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Sherlock Holmes Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
39 Episodes 1954 - 1955
Episode 1
The Case of the Cunningham Heritage
Mon, Oct 18, 1954
Dr. John Watson has just returned to London, after being wounded while serving with the military in Afghanistan. While looking for a place to live, a friend puts him in touch with Sherlock Holmes, and the two agree to share lodgings in Baker Street. Holmes proves an interesting if eccentric companion. When Holmes receives a message from the police, Watson learns that he is a private consulting detective, and soon finds himself assisting Holmes in investigating a murder case. Peter Cunningham has been found stabbed to death, with his fiancée standing over him holding a knife - but Scotland Yard's Inspector Lestrade is baffled by the lack of a motive for the crime.
Episode 2
The Case of Lady Beryl
Mon, Oct 25, 195426 mins
Annoyed by a newspaper account that fails to give Sherlock Holmes proper credit for solving the Cunningham case, Dr. Watson goes to Scotland Yard to complain to Inspector Lestrade. While Watson is with the inspector, word arrives that a murder has been committed at the home of Lord Beryl. Lestrade takes Watson with him, and sends word for Holmes to join them, but Holmes delays his departure because he is absorbed in a chemical experiment. When Lestrade and Watson arrive, Lady Beryl confesses to shooting the victim, an Austrian agent. Later, when they tell Holmes the facts of the case, Holmes is immediately convinced that Lady Beryl is innocent, and he sets out to find the real murderer.
Episode 3
The Case of the Pennsylvania Gun
Mon, Nov 1, 1954
As Holmes and Watson are discussing a newspaper account of the recent murder of Squire Douglas, a message comes from the inspector in charge of the case, asking for Holmes's help. They travel to Sussex, and visit the castle where the crime occurred. The murder was committed with an unusual weapon, a sawed-off shotgun made in Pennsylvania, in the USA. When Douglas was shot, the castle was sealed up, and there seem to be only two possible suspects. But Holmes quickly realizes that the situation is more complicated than it looks.
Episode 4
The Case of the Texas Cowgirl
Mon, Nov 8, 1954
A covered wagon from "Bison Jake's Wild West Rodeo" pulls up outside 221B Baker Street, and cowgirl Minnie O'Malley goes inside to see Sherlock Holmes. She tells the detective that she has found a dead man in her hotel room, apparently killed by a tomahawk that she uses in her act. At her request, Holmes and Dr. Watson move the body to a different room, so that Minnie can avoid a scandal that might cause trouble for her British fiancé. Then, when Inspector Lestrade arrives on the scene to investigate, Holmes proceeds to the business of solving the case. He has already uncovered the crucial clue that there is a second tomahawk at the murder scene.
Episode 5
The Case of the Belligerent Ghost
Mon, Nov 15, 1954
Dr. Watson returns to the Baker Street flat in a state of great agitation. He tells Sherlock Holmes that, earlier in the evening, he had attended a dying man in his final moments, only to see the same man in the street soon afterward, and be punched in the eye by him. Holmes is intrigued, and goes with Watson to check the dead man's lodgings and to view his corpse in the morgue. The detective learns that the man had been a watchman at an art museum, and that he had a previous conviction for counterfeiting. The next evening, when Watson returns to Baker Street convinced that he has seen the same dead man once again, Holmes puts the clues together and goes to warn Inspector Lestrade about an impending crime at the museum.
Episode 6
The Case of the Shy Ballerina
Mon, Nov 22, 195427 mins
As Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson prepare to go out for a walk, Watson realizes that he has accidentally picked up another man's coat at his club. He also finds a note in the pocket with an odd, seemingly meaningless message. Just then, the man whose coat Watson has arrives to exchange coats, but in making the exchange, the two accidentally exchange hats as well. When Holmes and Watson go to the man's home to return his hat, the man's wife recognizes Holmes and asks for his help, telling him that her husband is being blackmailed by a ballerina whom he met in Russia. When the man is murdered late that same night, Inspector Lestrade suspects the ballerina, and asks for Holmes's help.
Episode 7
The Case of the Winthrop Legend
Mon, Nov 29, 195427 mins
Harvey Winthrop comes to see Sherlock Holmes out of concern for his older brother John. There is an old family legend that foretells the death of any Winthrop who unexpectedly finds silver coins in his possession, and in fact his brother has recently found several such coins. Holmes does not believe the legend, but he agrees to come to Winthrop Manor to investigate. John Winthrop also scoffs at the legend, but that same night he is found dead at the foot of the staircase. Holmes is certain that someone has murdered him, using the legend to cover up the truth.
