A young solicitor is visited by a retired builder, who apparently wants to leave his whole wealth and state to him in his will. The builder is found dead that very night, and all suspicion naturally falls on the young fellow. But before he's caught by the police, he's able to reach Sherlock and ask for his help.
This is one of my two favorite episodes from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which curiously have the lowest ratings of the series on imdb (the other being The Greek Interpreter). Just like The Greek Interpreter introduced Charles Gray as Mycroft Holmes, this one introduces Colin Jeavons as the unimaginative, slightly annoying but mostly lovable Inspector Lestrade. Jeavons brings a strange quality to Lestrade that I'm not sure was entirely present in the written works: Although he often ends up looking ridiculous after his incompetence is exposed next to Sherlock's brilliance, he's not that much incompetent. For me, the the TV series Lestrade is much better than the written story Lestrade, and it's a rare achievement to improve over the source material.
It's a wonderful story, with revelation after revelation, including possibly the best deductions Holmes makes. Definitely a must watch.
This is one of my two favorite episodes from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which curiously have the lowest ratings of the series on imdb (the other being The Greek Interpreter). Just like The Greek Interpreter introduced Charles Gray as Mycroft Holmes, this one introduces Colin Jeavons as the unimaginative, slightly annoying but mostly lovable Inspector Lestrade. Jeavons brings a strange quality to Lestrade that I'm not sure was entirely present in the written works: Although he often ends up looking ridiculous after his incompetence is exposed next to Sherlock's brilliance, he's not that much incompetent. For me, the the TV series Lestrade is much better than the written story Lestrade, and it's a rare achievement to improve over the source material.
It's a wonderful story, with revelation after revelation, including possibly the best deductions Holmes makes. Definitely a must watch.