Hands of a Murderer

Woodward is a vibrant Sherlock Holmes; Hillerman, a subdued Watson and Andrews, the best part of the picture, is an ominous Moriarty. The story rings familiar from some of Doyle's works and it is given good treatment by the cast.

Very derivative, with odd bits of various Holmes stories stapled together. I would agree that Edward Woodward is an excellent actor, but not Holmes. Anthony Andrews is, however, an excellent Moriarty. Once again Mycroft is rather too thin for the role, and I would agree that being snuck up on by a large Thug who has to lever open a casket to do so is pretty improbable. The main problem for me is that the time lines simply do not hold together- having missed the announcement of the date at the start I was looking for clues. So.... last public execution in England, 1863 (and not a multiple hanging at that). Victoria in widow's weeds, after 1861, before 1902. All looking good, except the bit where Oberstein pulls a gun not manufactured until 1893... oh well!

An odd, one-off television movie involving Sherlock Holmes vs Professor Moriarty in a battle for state secrets. The strangest thing about HANDS OF A MURDERER is the casting of the rotund Edward Woodward as Holmes. Now, as fine an actor as Mr Woodward was, I don't really think he's anyone's first choice when it comes to playing the almost cadaverous Holmes. Watching a movie in which Holmes is bigger than Watson is rather odd.

Of course, Woodward handles the acting of the part well, and along with the excellent John Hillerman as Watson, he helps to hold the movie together. He needs to – the script for this one is a patchwork mish-mash of various Holmes stories and Victorian mystery conventions, with contrived escapes from the gallows, mysterious disappearances and an arch-villain at large. The film is far from perfect and could have been a lot worse, even if the thrills are subdued by the cosy, TV-production style atmosphere.

As Moriarty, Anthony Andrews is delightfully hammy, chewing up and spitting out the scenery at every opportunity. He makes the other actors look sedate, and the film benefits a great deal from his energy. The lovely Kim Thomson also makes for effective support as a femme fatale. There isn't much in HANDS OF A MURDERER to impress or thrill, and elements of actual detection do seem to be in short supply, but fans of the fictional detective should find a few elements of interest here.

This is a great show for Sherlock Holmes fans, and even non-fans. See, most people who don't like Sherlock Holmes because of the lack of action fans can cope with. This film has action. My brother liked this. I'm not saying he hates Sherlock Holmes, he just isn't a fan. This became his favourite movie. See? Fans and non-fans. Even those who hate Sherlock will adore this.

The conspicuously well made, briskly-paced TV Movie 'Hands of a Murderer (1990) is a splendidly entertaining stand-alone Sherlock Holmes thriller with some rather attractive period locations, a fine, zesty score by Colin Towns, tip-top thesping from a gifted cast, with Edward Woodward's dynamic, steely performance as the inimitable sleuth being menacingly counterbalanced by a grim-looking, effectively chilling Anthony Edwards as his eternally dastardly, majestically Machiavellian, chaos mongering adversary Professor Moriarty!

With the imminent threat of world war looming, the encrypted contents of desperately important Government documents are covertly being leaked by means nefarious, and it is solely up to the preternaturally perceptive, twin piped perpetrator of crime busting perfection, and his stalwart companion Watson (John Hillerman) to speedily decode this fiendishly baffling, cypher-sealing conundrum! Rarely mentioned, Stuart Orme's persistently gripping 'Hands of a Murderer' remains an engaging, somewhat undervalued entry in the vast canon of filmed Sherlock Holmes mysteries, with the masterful Woodward slyly stealing the show as Baker Street's most conspicuously recognisable resident!