Episode 8
The Case of the Blind Man's Bluff
Mon, Dec 6, 195426 mins
A sailor in a pub returns to his table and finds a chicken claw tied with a black ribbon hanging over it. He angrily accuses a barmaid of putting it there, but she denies it. Just after the sailor leaves the pub, he is stabbed to death. Inspector Lestrade consults Sherlock Holmes about the case, and when he tells Holmes that this is the second recent murder that has involved a chicken claw tied with a black ribbon, Holmes explains that this is used as a death threat in certain parts of Trinidad. Soon afterward, when a doctor receives the same objects, he consults with Holmes, Lestrade, and Dr. Watson.
Episode 9
The Case of Harry Crocker
Mon, Dec 13, 195427 mins
Murder suspect Harry Crocker, a vaudeville escape artist, comes to see Sherlock Holmes early in the morning to ask for help in clearing himself of suspicion. Dr. Watson remembers reading in the newspaper that Crocker has escaped from police custody, after being accused of strangling a chorus girl. Inspector Lestrade arrives shortly afterward and arrests Crocker, with Holmes assuring the suspect that he will help him. Holmes visits the theater where Crocker has been performing to question the others there, looks at the crime scene, and examines the victim's body at the morgue. Meanwhile, Lestrade becomes increasingly frustrated and angry with Crocker's repeated escapes from custody.
Episode 10
The Mother Hubbard Case
Mon, Dec 20, 1954
A young girl tells a man that she is lost, gives him an address, and asks him to take her home. Later, a father and daughter come to consult Sherlock Holmes, telling him that the daughter's fiancé has disappeared, after sending a note that he was helping a lost little girl. Holmes believes that the case is the latest in a series that includes seven other disappearances in similar circumstances. Holmes and Watson trace the missing man's movements, which leads them to an apparently empty house. After a brief search, they discover the dead body of the missing man in the fireplace. It soon becomes clear that a murderer has killed several victims after luring them to various unoccupied homes.
Episode 11
The Case of the Red Headed League
Mon, Dec 27, 195426 mins
After Sherlock Holmes fires a revolver several times as part of an experiment, Dr. Watson finds a man who has fainted outside their flat after hearing the shots. The man is a shopkeeper named Wilson who has come to consult Holmes, and when he comes to, he tells his story. The assistant in his shop had drawn his attention to the 'League of Red-Headed Men', and had helped Wilson secure a position with the group. While his assistant watched the shop, Wilson was well paid for sitting in an office and copying out encyclopedia articles. When the league unexpectedly dissolved, Wilson decided to come to Holmes. The detective dismisses him brusquely, but after Wilson leaves, Holmes tells Watson that someone obviously wanted to keep Wilson away from his shop for some reason, probably as part of a scheme to commit a crime. Holmes and Watson proceed to the shop to investigate.
Episode 12
The Case of the Shoeless Engineer
Mon, Jan 3, 195526 mins
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are spending a restful day in the country, when they encounter a badly injured man who is carrying an unconscious young woman. They take the pair back to their flat in London, and after Dr. Watson has treated them, the man explains what has happened to them. He is Haterley, a hydraulic engineer with a business of his own. He had been hired by Colonel Stark and an associate, who wanted him to fix a large hydraulic press for them. He was taken to the colonel's country home, where their housekeeper tried frantically to warn him about Stark. After a tumultuous encounter, he and the housekeeper had barely escaped with their lives. From other details, Holmes deduces that Stark was involved in counterfeiting. Holmes, Watson, and Inspector Lestrade then set out to finish the case.
Episode 13
The Case of the Split Ticket
Mon, Jan 10, 1955
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson return to their flat to find Brian O'Casey waiting for them. The over-excited O'Casey struggles to get his points across, but eventually he explains how he, his friend Albert, and a young woman whom he met in a bakery shop shared the price of a sweepstakes ticket, tearing the ticket into three pieces, one for each of them to hold. Their number won, and they each stand to win 8,000 pounds. But now Albert has disappeared, and unless the other two can find him by midnight, the ticket will expire, and then they won't be able to collect their winnings.
Episode 14
The Case of the French Interpreter
Mon, Jan 17, 1955
Dr. Watson urgently fetches Sherlock Holmes from his club, and brings him to see a French interpreter who urgently needs the detective. The interpreter, M. Dubec, explains how his services were requested by a man named Lattimer, who then abducted him and took him to an unknown location. There Dubec was asked to persuade a Frenchman to sign some papers for Lattimer and an associate, so that they can gain control over his sister's wealth. The case becomes more urgent when the criminals find out about Dubec's meeting with Holmes, and once again take him to their hidden location.
Episode 15
The Case of the Singing Violin
Mon, Jan 24, 195526 mins
Betty is being tormented by apparent hallucinations, the latest of which she refers to as a 'singing violin'. Her stepfather brings her fiancé to see her in this condition, and he tells the young man that there can be no wedding, because Betty is going to be declared insane. The fiancé goes to consult Sherlock Holmes, but he is murdered before he can see the detective. When Inspector Lestrade consults Holmes about the murder, Holmes recognizes the name of the dead man and also of the step-father, who is the lone surviving partner in a large tea and spice business. Holmes quickly forms a theory about the murder, and sets out to prove it.
