The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

Adaptations of mystery stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's contemporary rivals in the genre.

Cast:Peter Vaughan , Peter Barkworth , Douglas Wilmer , Ronald Hines , Cyd Hayman , Derek Smith , Kenneth Colley , Petronella Barker , John Nettleton , Charles Lloyd Pack , James Cairncross , Paul Whitsun-Jones , Robert Hartley , Edward Dentith , Clifford Parrish , Michael Cashman , John Dawson , John Gatrell

1Season 1

S1.E1 ∙ A Message from the Deep Sea

Mon, Sep 20, 1971

Dr. Thorndyke is asked by a former student to help on his first murder case. A prostitute is murdered and it seemed to be a woman has killed the lady. Dr. Thorndyke helps find the actual murderer with the evidence available.

2Season 1

S1.E2 ∙ The Missing Witness Sensation

Mon, Sep 27, 1971

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.

3Season 1

S1.E3 ∙ The Affair of the Avalanche Bicycle & Tyre Co. Ltd.

Mon, Oct 4, 1971

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.

4Season 1

S1.E4 ∙ The Duchess of Wiltshire's Diamonds

Mon, Oct 11, 1971

Charismatic socialite Simon Carne adopts the persona of "Klimo" to solve crimes. Does professional jealousy explain antagonism to the celebrated private detective? Or is it something more? And even though Klimo solves case after case for his clients, why are none of the perpetrators ever caught?

5Season 1

S1.E5 ∙ The Horse of the Invisible

Mon, Oct 18, 1971

A ghost detective named Carnacki investigates the haunting of a country house that threatens the wedding of the homeowner's daughter and her fiance. Carnacki does not suspect supernatural forces are at work in this case, but even a ghostbuster can be wrong.

6Season 1

S1.E6 ∙ The Case of the Mirror of Portugal

Mon, Oct 25, 1971

When a priceless gem comes within 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.

7Season 1

S1.E7 ∙ Madame Sara

Mon, Nov 1, 1971

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.

8Season 1

S1.E8 ∙ The Case of the Dixon Torpedo

Mon, Nov 8, 1971

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 the theft of plans for a Royal Navy torpedo-are linked.

9Season 1

S1.E9 ∙ The Woman in the Big Hat

Mon, Nov 15, 1971

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.

10Season 1

S1.E10 ∙ The Affair of the Tortoise

Mon, Nov 22, 1971

To solve the murder 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 bloodstained axe, and a note from "an avenger." The one thing he doesn't have is a body.

11Season 1

S1.E11 ∙ The Assyrian Rejuvenator

Mon, Nov 29, 1971

Inflated claims about the powers of an expensive elixir put private investigator Romney Pringle in pursuit of a ruthless con man. The trckster has reason to believe that his customers won't complain, but Pingle sets out to destroy the crooked business.

12Season 1

S1.E12 ∙ The Ripening Rubies

Thu, Dec 2, 1971

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.

13Season 1

S1.E13 ∙ The Case of Laker, Absconded

Thu, Dec 9, 1971

A junior bank clerk elopes with a fortune-but without his fiancee. 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.

1Season 2

S2.E1 ∙ The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway

Mon, Jan 29, 1973

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.

2Season 2

S2.E2 ∙ Five Hundred Carats

Mon, Feb 5, 1973

Tensions reach the breaking point in the small mining town of Kimberley, South Africa, after the daring theft of the DeBeers 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 Kimberely.

3Season 2

S2.E3 ∙ Cell 13

Mon, Feb 12, 1973

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.

4Season 2

S2.E4 ∙ The Secret of the Magnifique

Mon, Feb 19, 1973

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.

5Season 2

S2.E5 ∙ The Absent-Minded Coterie

Mon, Feb 26, 1973

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.

6Season 2

S2.E6 ∙ The Sensible Action of Lieutenant Holst

Sun, Mar 4, 1973

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.

7Season 2

S2.E7 ∙ The Superfluous Finger

Sun, Mar 11, 1973

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.

8Season 2

S2.E8 ∙ Anonymous Letters

Mon, Mar 19, 1973

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.

9Season 2

S2.E9 ∙ The Moabite Cypher

Mon, Mar 26, 1973

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.

10Season 2

S2.E10 ∙ The Secret of the Foxhunter

1971

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.

11Season 2

S2.E11 ∙ The Missing Q.C.s

Mon, Apr 9, 1973

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.

12Season 2

S2.E12 ∙ The Looting of the Specie Room

Mon, Apr 16, 1973

When a fortune in gold bullion disappears from the strongroom of R.M.S Oceanic, a ship which is trying to establish a new record time for crossing the Atlantic, the ship's purser, amateur detective Mr Horrocks, investigates.

13Season 2

S2.E13 ∙ The Mystery of the Amber Beads

Mon, Apr 23, 1973

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.