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The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle
Douglas Henshall plays Arthur Conan Doyle
Handsome blue eyes, capable of twinkling with laughter, flashing with anger or betraying deep vulnerability…
It isn't what would be expected in a portrayal of the author Arthur Conan Doyle.
Most people – if they do have a picture of the world famous writer in their minds – think of the creator of Sherlock Holmes as a straitlaced older gentleman, albeit one who was fascinated by spiritualism and fairies.
However in the new feature length drama The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle, Douglas Henshall’s Doyle is 33 years old, energetic and vital, but troubled by dark memories and passionate undercurrents.
Largely based on fact, the drama explores an incredibly turbulent period in Doyle's life when, seemingly at war with his creation, he decided to 'kill off' Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls, prompting public outrage, scandalised headlines in the press, and even hate mail.
It was during this period that the author also learnt of the tragic death of his father in an asylum and had to care for his wife Louise (Saskia Reeves) who was diagnosed with consumption (TB) - a condition Doyle, a qualified doctor, had failed to spot.
And as if that wasn’t enough, Doyle then met and fell in love with the young, beautiful and spirited Jean Leckie (Emily Blunt) and struggled to stay faithful to his dying wife.
Into this emotional maelstrom in the drama steps a biographer Selden (Tim McInnerny) who starts to probe into Doyle's past and reveals the truth behind the origins of Sherlock Holmes: a deeply personal, dark truth concealed in Arthur Conan Doyle's childhood and early family life.
Directed by the Emmy and Bafta-award winning Cilla Ware (The Illustrated Mum), The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle has real emotional impact.
That was part of the attraction for actor Douglas Henshall (39): "I really liked the fact that we play everyone as real human beings, who very much had feelings and emotions rather than just the buttoned-up archetype of Victorian times.
"Obviously people in that period didn't and couldn't just blurt out anything or do anything they wanted to do, but that adds to the emotional currency. People couldn't go for counselling or whatever, they had to deal with problems by themselves."
Douglas had read some of the Sherlock Holmes stories when he was younger, but he got into them in earnest for his research for the role: "And found I enjoyed them so much that I read them all – the novels though possibly not all the short stories – just for pleasure. They are a great read.
"And obviously I love all the films, Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett were great Holmes."
Arthur Conan Doyle is his first major screen role playing a real person, though he did once play T.E. Lawrence - "a cartoon part where I more or less said 'Hello, I'm T.E. Lawrence'" - in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.
Though he read up on Arthur Conan Doyle, he stopped short of listening to tapes of a rare interview with the famous author.
He says: "Few people would know what Doyle sounded like but the point is that the performance isn't about giving an impersonation, as an actor you've just got to go with your feeling for the character."
Douglas had a lot of empathy with fellow Scot Doyle, wrestling with being famous as well as the fame of his creation while coping with an incredibly stressful personal situation.
Douglas says: "Arthur Conan Doyle had a lot to deal with – the childhood problems with his father who then died alone in an asylum, his wife's tuberculosis and his love for another woman.
"It was a lot to deal with and he was in turmoil. Nowadays he could get help, but he had to cope alone with the guilt and the grief and it is very sensitively handled in the drama."
Although the time period featured is when the Doyle family
were living near London, this cinematic drama was shot entirely on location
in Scotland utilising real country homes - including Ardgowan House in
Inverclyde and Hunterston House in Ayrshire - Glasgow University and Park
Circus area as suitably period backdrops.
For Douglas, it was his first major role filming in Scotland since his movie debut in Orphans in 1997, which was followed by his major television breakthrough Psychos on Channel 4.
"It was nice to work on home territory and to be part of the whole thing, in working every day with the crew rather than just the new guy who comes in for a brief day or two here and there. That was good," he says.
What wasn't so good was the moustache - a requirement for the character and indeed the period generally.
"I don't like glue on my face and I didn't want to be in make-up for hours, so I grew my own moustache, but as soon as it was feasible, it came off."
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