The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes (TV)

In the tumult that follows his killing off his fictional character Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle reflects on the man who influenced and provided the prototype for the great detective, Dr. Joseph Bell. A professor at the University of Edinburgh medical school where Doyle is a student, Bell is unconventional in his quest for knowledge and uses his skills of perception and observation to interpret events. He also believes that crimes can be solved in the same way as disease can be diagnosed if the same techniques are used. Having solved the murder of a young woman, Bell grants Doyle greater access to his research. This is also a time when women are being admitted to the Medical School for the first time and Doyle has become attracted to a fellow student, Elspeth Scott. Not all of the students and staff are as accepting as Doyle and someone is trying to frighten her and perhaps even do her harm. When Elpseth's sister Lady Sarah Carlisle takes ill, Doyle comes to believe that her husband Sir Henry Carlisle, a Member of Parliament, may in fact be behind some of the killings. The solution lies elsewhere however.