Episode 16
The Case of the Greystone Inscription
Mon, Jan 31, 195526 mins
Millicent Channing comes to consult Sherlock Holmes because her fiancé John has disappeared. John has recently been absorbed in his historical study, believing that he has made an important discovery. All that Millicent knows about it is that John was planning to see Sir Thomas Greystone. She tells Holmes about her visit to Greystone Castle, where she was received coldly by the Greystones, and was told that they had never seen John. Holmes proceeds to John's flat to look at his research papers, and he finds a copy of a historical inscription that he then takes with him to Greystone Castle.Millicent Channing comes to consult Sherlock Holmes because her fiancé John has disappeared. John has recently been absorbed in his historical study, believing that he has made an important discovery. All that Millicent knows about it is that John was planning to see Sir Thomas Greystone. She tells Holmes about her visit to Greystone Castle, where she was received coldly by the Greystones, and was told that they had never seen John. Holmes proceeds to John's flat to look at his research papers, and he finds a copy of a historical inscription that he then takes with him to Greystone Castle.
Episode 17
The Case of the Laughing Mummy
Mon, Feb 7, 1955
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are going on a fishing trip, and while they are riding the train, they meet Watson's old friend Reggie Taunton. Taunton asks Holmes if the detective would mind helping him with an odd problem. Taunton's archaeologist uncle has sent him an authentic Egyptian mummy, and strange laughing sounds have been coming periodically from the sarcophagus. Holmes visits Taunton's home, and has dinner with Reggie, Reggie's fiancée, the fiancée's aunt, and an Egyptologist who knows Reggie's uncle. While they are dining, the mummy starts to make the noise, and Holmes quickly finds a very simple explanation for it. But in the course of examining the mummy and the sarcophagus, Holmes uncovers a more serious mystery.
Episode 18
The Case of the Thistle Killer
Mon, Feb 14, 1955
A criminal known as the 'thistle killer' is on the loose in London. For several nights in a row, he has killed a young woman, and has left three thistles near the body. Dr. Watson thinks it is the work of a maniac, but Sherlock Holmes is convinced that there is a pattern. Holmes is not surprised when Inspector Lestrade arrives to consult him. Based on his study of the locations of the killings, Holmes already knows where the next attack will take place. Holmes, Watson, and Lestrade prepare a plan to try to catch the killer in the act.
Episode 19
The Case of the Vanished Detective
Mon, Feb 21, 1955
Sherlock Holmes has been missing for two days, and Dr. Watson frantically summons Inspector Lestrade to help him search for the detective. The two of them find a letter asking Holmes to take a case on behalf of a shop owner, so they visit the man's shop. But the proprietor denies any knowledge of Holmes, and he also denies writing the letter. Watson's suspicions are aroused, and when Lestrade finds Holmes's hat and coat in the shop, they are sure that they are on the right track.
Episode 20
The Case of the Careless Suffragette
Mon, Feb 28, 1955
Angry over the defeat of a women's suffrage bill in Parliament, a zealous suffragette seeks out an anarchist, and acquires a bomb in the shape of a croquet ball. She does not intend to harm anyone, but the ball becomes exchanged with a real croquet ball. It is used in a game and explodes, killing a member of Parliament. Sherlock Holmes is convinced that someone else is responsible for making the switch, and he sets out to investigate.
Episode 21
The Case of the Reluctant Carpenter
Mon, Mar 7, 195526 mins
An arsonist burns Covent Garden to the ground, and threatens to do the same to other buildings unless he receives a large payment. Holmes and Watson, with no clues to the man's identity, search through the rubble of the burned-out building for clues to the arsonist's identity before he can strike again.
Episode 22
The Case of the Deadly Prophecy
Mon, Mar 14, 1955
Holmes and Watson are called to a boy's school in Belgium. It seems that a young student has gotten into the habit of writing the names of faculty members on the steps of a nearby church, and shortly afterwards person whose name has been written down is found dead.
Episode 23
The Case of the Christmas Pudding
Mon, Apr 4, 195527 mins
Just before the Christmas holiday, John Norton is convicted of murder and is sentenced to death. In the courtroom, Norton threatens Sherlock Holmes, and swears to kill the detective before the execution takes place. Although Norton has murdered five wives, his sixth wife still believes in his innocence. Shortly after she delivers Norton a Christmas pudding at his request, the convict escapes, despite the many precautions that prison authorities had taken. In the middle of the night, Holmes is informed of the escape, and he knows that he must take action at once.
