The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

Disc 1
Episode 1:The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway
When a young woman is poisoned on a London subway train, the police searching for her killer appear to be on the wrong track. Bright young reporter Polly Burton decides to unmask the murderer herself—putting her own safety on the line in the process.

Episode 2:Five Hundred Carats
Tensions reach the breaking point in the small mining town of Kimberley, South Africa, after the daring theft of the De Beers diamond. Insp. Lipinzki leaves no stone unturned in his hunt for the precious rock. The more he digs, the more deadly become the stakes for everyone in Kimberley.

Episode 3:Cell 13
Irked by the grandiose boasts of the warden of Grangemoor prison, Prof. Van Dusen wagers he can escape from the vaunted high-security facility in less than a week. Daring him to “think his way out,” the prison staff accepts the challenge.

Episode 4:The Secret of the Magnifique
The mysterious Mr. Laxworthy hires two ex-cons for a job in the south of France. But the self-described “adventurer” isn’t after money. His eyes are on greater prizes—the most valuable secret of the French navy and the reputation of two very important men.

Disc 2
Episode 5:The Absent-Minded Coterie
Amateur detective Eugene Valmont begins by investigating a counterfeiting operation—and ends up uncovering an even more ingenious swindling scheme. But he may have met his match in one particular adversary.

Episode 6:The Sensible Action of Lieutenant Holst
The dangers of revolutionary Russia come to quiet Copenhagen when a countess from St. Petersburg flees to the Danish capital, claiming her anarchist brother-in-law is trying to kill her. The case falls to local cop Lt. Holst, who struggles to make sense of it all.

Episode 7:The Superfluous Finger
Asked to perform an unnecessary amputation, a London surgeon calls on his colleague, Prof. Van Dusen, to learn the reason for the gruesome request. Van Dusen’s investigation leads him to a country house; a mad, shotgun-toting aristocrat; and an incident three years earlier.

Disc 3
Episode 8:Anonymous Letters
A recently married Habsburg countess hires dashing private detective Dagobert Trostler to find out who has been sending her obscene letters. The writer clearly knows her most intimate secrets, as well as those of a friend who is likewise receiving compromising letters.

Episode 9:The Moabite Cipher
Coming to the aid of a man kicked by a rearing police horse, Dr. John Thorndyke stumbles upon an anarchist plot to assassinate a visiting Russian grand duke. The key appears to be a cryptogram written in ancient Moabite found on the man’s body.

Episode 10:The Secret of the Fox Hunter
When two European spies join a hunting party at an English country house, William Drew of the Foreign Office goes undercover to pursue his own type of prey. Drew suspects a traitor may be working with the spies, and soon learns they are more than willing to kill to get what they want.

Disc 4
Episode 11:The Looting of the Specie Room
A luxury passenger ship sets sail from New York for a record-breaking transatlantic crossing. Aboard is a quarter million pounds’ worth of gold bullion—and thieves determined to set their own record. Suspicion falls on the man in charge of the gold, ship’s purser Mr. Horrocks.

Episode 12:The Mystery of the Amber Beads
After the strangulation of a rich widow, her necklace turns up in a pawnshop run by a young gypsy woman named Hagar. The police quickly zero in on a chief suspect, but Hagar has other ideas about the culprit. However, sometimes even her instincts can let her down.

Episode 13:The Missing Q.C.s
Two leading London barristers—Queen’s Counsels—disappear during a murder trial, one for the prosecution and one for the defense. Junior defense barrister Charles Dallas searches for his two colleagues, but they are about to undergo the most bizarre of trials themselves.

• Profiles of the rival detectives and their creators

Packaging:Boxed set
Run Time:659 minutes
Format:Full screen
Number of discs:4
Language:English
Subtitles:N/A
Color or B&W:Color
CC:No
SDH:Yes
Region Code:1
Aspect Ratio:4:3
Rating:NR

BAFTA TV Award Winner for Best Design (1972)

Disc 1
Episode 1:A Message from the Deep Sea
When a young woman is stabbed to death in a boarding house of questionable repute, the police quickly settle on their chief suspect. A skeptical Dr. Thorndyke prefers to look deeper, privileging facts over surface motives.

