The Rivals Of Sherlock Holmes – Set Two/The
Complete Second Season (1973/Acorn
Media Vs. Network U.K.
DVD Sets)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: B
PLEASE
NOTE: This
Network U.K. PAL DVD version of this set can only be operated on machines
capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Two/2 PAL format software
and can be only be ordered from our friends at Network U.K. at the website
address provided at the end of the review. Acorn offers a solid NTSC
Region One edition.
After a
year in which it was not broadcast (but was in deep production), The Rivals Of Sherlock Holmes TV series
concluded its fun project of adapting as many mystery stories by other authors
with other potential breakout detectives as possible. This time, we have an import version from Britain to add
to our coverage. To learn more about the
series from our coverage of the first set, try this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8956/The+Rivals+Of+Sherlock+Holmes
The cases
this time are as follows:
Judy
Geeson as Polly Burton in The Mysterious
Death On The Underground Subway
Barry
Keegan as Inspector Lipinski in Five
Hundred Carats
Douglas
Wilmer as Prof. Van Dusen in Cell 13
Bernard
Hepton as Mr. Laxworthy in The Secret Of The
Magnifique
Charles
Gray as Eugene Valmont in The Absent-Minded
Coterie
John Thaw
as Lt. Holst in The Sensible Action Of
Lieutenant Holst
Douglas
Wilmer as Prof. Van Dusen in The
Superfluous Finger
Ronald
Lewis as Dagobert Trostler in Anonymous
Letters
Barrie Ingram* as Dr. Thorndyke in A Message From The Deep
Sea
Derek
Jacobi as William Drew in The Secret Of
The Fox Hunter
Ronald
Fraser as Mr. Horrocks in The Looting Of
The Specie Room
Sara Kestelman
as Hagar in The Mystery Of The Amber
Beads
Robin
Ellis as Charles Dallas in The Missing
Q.C.s
* John
Neville played him in the opening show of the last season.
As
before, any of these shows could have been spun-off into their own series, with
Geeson (of Star Maidens), Gray,
Lewis, Frazer and Jacobi more obvious candidates for such treatment and Thaw
has had several hits in the genre after with Inspector Morse, Kavanagh
Q.C. and The Sweeney. I liked this season as much and maybe a
little more than the previous one, which makes it all the more sad that Thames
did not renew the show, but Rivals
turns out to be an underrated series and it is great it is now completely
available on both sides of the Atlantic.
The 1.33
X 1 image was shot mostly in PAL analog video with some 16mm in spots (here off
of the PAL video of the time, unfortunately; hope that footage survived) and
you can see haloing and other color weakness, to say nothing of detail limits,
but they look about as good as PAL tapings of this time can, so the transfers
are decent. There are hardly any
difference between the two DVD versions with the PAL edition showing more flaws
with its slightly better definition, but they are dead even otherwise. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on both is even
more similar and still good for its age with the same expected distortion as
the previous set. Extras include text
profiles of all the characters featured, continuing the only extra from the
first set.
I once
again pulled out the famous compilation book Detectionary (1977), a
must-have for anyone serious about reading early Mystery fiction. Polly Burton (created by Baroness Emma Orczy),
Inspector Lipinski (George Griffith), Mr. J.T. Laxworthy (E. Phillips Oppenheim),
Eugene Valmont (Robert Barr), Lt. Holst (Baron Palle Rosenkrantz), Dagobert
Trostler (Adalbert Goldscheider), William Drew (William Le Queux), Mr. Horrocks
(C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne), Hagar (Fergusson Wright Hume (or Fergus Hume)) and
Charles Dallas (William Arthur Dunkerley) were not listed! With all the great detectives on these two
volumes, maybe its time for Overlook Press to update their classic.
The Acorn
set is now available everywhere, while you can order the PAL DVD import version
set exclusively from Network U.K.
at:
http://www.networkdvd.net/
or
www.networkdvd.co.uk
-
Nicholas Sheffo
