Elementary My Dear Watson: The Man Behind Sherlock Holmes
Documentary (2009) 120 minutes ~ Color
Gaslights, horse-drawn carriages, a fog-filled London all bring to mind the period of the enigmatic Sherlock Holmes. But there is another character in the story that is often neglected and misunderstood - Dr. Watson. In this fascinating new program by award-winning filmmaker and best-selling author, Philip Gardiner and author of numerous books, Brian Allen, we unlock the mysteries of Dr. Watson, the man behind Sherlock Holmes.
Director: Philip Gardiner
Writers: Philip Gardiner, Brian Allan
Documentary (2009) 120 minutes ~ Color
Gaslights, horse-drawn carriages, a fog-filled London all bring to mind the period of the enigmatic Sherlock Holmes. But there is another character in the story that is often neglected and misunderstood - Dr. Watson. In this fascinating new program by award-winning filmmaker and best-selling author, Philip Gardiner and author of numerous books, Brian Allen, we unlock the mysteries of Dr. Watson, the man behind Sherlock Holmes.
Director: Philip Gardiner
Writers: Philip Gardiner, Brian Allan
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Gaslights, horse-drawn carriages, a fog in shrouded London, great wealth and squalor
00:14exist side by side.
00:16Queen Victoria presides over a mighty global empire.
00:21It is the greatest period of global expansion in the history of Great Britain.
00:26Yet in spite of this, psychopaths like Jack the Ripper stalk the streets and poverty
00:32and crime are endemic.
00:39The public needed a diversion, a hero, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle unwittingly granted
00:45their wish when he created what is perhaps the greatest fictional sleuth of all time,
00:51the peerless gentleman detective, Sherlock Holmes.
01:13Doyle wove his literary magic and his fictional characters took on a life of their own.
01:19Their exploits have been told and retold hundreds of times in print and as technology
01:24progressed in the cinema, radio and television.
01:32The tales were so effective that thousands of people the world over came to believe that
01:38Holmes and his faithful assistant were no work of fiction and actually lived at 221B
01:44Baker Street.
01:47So much so that letters to Holmes still arrive by the hundred at this address.
01:54The world of Sherlock Holmes was one of continual change in hope, yet simultaneously filled
01:59with threats of fear, drudgery, disease and hunger.
02:07Did these insidious influences affect Doyle when he peopled his imaginary world with its
02:12larger than life characters?
02:16His creation, Holmes, has become better known than his creator, but what of his friend and
02:22right hand man, the enigmatic Dr. Wadson?
02:29Why did Conan Doyle think his ultra-efficient amateur sleuth would need an assistant?
02:37What was the reality behind this rather unassuming and neglected man?
02:42Who was he?
02:43Where did he come from?
02:44Why was he so vital to the way in which Holmes operated?