Rating: 
Summary: Essential for any mystery lover's collection
Review: American viewers may not realize that this offering is but the first in a series (the only one available in NTSC format so far, the rest being in PAL) called the "Murder Rooms" series. Subsequent titles include "The Photographer's Chair", "The White Knight Stratagem", "The Kingdom of Bones", "The Patient's Eyes", and perhaps more (?), starring the inimitable Ian Richardson. For those who like David Suchet's Poirot series, and Jeremy Brett's Holmes series, this series is absolutely stunning and mandatory!! Any good DVD mystery library is severely deficient without these episodes! This reviewer has finally thrown in the towel and purchased complete PAL-compatible equipment since there are so many such riches in the British PAL/DVD world that are simply unattainable in the USA. This matter could be the subject of a truly wild rant by this reviewer, the NTSC available-title crap-factor index being so high while so much other great material on both sides of the pond goes begging!This episode deals with the young Arthur Conan Doyle (Robin Laing) as a medical student, who must perforce, with considerable trepidation, take a mandatory course from a certain Dr. Joseph Bell (Ian Richardson). It seems Dr. Bell has a notorious reputation amongst the medical students as a quite idiosyncratic, difficult and perhaps too challenging tutor and instructor. In this opening sequence, several of Dr. Bell's students are mystified by what they perceive as his strange nocturnal disappearances. One of them, the young Doyle and protagonist of this episode, surreptitiously follows Bell one night on such an errand. The result is that Bell catches the young Doyle in the act and subsequently "drafts" him as his "clerk" into these night-time escapades. It seems the good doctor, as a master of logic, deduction and diagnosis, is trying to unravel various crimes for the Crown which he feels are getting short shrift by those charged to investigate such matters. This story follows the unraveling of several inter-related murders by an apparent serial murderer. The real-life Dr. Joseph Bell is alleged as the historical personage on whom Sir Arthur Conan Doyle modeled his Sherlock Holmes character, with the young Doyle himself being the archetypal Watson. Ian Richardson is truly superb as the good doctor, a pioneer forensic pathologist who took up crime investigation and related matters in his free time when he wasn't busy teaching during the day. This episode, set in 1878 Edinburgh, is extremely rich in Victorian period lore, full of subplots like the homeless, the struggling women's rights movement, the sub-citizen status given to prostitutes' rights, and police incompetence. This reviewer is not familiar with Sir Arthur's biography (but see below), so cannot judge the factual merits of the material presented here. But such accuracy would be totally irrelevant to the enjoyment of this rousing good story. B.F.S. Video's color picture and Dolby digital sound are excellent for this BBC production. There is a great set of easily accessed and read special feature stills, including a multi-screen Doyle biography, a list of his selected works, multi-screen cast profiles, and multi-screen production notes. The 116-minute production is highly recommended along with the rest of the series if you can get them!
Rating:
Summary: Essential for any mystery lover's collection
Review: American viewers may not realize that this offering is but the first in a series (the only one available in NTSC format so far, the rest being in PAL) called the "Murder Rooms" series. Subsequent titles include "The Photographer's Chair", "The White Knight Stratagem", "The Kingdom of Bones", "The Patient's Eyes", and perhaps more (?), starring the inimitable Ian Richardson. For those who like David Suchet's Poirot series, and Jeremy Brett's Holmes series, this series is absolutely stunning and mandatory!! Any good DVD mystery library is severely deficient without these episodes! This reviewer has finally thrown in the towel and purchased complete PAL-compatible equipment since there are so many such riches in the British PAL/DVD world that are simply unattainable in the USA. This matter could be the subject of a truly wild rant by this reviewer, the NTSC available-title crap-factor index being so high while so much other great material on both sides of the pond goes begging! This episode deals with the young Arthur Conan Doyle (Robin Laing) as a medical student, who must perforce, with considerable trepidation, take a mandatory course from a certain Dr. Joseph Bell (Ian Richardson). It seems Dr. Bell has a notorious reputation amongst the medical students as a quite idiosyncratic, difficult and perhaps too challenging tutor and instructor. In this opening sequence, several of Dr. Bell's students are mystified by what they perceive as his strange nocturnal disappearances. One of them, the young Doyle and protagonist of this episode, surreptitiously follows Bell one night on such an errand. The result is that Bell catches the young Doyle in the act and subsequently "drafts" him as his "clerk" into these night-time escapades. It seems the good doctor, as a master of logic, deduction and diagnosis, is trying to unravel various crimes for the Crown which he feels are getting short shrift by those charged to investigate such matters. This story follows the unraveling of several inter-related murders by an apparent serial murderer. The real-life Dr. Joseph Bell is alleged as the historical personage on whom Sir Arthur Conan Doyle modeled his Sherlock Holmes character, with the young Doyle himself being the archetypal Watson. Ian Richardson is truly superb as the good doctor, a pioneer forensic pathologist who took up crime investigation and related matters in his free time when he wasn't busy teaching during the day. This episode, set in 1878 Edinburgh, is extremely rich in Victorian period lore, full of subplots like the homeless, the struggling women's rights movement, the sub-citizen status given to prostitutes' rights, and police incompetence. This reviewer is not familiar with Sir Arthur's biography (but see below), so cannot judge the factual merits of the material presented here. But such accuracy would be totally irrelevant to the enjoyment of this rousing good story. B.F.S. Video's color picture and Dolby digital sound are excellent for this BBC production. There is a great set of easily accessed and read special feature stills, including a multi-screen Doyle biography, a list of his selected works, multi-screen cast profiles, and multi-screen production notes. The 116-minute production is highly recommended along with the rest of the series if you can get them!
