I am just watching it now on ITV+.... What a masterpiece ! Almost inside the book, living in the author's breath. A perfect example of Cinema becoming Art when the director is really in his element & he exhibits his craftsmanship. A "Must Have" in a collection. :) I will never forget Holmes flirting with the Maid .His laughter on the ladder.The amazing moments of still scenes director made look like we are just having a glimpse into the spirit of that era. Incredible!I will get this movie at once! It will be one of the tops I keep watching over & over again. If Arthur Conan Doyle was able to watch this I am sure he would be awed to see the accuracy of images exactly as he imagined them to be. A piece of Art can't be described it should be experienced so I recommend dedicated followers of Cinema watch this movie & make a treasure of it.

In response to Fletcher - 13.....I believe the bust of Athene symbolises Lady Diana Swinstead (Diana and Athena are one and the same).The recent Holmes "impersonators" hold no flame to Jeremy Brett's portrayal, who will remain, for me and his loyal fans, The Sherlock Holmes. This is one of my favourites - some posters find the Aggie-Sherlock trysts amusing, and not without reason, perhaps. But I do think there is something deeper going on there. At the beginning, Holmes' isolated childhood is hinted at, and, save Ms. Adler, Aggie appears the only female in the canon to elicit any tenderness of emotion for the opposite sex. I find the scenes touching. Maybe I'm a softie for that kinds of thing, but I think this is one of the few times when we see Holmes' guard down.Thank you, Jeremy.

An earlier comment of mine was deleted by a complaint from a blackmailing reader, who threatened me to go more lightly on his pet world.This was never a great Holmes story. It is of the "take action and disguise self" branch of the Conan Doyle tree. I much prefer the scientist who deduces, ideally deducing what's going on the master criminal's mind.Here, the story structure has four women whose lives are touched by the bad guy. They are the center of the thing, these four, not Holmes, and every sequence is set up to illuminate them not the detective. Two are women who have been successfully blackmailed. One (the redhead) not yet. The fourth sets a kind of symmetry as she is employed by the criminal and exploited emotionally not by him, but by Holmes. These four are mirrored by other women and men dressed as women in a portrayal of a sort of survivalist London underground.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

The stand-out sequences from 'The Master Blackmailer', for me, are the ones between the brilliant Jeremy Brett (in disguise, naturally), and Sophie Thompson. Could it be the great detective has actually fallen for a lady?This aside, there's a intricate blackmail plot involving Robert Hardy (excellent), and plenty of opportunities for Holmes and Watson to get themselves in awkward situations before solving the mystery.Probably the best of the feature-length episodes, and a fine example of the work Brett and Hardwicke did to immortalise Conan Doyle's characters for the small screen.