Sherlock Holmes

Douglas Wilmer was exasperated when he first received some of the series' scripts. He said the dialogue ranged from acceptable to downright pitiful. As a result, the actor spent most of the night at home rewriting most of the scripts. The actor noted that the officially credited writers generally did not bother to research Holmes stories.

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Both Douglas Wilmer and Peter Cushing were keen Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts.

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Douglas Wilmer later recalled that Peter Cushing told him he would rather sweep Paddington station to make a living than film this series again.

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The second series was one of the BBC's earliest colour productions.

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Peter Cushing admitted he was unhappy with his performance because the series was rushed and began airing before all the episodes had been filmed. He said the tight schedule affected his performance: "Whenever I see some of these stories they upset me very much, because Peter Cushing was not doing his best as Sherlock Holmes - Peter Cushing looked relieved because he remembered what to say and said it!"

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Plans involving famous villains such as Peter Ustinov, George Sanders and Orson Welles were cancelled because of budget restrictions.

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Douglas Wilmer refused to return for the second series when he was told the rehearsal schedule would be shortened.

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Despite various problems and tensions behind the camera, this BBC TV production is generally regarded as the first attempt to produce a faithful interpretation of Sherlock Holmes.

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After deciding to leave the series following the first season, Douglas Wilmer vowed never to work for the BBC again.

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Producer William Sterling wanted the second series to be inspired by the work of Alfred Hitchcock and advised his directing team to watch Psycho (1960) to gauge the tone he wanted the stories to have.

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Adapted from A Study in Scarlet (1968), Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes story, this series contains no reference to the introduction of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson or to how they met. Instead, the episode begins with Holmes and Watson going about their usual business and giving a strong impression that they have known each other for years.

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Producer/director William Sterling, who felt The Dancing Men (1968) went too far, outlined the cuts to be made and passed these instructions to the editing team to remove the relevant sections. Apparently, however, no one reviewed the print before broadcast, which led to unreleased studio material being aired. A reprimanded BBC wrote Peter Cushing a letter of apology; his predecessor Douglas Wilmer watched the broadcast and remained grateful that he had chosen not to return as Holmes. A corrected copy was shown in the series' 1970 repeat.

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The Speckled Band (1964), in fact the series' pilot episode, first aired as the eighth instalment of the first series of Detective (1964), a popular anthology of detectives. Following this, the BBC bought the rights to two series' worth of Holmes stories from the Doyle estate.

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Eric Porter was considered to replace Douglas Wilmer as Sherlock Holmes. Although Porter ultimately did not get the role, he played Professor Moriarty opposite Jeremy Brett's Holmes in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984).

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For ITV, Douglas Wilmer played the writer Jacques Futrelle's Holmesian detective Professor Van Dusen in The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971). He once again played Holmes (albeit in a supporting role) in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975), with Thorley Walters taking the role of Dr. Watson.

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