Hands of a Murderer

Hands of a Murderer is a 1990 British made-for-television mystery film directed by Stuart Orme, starring Edward Woodward as Sherlock Holmes and John Hillerman as Dr. John H. Watson.

Hands of a Murderer
Genre	Mystery
Written by	Charles Edward Pogue
Directed by	Stuart Orme
Starring	Edward Woodward John Hillerman Anthony Andrews Kim Thomson
Music by	Colin Towns
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	William F. Storke
Producers	Robert E. Fuisz Norman Foster Charles Edward Pogue
Cinematography	Ken Westbury
Editor	Keith Palmer
Running time	90 minutes
Production company	Green Pond Productions
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	May 16, 1990 (1990-05-16)

Production

Filmed in England in association with Yorkshire Television,^[1] the film premiered on CBS on 16 May 1990.^[1]

The screenplay was written by Charles Edward Pogue who had penned the earlier Ian Richardson Sherlock Holmes films, The Sign of Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles and was initially intended to be a part of that series of films.^[2]

Cast

• Edward Woodward as Sherlock Holmes
• John Hillerman as Dr. John H. Watson
• Anthony Andrews as Professor Moriarty
• Kim Thomson as Sophie DeVere
• Peter Jeffrey as Mycroft Holmes
• Warren Clarke as Col. Gould
• Terence Lodge as Inspector Lestrade

Reception

Reviews for the film were decidedly mixed. People gave the film a B review in its "picks and pans" column.^[3] Matthew E. Bunson in his Encyclopedia Sherlockiana opined "this is a surprisingly disappointing production despite the best efforts of all concerned and lavish attention to detail."^[4] Alan Barnes in Sherlock Holmes on Screen wrote that the film "is no more than a number of high-concept set-pieces linked by the flimsiest of stories."^[1]