Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes
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Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes was a BBC television drama series originally broadcast in 2000. It was a fictional detective series inspired by the facts that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based the character of Sherlock Holmes on his tutor at the University of Edinburgh Dr Joseph Bell, and that Bell did occasionally do forensic work for the Edinburgh police.
The series exaggerated the similarity between Bell and Holmes for dramatic effect, with Doyle acting as Watson, and included several scenes from the books (the assumption being that these would later inspire Doyle's fiction). It did, however, also remain true to the main points of the two men's history.
One of the most notable Holmes references is a version of a scene in The Sign of Four in which Holmes deduces a pocket watch provided by Watson was formerly owned by a drunkard, at which a furious Watson believes Holmes has callously acquired information about his unfortunate brother for the sake of a cheap trick. The series' version of the scene has Bell deduce the mental state of Doyle's father, inspiring much the same reaction. (This scene also appeared in the otherwise unrelated drama The Strange Case of Arthur Conan Doyle, also by Pirie.)
The series starred Ian Richardson as Dr Bell and Robin Laing as Arthur Doyle, and was filmed in Scotland and in Cromer in Norfolk.
The original miniseries was followed by an extended series of feature-length stories under the same title. Richardson reprised his role as Dr Bell but this time Doyle was played by Charles Edwards. Produced by the BBC's Films arm rather than the drama division, no second series was commissioned despite critical and audience success. One BBC insider wryly commented that it was "too successful for the wrong department".
Pirie also wrote three episode novelisations: The Patient's Eyes (2001), The Night Calls (2003) and The Dark Water (2004).
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