the new students, Elspeth Scott (Dolly Wells), who is a target of the Bible quoting misogynist, Crawford (Joel Strachan). Meanwhile, Lady Sarah Carlisle (Ruth Platt), the wife of Sir Henry Carlyle (Charles Dance), has become ill and Bell's diagnosis becomes another point of contention between the student and his would be mentor. These plot elements underscore the critique of Victorian society as having little regard for women, whether they are prostitutes or the wives of members of Parliament. So there are myriad ways in which Bell is swimming against the tide.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Ian Richardson as Francis Urquhart in the "House of Cards" trilogy, seeing him play a more traditional hero rather than one more reminiscent of Shakespeare's Richard the III is an absolute treat, even if it means Laing's Doyle has a hard time being near the same playing field. The game afoot in this 2000 BBC production is within the Holmes tradition, although my favorite moment is when Bell makes the mistake of offering some devastating deductions regarding Doyle's pocket watch. I round down on this one only because the ending was too reminiscent of "Young Sherlock Holmes" for my taste. I was also at a loss to explain why the minimal framing device for the story was Doyle's decision to kill off his creation in "The Final Problem," and the angry reaction of his readers. But now that I am aware that this is but the opening gambit in a series of mysteries to be solved by Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle, I will defer judgment on that score until the others are available on DVD on this side of the pond (although I certainly share the impulse to just get a new toy that can handle PAL-discs so that I do not have to wait for shows that might never become available in the U.S. May 20, 2007

Dr. Bell is Sherlock Holmes

Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle - The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes is one of two DVD's I have featuring Ian Richardson as Dr. Bell. Both DVD's are fantastic. The story is intriging and actually takes place before the Holmes stories were written. The film features Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle and his teacher Dr. Bell. Bell was the basis of Doyle's Sherlock Holmes character and was one of the first to use forensics to help solve crimes. I highly recommend this DVD to any Sherlock fan. I hope more are coming. February 25, 2007

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