The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

It is so easy to look back and say we had higher standards of television years ago but this series goes a long way to proving the point. When they were originally broadcast these programmes went out at 9.00 on Monday evening following a current affairs documentary "World In Action" - very often a controversial and downright bloody-minded look at national and international politics. In the same slots today we have a half-hour soap opera followed by a series about a PA in a supermarket chain, coping with her employer relocating its head office.

These programmes are literate and don't betray their literary origins. The scripts are full of period flavour, take their time to develop plot and character, and give the actors plenty to work with. And what actors: John Neville, Robert Stephens, Peter Barkworth and Peter Vaughan to name a few of the leads; character actors of the quality of Terence Rigby and George A. Cooper turn up in supporting roles.

The production values are very high, too, with richly decorated Victorian settings. The BBC has always set the benchmark for period drama in the UK but Thames gave them a run for their money here and were rewarded with a Best Design BAFTA in 1972.

If you enjoy period detective work but you are suffering from Holmes fatigue you could do far worse than invest in these for your DVD player - theowinthrop, please note!

I discovered this series on '70s American public television by accident while channel-surfing (or whatever we called it back in the days when you twisted a knob and then had to fine-tune the receiver). I felt like it was almost my personal secret then, something like Jean Shepherd's Ralphie feels before he decodes Annie's message. Except, this doesn't turn out to be a disappointment. The stories were intelligent, accessible, and timeless. This is TV doing what it should, before everything was about teen angst. (You know, I was a teen once and I don't remember having any angst. Maybe that was partly because my TV entertained me without suggesting I had to be glum to be cool. Maybe not.)

I've never seen it since and I've often wondered why not. It seems like the kind of thing that modern mystery fans would love to have, even if that meant buying it on DVD.

Having never seen them I stumbled across the first series on DVD ... they are typical British television in the best sense... literate, beautifully acted (with an amazing cast list) and with a marvellous sense of period.

They are based on early crime novels and most of the writers are unknown to me especially those based on novels that are clearly not of English origin.

Whilst the production standards of 1970 may not match today and some of the individual plots are sometimes a bit ordinary the two series make great viewing for any fan of crime novels and will especially appeal to any fan of the Sherlock Holmes.

These are very interesting stories, told in a very literate manner. Most are understandable, others are very obtusely written. The acting is very good but more suited for British theater rather than TV. The production standards are very dated, and the heavy use of "greasepaint" type makeup is distracting, especially in the harsh lighting. However, since the episodes are not connected, it's a good series to insert in your streaming queue and pull out an episode when your own queue is thin on the ground, and you need something to watch.

A series of unconnected mysteries, the only thing linking them, they're each cases set during The Victorian era, cases that could have been investigated by Sherlock Holmes, but were instead investigated by his rivals.

This is a hugely rewarding series, if you're a fan of mysteries, there's definitely something here for you.

It's a high quality series, with a real diversity of crimes and stories, murders, thefts, political dealings, there's truly something for everyone.

Production values are of the highest order, the sets and costumes are terrific, it looks fantastic, more than that though it captures the vibe and atmosphere of the era.

The acting for the most part is terrific, expect to see some of the very best, look out for Peter Barkworth, Peter Vaughan, Derek Jacobi, Donald Pleasence and many more.

My favourite episodes were definitely Cell 13 and Five hundred carats, two more different stories you couldn't get, the only ones I struggled with were The Dixon Torpedo and Madame Sara, but both were watchable.

A series that's worth your time.

8/10.