The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002 film)

The Hound of the Baskervilles
Directed by	David Attwood
Written by	A. Conan Doyle (novel) Allan Cubitt
Starring	Richard Roxburgh Ian Hart Richard E. Grant
Release date(s)	2002
Running time	100 min.
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 2002 television adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel of the same name.

Production

Produced by Tiger Aspect Productions for the BBC, it was shown on BBC One on Boxing Day, 2002. It was directed by David Attwood, and adapted by Allan Cubitt. The film stars Richard Roxburgh as Sherlock Holmes and Ian Hart as Doctor Watson. Hart would play Watson again in the 2004 TV film Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking, also written by Cubitt. The hound was a mix of animatronics and computer generated images and was created by the same team, Crawley Creatures and Framestore, that provided the dinosaurs for Walking with Dinosaurs and The Lost World.

Critical reaction

Richard Scheib of The Science-Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review called the film "one of the best Sherlock Holmes screen adaptations to date, and arguably the best of all screen versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles that we have." Pamela Troy of CultureVulture.net wrote, "There's a lot that may outrage fans of the original novel, but this is, nonetheless, a respectful, interesting, and worthwhile adaptation." Charles Prepolec of the Sherlock Holmes fansite BakerStreetDozen.com wrote, "In the end, it is a compelling, if somewhat infuriating, film to watch. Not a great Holmes film, and certainly not the greatest version of this story, but it is fascinating television drama."

Cast

• Richard Roxburgh - Sherlock Holmes
• Ian Hart - Doctor Watson
• Richard E. Grant - Jack Stapleton
• Matt Day - Sir Henry Baskerville
• John Nettles - Dr. James Mortimer
• Geraldine James - Mrs. Mortimer
• Neve McIntosh - Beryl Stapleton
• Ron Cook - Barrymore
• Liza Tarbuck - Mrs. Barrymore

Differences from novel

• Sherlock Holmes is shown to be using drugs despite having a challenging case, contrary to his recreational use of cocaine only in the absence of mental exercise.
• Stapleton is depicted to be the anthropologist instead of Mortimer. Mortimer's (or Stapleton's) interest in entomology is omitted.
• This version portrays a seance performed by Dr. Mortimer's wife. This scene never appeared in the original novel, though a similar scene did appear in the 1939 Basil Rathbone version of the film.
• In this film, the escaped convict Selden attacks Sir Henry in Baskerville Hall. In the novel, Selden is largely only spoken of until his death.
• Stapleton murders his wife in this film. At the end of the novel, Mrs. Stapleton is found bound and gagged in an upstairs room of Merripit House.
• Sir Henry is seriously mauled by the hound in the film- although he is saved in time to receive treatment- whereas in the novel, Holmes and Watson arrive in time to prevent any true harm from coming to Sir Henry.
• The film actually features the mythical Black Dog.
• In the novel, Stapleton loses his footing in the Grimpen Mire and presumed to have drowned. In the movie, Holmes gets stuck in the quicksand with Stapleton looming over to kill him, only to be shot in the head by a wounded Watson.
• Arthur Frankland and his daughter Laura Lyons are completely omitted.
• In the novel, Holmes speculates on various methods that Stapleton could have used to acquire the inheritance of Baskerville Hall- his main motive for the whole scheme- without anyone suspecting him due to the anomaly of him living so close to the estate under an assumed name. In the movie, Stapleton's motives are clearly established as being based on nothing more than a personal vengeance against the family that disinherited his father, Holmes realising during his confrontation that Stapleton has no interest in the inheritance.

Trivia

• A cut edition of the film exists, excising the two scenes depicting Holmes's use of drugs. This cut has been shipped internationally and is the edition the film is broadcast in for BBC repeats.
• Richard E. Grant also portrayed Mycroft Holmes in Sherlock: Case of Evil.
• Richard Roxburgh went on to portray Professor Moriarty in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, released the following year from this film.
• Geraldine James, who played Mrs. Mortimer, went on to play Mrs. Hudson in 2009's Sherlock Holmes.

External links

• The Hound of the Baskervilles at the Internet Movie Database
• PBS Masterpiece Theatre summary