Product Details

• Actors: Jeremy Brett, Edward Hardwicke, Rosalie Williams, Colin Jeavons, Denis Lill
• Producers: John Hawkesworth, Rebecca Eaton
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Mpi Home Video
• VHS Release Date: December 15, 1994
• Run Time: 50 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630161173X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,005 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pen Ultimate Holmes, October 13, 1999

By 

Steven L. Shoup (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Return of Sherlock Holmes - The Second Stain [VHS] (VHS Tape)

One of the top entries in this series, and Brett continues to imbue his already flawless Holmes with still more interesting facets. A stolen letter, from a foreign hot-head, disappears from a government officials's dispatch box. Both the hapless official AND the Prime Minister (Harry Andrews in an impeccable performance) are terrified: it means war should the contents become public. Holmes realizes that too much time has elapsed for the letter to remain secret, so "prepare for war," he advises. A following visit from the official's furtive wife intrigues Holmes and Watson further, but they will not compromise the British government for the sake of a woman's wiles -- and still the contents don't surface and so there just might be a chance. A well timed murder becomes the catalyst, and so -- the adventure begins. Grenada has never been in finer form than with this terrific Victorian mystery. The cast plays with seasoned perfection (Colin Jeavons joins in again expertly as the waste-of-time Inspector Lestrade) and the results are wonderful! Edward Hardwicke remains as comfortable as a favorite slipper in playing Watson, and Brett's iconoclastic detective is just a joy to watch (his dismissive -- and dangerous -- match-tossing, scrambling and snorting on the Lucas parlor floor, etc.)! Listen to Patrick Gowers beautiful musical motif for Lord Bellinger and just enjoy this excellent and all too brief visit back in time to the Victorian wonderland of Sherlock Holmes.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best episodes of entire run., June 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Return of Sherlock Holmes - The Second Stain [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Perhaps the strongest cast assembled for a single episode. An enthralling story with particular cogent performances delivered by Jeremy Brett,Colin Jeavons,Sean Scanlan and Patricia Hodge.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We love it, July 2, 2004

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Return of Sherlock Holmes - The Second Stain [VHS] (VHS Tape)

When Sherlock Holmes is approached by the Prime Minister himself, it looks to be the start of the greatest case of his life. A very important letter is missing from the Secretary for European Affair's dispatch box, and it is not too much to say that its publication would propel Britain into a major war. Only three men in England would handle such a document, and when one of them suddenly turns up dead, Holmes casts his eyes in that direction. And though the dead man does not have the letter, there is a mystery connected with his death - where he died there was blood on the carpet but not on the floor beneath, but looking elsewhere there is a second stain. There are mysteries within mysteries here, mysteries that only Sherlock Holmes can solve!

Every once in a while, an actor comes along who not only plays the role of Sherlock Holmes, but actually redefines the role. In 1984, veteran actor Jeremy Brett (1933-95) actually did it yet again! This fifty-minute episode, the Second Stain, was episode four of the third season, and originally aired on July 30, 1986. As an added bonus, a main character is played by Patricia Hodge, who also played Phyllida "Portia" Erskine-Brown in the Rumpole series. (By the way, if you like Jeremy Brett, you can see him in an entirely different role in My Fair Lady (1964) as Freddie Eynsford-Hill!)

I loved this tape and think that any fan of Sherlock Holmes, or just plain fan of mysteries, will love it, too. My family and I highly recommend it to you!