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	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.

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

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."

Differences from novel

• Sherlock Holmes is shown to be using drugs despite having a challenging case, contrary to the literary depiction in which he uses cocaine recreationally only in the absence of mental exercise.
• Stapleton is depicted to be the anthropologist instead of Mortimer. Stapleton's (or Mortimer'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.
• In the novel, Stapleton loses his footing in the Grimpen Mire and presumed to have drowned. In the movie, Stapleton is shot and killed by Dr. Watson right before Stapleton was to shoot Holmes.
• 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.
• Stapleton's real name in the novel was Rodger, after his father. In the film his real name is John Baskerville.
• In the novel, Stapleton's wife/sister was a native to Costa Rica. In the film, she appears to be a native of Britain instead. Any reference to South America has been omitted, as is Stapleton's funding a Yorkshire school under the name Vandeleur.
• Rodger Baskerville, instead of fleeing creditors as he did in the novel, was drummed out of the Guards for conduct unbecoming and when penniless married a prostitute named Mary Prescott.
• The film misses a scene where a pony falls in swamp when Dr.Watson coverses with Stapleton while walking to his place. Instead they convey the fact in the beginning when convict is chased by some policemen who drown in it.
• Cartwright, Holmes messenger is not mentioned in the film.
• In the film, the cabman disagrees to tell about his passenger and Holmes had to fight to make him accept it. Also the incidence is shown in the film after Watson leaves to the Baskerville hall but is actually before.

External links

• The Hound of the Baskervilles at IMDb
• PBS Masterpiece Theatre summary