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At the beginning of the twentieth Century, the sleepy and rural area of Staffordshire was witness to a series of strange events. Horses were mutilated and the local vicar and his son received numerous threats. When the crime is investigated suspicion falls on the Vicar's son, a solicitor of mixed race. Convicted, he serves three years and on his release his desire to clear his name forces him to approach Sir Arthur Conan Doyle... Arthur and George (2015 3 x 45 min) is an adaptation of the Julian Barnes book about this unlikely, but true, historical event. The script was written by Ed Whitmore. The story is important as it led to the setting up of the Court of Appeal. The George of the title is George Edalji, played by Arsher Ali, a quiet young man who lives with his sister, British mother and Indian father. Even though George gets convicted he thinks that it is just a miscarriage of justice and nothing to do with the colour of his skin. There are elements in the story which are oddly never fully explained. George shares a bedroom with his father (Art Malik) who habitually locks both of them in at night, also his father seems nervous most of the time, with no real explanation, whereas his mother (Emma Fielding) is more relaxed around the house, being oblivious of what has been going on. Arthur, played by Martin Clunes, is the real life author Arthur Conan Doyle, who having just lost his wife is in a bit of a funk. He mopes about the house, directionless, not even choosing to write another Sherlock Holmes novel, having killed his most celebrated creation off. When he receives George's plea for help he grasps it, partially as a way of reinvigorating himself and partially because he is seeking redemption from feelings of guilt as he was spending time with another woman prior to his wife's demise. Arthur does not go into this endeavour alone as he has his trusty manservant for company. Here the show demonstrates that what it really wanted to do was make a Sherlock Holmes story, with Arthur as Holmes and Woodie (Charles Edwards) as his Doctor Watson. The show has taken artistic liberties with both Barnes's novel, and the historical fact, to create an effective drama, adding in a few deaths for dramatic effect. The cast, costumes and settings are atmospheric, taking many elements from the Holmes stories and subtly referencing them in the show. Clunes, dodgy Scottish accent notwithstanding, is convincing as the self important, but good hearted Doyle. There is some nicely humorous banter between Doyle and Woodie and the two actors effortlessly demonstrate that the two men have a lot of affection for each other. The show comes on a single DVD disc and apart for English subtitles contains no extras. 7 Charles Packer Buy this item online
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