Episode 24
The Case of the Night Train Riddle
Mon, Apr 11, 1955
A young boy and his father are traveling on a train, and after they have a fight, the boy runs out of the compartment and seems to have vanished into thin air. Although his governess thinks he has simply run away, Holmes begins to suspect something a bit more serious, and his investigation leads him to a nearby circus.
Episode 25
The Case of the Violent Suitor
Mon, Apr 18, 195527 mins
"Aunt Lottie", an advice columnist who is actually a man named Alex Doogle, advises a young woman to break up with her violent fiancé, Jack Murdock. The groom-to-be pretends to be wealthy to mask his motive of acquiring the wealth of his intended bride. He finds Doogle, severely beats him and threatens his life. Doogle turns to Sherlock Holmes, both for his own protection and to save the young woman from her crazed fiancé.
Episode 26
The Case of the Baker Street Nursemaids
Mon, Apr 25, 195527 mins
A baby is left on Holmes' and Watson's doorstep. The child turns out to be the daughter of a missing French scientist. When Watson is later brutally attacked and the baby kidnapped, the detectives must find the baby and its father and avoid an international scandal.
Episode 27
The Case of the Perfect Husband
Mon, May 2, 195527 mins
Russell Partridge announces to his wife Janet one day that he is in fact a killer who has murdered his six previous wives, and notifies her that she has one day to live and get her affairs in order before he murders her, too. Janet can get no one to believe her tale, except Holmes and Watson, who must devise a plan to trap the killer before Janet's time runs out.
Episode 28
The Case of the Jolly Hangman
Mon, May 9, 1955
A traveling salesman is found hanged in his hotel room. Although the police eventually rule it to be a suicide, his widow thinks otherwise and asks Holmes to investigate the mysterious "suicide" further.
Episode 29
The Case of the Impostor Mystery
Mon, May 16, 195526 mins
While Holmes and Watson are out of London on vacation, someone has taken the opportunity to impersonate Holmes - to a great profit.
Episode 30
The Case of the Eiffel Tower
Mon, May 23, 195526 mins
After a famous criminal is run over and killed by a milk wagon, Insp. Lestrade finds a mysterious coded note in the man's clothing. He asks Holmes to decipher it, and Holmes' subsequent investigation leads him to assume the dead gangster's identity and he follows a trail of clues to Paris.
Episode 31
The Case of the Exhumed Client
Mon, May 30, 1955
Sir Charles Farnsworth is found dead in his mysterious Farnsworth Castle. It turns out that Farnsworth had a clause inserted in this will that his death, no matter what the apparent cause, would be investigated by Sherlock Holmes. Holmes' investigation reveals traces of arsenic in the man's body, and there seems to be no shortage of people who knew Sir Charles who wanted him dead.
Episode 32
The Case of the Impromptu Performance
Mon, Jun 6, 1955
A condemned man scheduled to hang the next day uses his last request to ask Sherlock Holmes to prove his innocence of the murder for which he is about to be executed.
Episode 33
The Case of the Baker Street Bachelors
Mon, Jun 20, 195527 mins
A political leader is being blackmailed, and to find the blackmailers, Holmes and Watson join a marriage bureau. However, things don't go quite as planned, and Holmes winds up getting arrested and thrown in jail.
Episode 34
The Case of the Royal Murder
Mon, Jun 27, 195527 mins
As payment for solving a case, Holmes and Watson are invited to spend a weekend at an estate in the Balkans. However, their vacation is cut short when another guest, Prince Stefan, is poisoned and their host is accused of the murder. Holmes must find the real killer before he himself becomes the next victim.
Episode 35
The Case of the Haunted Gainsborough
Mon, Jul 4, 195526 mins
Malcolm MacGregan will lose his family's Scottish castle if he can't make the mortgage payment, by midnight.
Episode 36
The Case of the Neurotic Detective
Mon, Jul 11, 195527 mins
Watson believes Holmes is a criminal master-mind, but all is not as it seems.
Episode 37
The Case of the Unlucky Gambler
Mon, Jul 18, 195526 mins
A young boy shows up at Baker Street, asking for Holmes' help in finding his missing father. Holmes' investigation reveals that the man is a gambler on the run from his creditors, and the team begins to make the rounds of the seedy gambling underworld in search of the boy's father.
Episode 38
The Case of the Diamond Tooth
Mon, Sep 19, 1955
While walking along the banks of the River Thames, Watson finds a diamond tooth. The article takes on more meaning later, however, when Holmes learns that the body of a murder victim had been discovered near where Watson found the tooth.
Episode 39
The Case of the Tyrant's Daughter
Mon, Oct 17, 1955
A chemist is accused of the murder of his fiancé's stepfather, who was determined to keep the two apart. Although there is mounting evidence of the chemist's guilt, Holmes is requested by the old man's housekeeper to investigate the case, as she believes the young man to be innocent.
