Once more finding himself caught in the clutches of a chronic spell of boredom, Sherlock's craving another proper case to get his teeth into – the case of a little girl's missing rabbit is nothing to the mind of Sherlock Holmes! Obviously, when Henry Knight (Russel Tovey), a man on the cusp of a nervous break-down, comes to him with a tall tale about a big dog killing his father twenty years ago, Sherlock is initially dismissive. However, the apparent recurrence of this “gigantic hound” at Dewer's Hollow in Dartmoor, and the conspiracy theories surrounding the nearby Baskerville chemical and biological weapons research facility, proves too tempting for Sherlock to resist.
Infiltrating the Baskerville military compound with the illegitimate use of Mycroft's ID, investigating the eerie and chilling site of Dewer's Hollow, and exploring Henry's distraught mind, Sherlock and John begin to put the pieces of this mystery together and unearth something more sinister than they had first imagined... But is a monster really stalking the moors?
As the second episode of this series, which is bringing three of the most iconic Sherlock Holmes stories to the modern day, The Hounds of Baskerville provided a fresh new take on this famous narrative. Numerous elements from the original were kept, but almost invariably were designed to mislead – the inclusion of Stapleton, the original antagonist, being a prime example. With plenty of red herrings abound, The Hounds of Baskerville kept you in the dark until the last (although clues where there from the get-go - “God knows what they’ve been spraying on us all these years!”), and with numerous scenes of tension and anxiety, this certainly made for one thrilling, edge-of-the-seat piece of psychological horror.
Masterfully scripted by Mark Gatiss, an aficionado of the horror genre, The Hounds of Baskerville captured the essence of the horror story at the core of Doyle's original, and adapted it for contemporary times. Rather than using the traditional setting of an old family manor haunted by a demon dog, Gatiss made Baskerville Hall into a clandestine military compound – converting the ghost story of The Hound into a conspiracy theory. The changes to the story were truly inspired, making it feel as new and original as it did familiar, and certainly offered something different and engaging for someone already familiar with the tale, including the brilliant twist of the truth behind the hound...
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman's performances were consistently strong as ever, but had something additional to dig their teeth into – deep, debilitating fear. Having glimpsed the hound for the first time, Sherlock is inexplicably shaken and experiencing terror like nothing he's felt before. For the famous detective to abandon all sense of rationale in the face of fear was terrifying enough for Sherlock! A trembling, fearful and ranting Cumberbatch introduced another shred of humanity to Sherlock in this scene, as the distraught detective is gripped by a sense that defies all logic. Freeman also provided a stellar performance, with an exceptionally tense sequence in the bowels of Baskerville as John is sealed in a section of the facility, being stalked by the hound. And lastly, but certainly not least, Russel Tovey spectacularly portrayed the traumatised Henry on his descent into a drug-induced mania, capturing the idiosyncrasies of an agitated and troubled man from the start. Once again the entire cast provided a phenomenal performance which, along with the fantastic writing, cinematography and soundtrack, continues to make Sherlock one of the – if not the – best things on telly.
All that really remains for me to say is, as in Sherlock's closing words to Henry, “this case. Thank you. It's been brilliant.”
Sherlock concludes next week with an adaptation of The Final Problem, The Reichenbach Fall. If you missed The Hounds of Baskerville, it can be found on iPlayer here.
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