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BBC Radio 4, 5-6 April 2010
Based on a reference from Doyle's short story "The Adventure of the Veiled
Lodger," The Marlbourne Point Mystery finds Holmes (Clive Merrison) and Watson (Andrew Sachs) find themselves in
unfamiliar but impressive surroundings. Holmes gets the chance to use one of his foreign languages, Watson gets the shock
of his life, Constable Powell, a policeman (Piers Wehner) becomes a suspect, a brass band plays a part, and the safety
of the British Empire is secured by a remarkable bird. In the second half of this two-parter Mycroft Holmes (James Laurenson)
astonishes his brother as the shocking truth behind the mystery is revealed.
Patrick Rayner's production unfolded at a brisk pace - to such an extent that
we were not often aware of the plot's manifest implausibilities. In many ways The Marlbourne Point Mystery recalls
the Universal Sherlock Holmes thrillers of the 1940s, as Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce were plucked from their nineteenth
century surroundings and placed in a contemporary context. Many of the stories - particularly the later ones in the thirteen-film
series - were frankly implausible (Holmes emerging victorious over the Nazis on several occasions), but director Roy William
Neill frequently got away with it by means of fast-paced narratives and the performances of his two leading
actors. The same applies to The Marlbourne Point Mystery; we are not too concerned about the plot, but are encouraged
instead to enjoy the deliciously over-the-top performances of Merrison's Holmes and Laurenson's Mycroft, counterbalanced
by Sachs' down-to-earth Watson. He might lack his friend's intellectual sparkle, but he keeps his feet firmly planted
on terra firma.
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