There are two episodes in this collection ? The Eligible Bachelor and The Sign of Four, and for fans of Sherlock Holmes (the worlds greatest detective) this will whet the appetite just a little. As the story goes Sherlock Holmes solves many great mysteries in London with the help of his trusted friend Dr Watson, and at the conclusion of each great adventure Dr Watson would write his memoirs and embellish the story somewhat usually adding a little romance to the intrigue.

Disc One contains the story of ?The Sign of Four?.

Miss Moreston enlists the help of Sherlock Holmes after many strange events occur in her life. Her father was a captain in the British army in India. Miss Moreston lived in Britain and attended boarding School as a child when she turned 17 her father contacted her to say he would be in London for a year of leave and would like to catch up with her. Miss Moreston arrived at the hotel her father claimed he would be staying at, only to find him missing - his luggage not touched for days, and with no sign of her father at all. Miss Moreston informed the police who were unable to locate any sign of the missing man. She collected his things and retuned to her home. 4 years later she received a letter in the post with a precious pearl enclosed, the letter claimed she had been wronged and deserved the pearl. Every year for the next 6 years she received a similar letter, and finally this week she received a letter inviting her to meet the strange benefactor and reveal the story.

Sherlock Holmes was intrigued and agreed to go with her to meet the letter writer. On arrival at the said meeting place Watson, Holmes and Miss Moreston are invited to return to the home of the letter writer Mr Shelton. The Shelton brothers were sons of an Army officer who served in India with Miss Moreston?s father and they lived in a country estate full of Indian Curios. The younger brother explained that they found a great treasure in their father?s home and they believed it to be partly owned by her father. They also explained that Captain Moreston had died accidentally as a result of a struggle with their father over ownership of the treasure. He has hidden the body for fear of a scandal.

But the real mystery begins when the older brother is killed whilst guarding the treasure. The treasure is stolen from a room locked on the inside and the murderous thief leaves a mysterious sign on his body. Sherlock Holmes has his work cut out for him to solve this twisted tale of lies and deceit.

This was a long and involved story and at times the story was at risk of becoming lost in the detail. The story itself is well written but maybe just too much plot was jam packed into this DVD. The actors were ?forced? to divulge a massive amount of detail and the ability to create their character seems to diminish because of this.

Rather than the calculating, scientific mind he was famous for; Sherlock Holmes appeared to be a cantankerous, cold, and callous man, and even at times was portrayed as foolishly arrogant. Dr Watson?s character was everything Holmes was not; a kind, caring and patient man; and the two characters together make a perfect ?detective?. The setting in dark cold and gloomy London was brilliant and the shady characters of the river were all well done including the foolhardy police who were unable to solve the crime without the help of Sherlock Holmes.

I enjoyed the story but I have to admit there were times when I was bored with the story and bogged down in detail. Whilst it?s a great tale of intrigue it does not compare with today?s simple murder mysteries. The quality of the picture and sound on this DVD is brilliant and the scary music, played through the surround system worked wonders to create suspense, making this a great DVD to have at home for when ?there?s nothing on the TV?.

Rating 3 stars

Disc Two contains the story of ?The Eligible Bachelor?

Hetty Durant is engaged to marry the stunningly attractive and extremely wealthy, Lord Robert St Simon. Hetty is determined to live in the old ancestral home ?Garvan Estate? and cannot understand Lord Robert?s reluctance to renovate and occupy the home. Lord Robert claims the home is mortgaged to the hilt and run down almost beyond repair. Over the final weeks of the engagement it is revealed that Lord Robert is broke and with Hetty?s father being the wealthiest man in the Pacific, (having made his money in the goldfields of the USA), he offers to fund the refurbishment, after the wedding.

Everything is perfect for the young couple in love - or so it seems - when Hetty goes missing on her wedding day and her dress is found in the lake, Sherlock Holmes is called in to try to solve the mystery. But Sherlock Holmes has descended into a state of mental torture, unable to function normally due to persistent recurring nightmares and Dr Watson is called on to help Sherlock Holmes out of his mad state.

A strange woman in a veil leaves the first great clue and Holmes and Watson are back on the case. Holmes slowly unravels his dream and the cases unfold before him, will he be able to reach Hetty before it?s too late?

This was weird - a lot of scenes of Sherlock Holmes in a clearly mentally disturbed state. Days before the case has even happened Holmes has a vision of the crime foretelling the major players and all these clues are available, but not linked to the plot until the end of the story. The first 20 minutes of this DVD is disjointed and full of strange unrelated events, both imagined and ?real?. This was a story that was hard to follow and the character development is poor. I believe there was just too much happening and with so many sub plots it became impossible to tie together. I found it difficult to watch and still had unanswered questions at the end. This is not one of Sherlock Holmes?s better movies, but would probably be OK for a lazy Sunday night ? if you had no expectation of a great night in.

Rating 2 stars

THE EXTRAS

No bonus features

CONCLUSION

There are two episodes in this collection ? The Eligible Bachelor and The Sign of Four, and for fans of Sherlock Holmes (the worlds greatest detective) this will whet the appetite just a little. As the story goes Sherlock Holmes solves many great mysteries in London with the help of his trusted friend Dr Watson, and at the conclusion of each great adventure Dr Watson would write his memoirs and embellish the story somewhat usually adding a little romance to the intrigue.

I found these difficult to watch and still had unanswered questions at the end. These are not the best Sherlock Holmes?s movies, but would probably be OK for a lazy Sunday night ? if you had no expectation of a great night in.