I watches these as an 11 year old in good old blighy

Right out of the story, practically verbatim.

Story story story, and in this case, faithful to Conan Doyle with an effort that belies money and is delightfully before the era of CGI. So much the better, modern film bridging the gap of Looney Tune cartoons by supplanting same.With the turn of the teens, perhaps we can look forward to modern renditions of classic stories without the excess rubbish that only appeals to droolers and those for whom clanging pots and pans are necessary to garner their attention.I doubt it. Meantime, I rate to attract attention to the niche market that still accepts stories instead of eye candy as substance.You never know who might be out there.

These Holmes movies are not great by modern movie standards, but I just love these stories where everything is worked out and finally makes sense, the good guys win, the bad guys go to jail or die in a poetically just manner, no creep ever gets the charges dropped because of a technicality, and there are never any tort suits. There's no major blood, there are only happy endings, and nobody paid a hundred million dollars for superfluous effects.

Though this video appears to have been shot in the late 1920's or early 1930's, it was actually shot for BBC television in 1964. All in all this is one of the most accurate adaptations of Doyle it has ever been my joy to see. The locations appear to be carefully chosen to reflect England of the 1880's, the men are driven in a period dog cart (a particular type of horse cart), and the men, Homes and Watson, closely resemble the Sidney Piaget illustrations that accompanied the original publication in The Strand Magazine.Douglas Wilmer's Holmes seems very much like the Holmes I knew through the original stories. Many actors have portrayed Holmes as being overly arch, and sharp. No so Douglas Wilmer. While not so modulated as, say, Basil Rathbone, he comes across quite naturally. His voice and tone closely resemble that which I have heard since reading my first Sherlock Holmes story many decades ago.Nigel Stock's Dr. Watson is hardly the lovable buffoon portrayed by Nigel Bruce and others. As a consequence, the balance between the two men is much more natural. In the stories there are countless scenes where an energized Holmes eschews food and sleep while Watson carries on as normal. The is wonderfully portrayed in the scene where Holmes and Watson wait for nightfall in the local inn. Watson sits at table calmly eating a solitary meal while Holmes stands behind him discussing the case with him. This is Holmes and Watson as portrayed by Conan Doyle.Please note, the cast information supplied by Hulu is incorrect. This version of "The Speckled Band" is presently not included in the IMDB database. A 1931 production with Raymond Massey (a totally inappropriate Holmes) is listed, and Hulu has incorrectly listed this information.Some additional information can be found at: http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/world/dwilmer.php