Rating:
Summary: Not by Conan Doyle, but excellent...
Review: Aurthur Conan Doyle, the author who "created" Sherlocke Holmes was a Scotsman who studied at the Medical College in Edinburgh in the late 19th Century, and became a physician in real life (was he Watson?). Ian Richardson plays a top professor at the college. Some speculate that the Richardson character was the basis for Sherlock Holmes. The professor (Richardson) is called to help the police when foul play is suspected in a murder investigation. Several good tales are told in this series involving the death of a woman student at the medical college, the betrayal of a married woman, and seances with a medium. I found the tales as fascinating if not more fascinating than the "original" Holmes tales because they provide some insight into the forensics of the period. This forensic detail is much more than you'd find in a Holmes story...but just what would have been available in 19th Century Scotland when people were beginning to think about the application of science to crime solving. Several interesting actors populate the stories including Richardson who starred in the trilogy "to play the king...the final cut" about the Prime Minister of the UK.
Rating:
Summary: Not by Conan Doyle, but excellent...
Review: Aurthur Conan Doyle, the author who "created" Sherlocke Holmes was a Scotsman who studied at the Medical College in Edinburgh in the late 19th Century, and became a physician in real life (was he Watson?). Ian Richardson plays a top professor at the college. Some speculate that the Richardson character was the basis for Sherlock Holmes. The professor (Richardson) is called to help the police when foul play is suspected in a murder investigation. Several good tales are told in this series involving the death of a woman student at the medical college, the betrayal of a married woman, and seances with a medium. I found the tales as fascinating if not more fascinating than the "original" Holmes tales because they provide some insight into the forensics of the period. This forensic detail is much more than you'd find in a Holmes story...but just what would have been available in 19th Century Scotland when people were beginning to think about the application of science to crime solving. Several interesting actors populate the stories including Richardson who starred in the trilogy "to play the king...the final cut" about the Prime Minister of the UK.
Rating: 
Summary: Based on Fact!
Review: Dr Joseph Bell was a real person, and was a profound influence on the young Conan Doyle in medical school. Bell's approach to problem solving was by method of deductive reasoning. See the book "Doctor Joe Bell: Model for Sherlock Holmes" by Ely Liebow, Professor of English at Northeastern Illinois University. This fascinating book is available on Amazon, but is pricey as it was privately printed. Dr Liebow's personal page is at www.neiu.edu/~edepartm/dep/profs/liebow.htm.
Rating:
Summary: Based on Fact!
Review: Dr Joseph Bell was a real person, and was a profound influence on the young Conan Doyle in medical school. Bell's approach to problem solving was by method of deductive reasoning. See the book "Doctor Joe Bell: Model for Sherlock Holmes" by Ely Liebow, Professor of English at Northeastern Illinois University. This fascinating book is available on Amazon, but is pricey as it was privately printed. Dr Liebow's personal page is at www.neiu.edu/~edepartm/dep/profs/liebow.htm.
Rating:
Summary: agreed
Review: DVD - Video is clear and crisp. Colors are bright (for a Victorian subject) and don't bleed. The audio is clean. The MOVIE- My biggest complaint is that they haven't released the rest. If you like mysteries in general, or Sherlock Holmes specifically, then you'll find Dr. Bell & Mr. Doyle a great little film. I found the whole premise of the origins of the idea of the Holmes character to be great plot. The acting is wonderful. I'd pick this up before someone gets the bright idea to put it out of print.
Rating:
Summary: A hidden gem. DVD and movie. But what about the rest?
Review: DVD - Video is clear and crisp. Colors are bright (for a Victorian subject) and don't bleed. The audio is clean. The MOVIE- My biggest complaint is that they haven't released the rest. If you like mysteries in general, or Sherlock Holmes specifically, then you'll find Dr. Bell & Mr. Doyle a great little film. I found the whole premise of the origins of the idea of the Holmes character to be great plot. The acting is wonderful. I'd pick this up before someone gets the bright idea to put it out of print.
Rating:
Summary: agreed
Review: i agree with the rest of the reviews this is an excellect movie
series i have seem them all and went looking for them to find out the rest have not yet been release as of yet and its a series i cant wait to get them all i hope its soon to me this comes close to basil rathbone sherlock holmes.
Rating:
Summary: The game's afoot
Review: I bought this DVD primarily because of Ian Richardson, who was so excellent in the "House of Cards" trilogy. Although this subsequent effort doesn't provide Richardson with as delightfully colorful a role, it's quite interesting in its own right. The film -- which is directed by Paul Seed, who helmed the first two "House of Card" installments -- takes the facts of Arthur Conan Doyle's early life and adds a bit of conjecture to forge a convincing mystery. It's very well done, and the viewer is expertly manipulated into jumping to wrong conclusions in order to stay surprised at the end. What gives the film added depth is the sense of period it gives, as well as the historical perspective on forensic investigation. And Doyle fans will enjoy seeing the parallels between Dr. Bell and Sherlock Holmes. Anyone with an interest in any of the above will find this DVD worth getting.
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