Arthur & George
A century on, and on page and screen we still can’t get enough of the great detective. Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett and latterly Benedict Cumberbatch have all taken ownership of Sherlock Holmes in their respective eras, and the dedicated Holmesian might also turn to the admirable US -set Elementary, with Jonny Lee Miller, for variety. So surely it was inevitable that the author himself might be seized upon by programme makers hungry for sleuthing tales. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did indeed turn detective when he sought to right the injustice of a man wrongfully imprisoned, George Edalji, an Anglo-Indian lawyer who in 1903 was found guilty of mutilating animals in the West Midlands. Three years later, the case seized the imagination of Sir Arthur and he embarked upon a campaign for Edalji’s pardon. Based on Julian Barnes’s novel, Arthur & George (ITV, Monday at 9pm), is a three-part adaptation, but is torn between fidelity to the truth and the understandable temptation to create a new ongoing series for the future.
The dependable Martin Clunes can’t be faulted as Sir Arthur, and he reins in the sentimental excesses sometimes on view in Doc Martin. The drama is polite, and civilised and slightly undercooked: a simple one-off 90-minute broadcast might have better done justice to the story. For all the ingenuity of the programme makers, the master will forever be in the shadow of his creation.
NOT TO BE MISSED
DCI Banks, ITV, Weds, 9pm Stephen Tompkinson’s dour detective is back in a two-part murdermystery set in a dark criminal underworld.
The Supervet, C4, Thurs, 8pm
A return for the documentary series of heart-warming tales from a pioneering veterinary practice.
Banished, BBC2, Thurs, 9pm
A torrid drama by Jimmy McGovern of British convicts sent to Australia in the 18th century begins.