AllMovie

The inclusion of Arthur Conan Doyle's name in the title did not completely hide the fact that this BBC1 series was a revival of the network's earlier Sherlock Holmes, which came and went in 1965. Replacing the earlier series' Douglas Wilmer as the Great Detective was Peter Cushing, who had introduced his interpretation of Holmes in the 1959 theatrical-feature version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Back on hand from Sherlock Holmes was Nigel Stock as Holmes' faithful friend and chronicler Dr. Watson. The 16 50-minute adaptations offered on this series were quite elaborately mounted, with strong casts and impressive sets. Better still, a two-part adaptation of Hound of the Baskervilles was partially shot on location in Dartmoor. On the negative side, this version of the Holmes "canon" was rather topheavy with violence, a fact that was explained away by the producers as a reflection of the social turbulence of the late 19th century. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes originally aired in 1968 -- which, come to think of it, was a pretty violent year in its own right.