Masterpiece Theatre | The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervilles TV PG
Airing Sunday, October 26, 2003 on PBS
(Check local listings; dates and times may vary)

Aired previously January 19, 2003

The brilliant, secretive and volatile Sherlock Holmes faces his greatest challenge...

An ancient family curse, a desolate moor, a spectral hound, a deranged killer on the loose and events threatening to spiral out of control -- The Hound of the Baskervilles is the most celebrated Holmes story of all, a masterpiece of mystery, suspense and terror.

This chilling, star-studded adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tour de force presents Holmes and Watson as the author originally conceived them: vigorous men in their mid-30s, and the film has a relentless pace to match. Richard Roxburgh (the Duke in the Oscar-winning Moulin Rouge) stars as the mercurial Holmes with Ian Hart (Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter) as the contemplative Dr. Watson. The film also features John Nettles as local physician Mortimer, Matt Day as Sir Henry Baskerville, Richard E. Grant (Gosford Park) as the archaeologist Stapleton and Neve Mclntosh (Gormenghast) as Miss Stapleton. The hell-hound itself, a truly terrifying beast, is brought to life as never before with state-of-the-art, computer-generated special effects.

The Hound of the Baskervilles was first published in The Strand magazine in 1901, a time of great change. London was welcoming in a new age of civilization, electric light and the internal combustion engine, while Dartmoor remained as wild, bleak, and forbidding as it had ever been, an apt setting for this bold tale of murder and madness.

Preview:

Preview: The Making of
The Hound of the Baskervilles

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Essays + Interviews

Now comes the mystery...

The lure of the moor

Arthur Conan Doyle

Through the magnifying glass

Novel to Film

Who's Who

Story Synopsis

Russell Baker on...

Teacher's Guide

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