Episode 2:The Missing Witness Sensation
After amateur detective Max Carrados ruins the alibi of an Irish militant accused of murder, the man’s colleagues plot their revenge. To save his life, a trapped Carrados must find a way to get a message to the outside world—one that even a blind man could understand.

Episode 3:The Affair of the Avalanche Bicycle & Tyre Co. Ltd.
Private detective Horace Dorrington sees no conflict in helping himself while helping his clients. A promising new bicycle company presents him with an opportunity to cash in on his insider knowledge. But it’s a dirty business, so Dorrington takes steps to ensure he’s not taken for a ride.

Episode 4:The Duchess of Wiltshire’s Diamonds
Does professional jealousy explain police antagonism towards Simon Carne, a celebrated and successful private detective known as “Klimo”? Or is it something more? And even though Klimo solves case after case for his clients, why are none of the perpetrators ever caught?

Disc 2
Episode 5:The Horse of the Invisible
A ghost-detective named Carnacki investigates the haunting of a country house that threatens the wedding of the homeowner’s daughter and her fiancé. Carnacki suspects supernatural forces are not at work in this case, but even a ghost buster can get it wrong.

Episode 6:The Case of the Mirror of Portugal
When a priceless gem comes within his grasp, detective Horace Dorrington cuts more than a few corners to get his hands on it. But he battles a surprisingly worthy adversary from an unexpected quarter, one as ruthless and determined as himself.

Episode 7:Madame Sara
While investigating death threats against two sisters, Dixon Druce falls under the charms of their friend, the mysterious Madame Sara. Druce tries to track down the sisters’ estranged half-brother, who stands to inherit a fortune upon their deaths. The smitten detective also starts to uncover the secrets of their alluring friend.

Disc 3
Episode 8:The Case of the Dixon Torpedo
Petty crime and international espionage intertwine when the Russian embassy hires Jonathan Pryde to do one job and his own government hires him for another. The private investigator discovers that the two cases—a money-counterfeiting operation and stealing plans for a Royal Navy torpedo—are linked.

Episode 9:The Woman in the Big Hat
When a customer slumps over dead in a tea shop, Lady Molly of the Yard searches for the mystery woman who had been seated at his table. However, she runs into resistance from the dead man’s family, who show little interest in solving the crime.

Episode 10:The Affair of the Tortoise
To solve the murder of a rich but ill-mannered government official from Haiti, PI Martin Hewitt has several pieces of evidence to consider— a dead tortoise, a voodoo doll, a blood-stained axe, and a note from “an avenger.” The one thing he doesn’t have is a body.

Disc 4
Episode 11:The Assyrian Rejuvenator
Inflated claims about the powers of an expensive elixir put private investigator Romney Pringle in pursuit of a ruthless con man. The trickster has reason to believe that his customers won’t complain, but Pringle sets out to destroy the crooked business.

Episode 12:The Ripening Rubies
An ex-con makes a rookie mistake—trying to sell a stolen ruby necklace back to the craftsman who made it. The jeweler, Bernard Sutton, soon discovers that a string of high-society women are losing their expensive adornments. Shunning the heavy-handed approach of the police, he sets his own trap to catch the thief.

Episode 13:The Case of Laker, Absconded
A junior bank clerk elopes with a fortune—but without his fiancée. The police reconstruct the absconder’s route, from bank to train station to the Continent. However, Martin Hewitt believes the trail is a little too easy to follow. With the help of the jilted lover, he embarks on a search to discover what really happened to the missing man.

• Character and author profiles

Packaging:Thinpak
Run Time:654 minutes
Format:Full screen
Number of discs:4
Language:English
Subtitles:N/A
Color or B&W:Color
CC:No
SDH:Yes
Region Code:1
Aspect Ratio:4:3
Rating:N/A

BAFTA TV Award Winner for Best Design (1972)