The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983 film)

Sherlock Holmes is given news of the late Sir Charles' death, and the legend of the hound which is said to have killed the evil Sir Hugo Baskerville in retaliation for his brutal and violent rape of a beautiful farm girl. Holmes prepares to save Sir Henry Baskerville — nephew and heir of Sir Charles, and next in line to die from the hound. ==Cast==

• Ian Richardson as Sherlock Holmes • Donald Churchill as Dr. John H. Watson • Martin Shaw as Sir Henry Baskerville • Nicholas Clay as Jack Stapleton/Sir Hugo Baskerville • Glynis Barber as Beryl Stapleton • Brian Blessed as Geoffrey Lyons • Eleanor Bron as Mrs. Barrymore • Edward Judd as Barrymore • Connie Booth as Laura Lyons • Denholm Elliott as Dr. Mortimer • Ronald Lacey as Inspector Lestrade • David Langton as Sir Charles Baskerville • Cindy O'Callaghan as Maid • Francesca Gonshaw as Young Girl in Mire ==Production==

In 1982, American producer Sy Weintraub partnered with English producer Otto Plaschkes to make six television films of Sherlock Holmes stories. Charles Edward Pogue was enlisted to pen the screenplays The film's Geoffrey Lyons performs the feat of bending a fire iron as an intimidation tactic which was originally performed by Dr. Grimesby Roylott in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band". In the film version, Lyons is presented as an imposing suspect who is at one point falsely imprisoned for killing his wife. Holmes' solution to the case ultimately clears him. • Laura Lyons dies in the film, strangled by the murderer to protect his identity. She does not die in the novel. • Stapleton's demise in the bog is included as a part of the film's climax. He ambushes Holmes, Watson and Beryl outside the Hound's lair, but is chased by Holmes into the moor; he stumbles into the mire and sinks to his doom, despite Holmes' attempts to save him. The novel does not depict Stapleton's demise; he simply disappears on the moor and is assumed to have drowned in the mire. ==Reception==

Cinema Retro called the film "a cracking piece of entertainment...with lush production values that completely belie its TV movie origins." Matthew Bunson in The Encyclopedia Sherlockiana praised the "first rate" production and Ronald Lacey's performance as Lestrade but felt that Richardson's interpretation of Holmes was "a bit too amiable." Dr Lenera praised the production but criticised the violence, particularly the rape scene, calling it "quite a grim affair, at least for a 1983 TV production". ==References==