Doctor Who Vs. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

Sherlock Holmes is the most 

prolific fictional character in 

popular culture. In 2014, BBC Four's Time Shift series broad-

cast its own examination of the

key actors who have portrayed

the Great Detective on stage, screen and television since

1900.

There have been at least twenty-five adaptations of The Hound of the

Baskervilles for cinema, TV, radio,

 and theatre, including an animated

version - the story even inspired a Bollywood production. Conan Doyle's

most renowned novel was published

 in 1902. Hammer Films made the

first colour rendition in 1959, and

Holmes was depicted by Peter Wilton Cushing (1913-1994),

but the film was not a box office success. Cushing returned to the role in

1968 (when he replaced Douglas Wilmer in the BBC's Sherlock Holmes TV series), then in 1984 for the film, The Masks of Death. Christopher Lee

(1922-2015), another iconic figure from the Hammer stable, appeared

here too (as Sir Henry), and would later play both Holmes brothers -

Sherlock (in 1962, 1991 and 1992) and Mycroft (for The Private Life

of Sherlock Holmes in 1970).

Shown on Sky Arts last night, this supernatural mystery featured five

Doctor Who cast connections:

• Andre Morell [born Cecil Mesritz] (Dr. Watson) was Marshal Gaspard de Saux Tavannes in The Massacre
• Francis [Marie] de Wolff (Dr. Mortimer here; Dr. Roylott for The Speckled Band, 1948) was Vasor in (episode 4 of) The Keys of Marinus, and Agamemnon in The Myth Makers 
• [Peter] Ewen Solon (Stapleton) was Chal in The Savages, and Vishinsky in Planet of Evil
• [Stanley] Michael Hawkins (Caphill) and [George] Michael Mulcaster (Seldon) both appeared in Frontier in Space - as General Williams and Prisoner respectively, the latter was also the Old Duke in The Masque of Mandragora (1)