Ghost Story for Christmas: Lot No. 249, on PBS

Arthur Conan Doyle would probably hate this adaptation of his mummy short story, for the same reason many of his fans will enjoy it. Departing from the original text, it creates a role that is clearly implied to be you-know-who. Of course, he could justifiably complain the annual BBC series, A Ghost Story for Christmas had no business adapting his creepy yarn, because it is about a mummy, not a ghost. Still, maybe screenwriter-director Mark Gatiss might argue a mummy is an undead spirit that loiters malevolently, much like a ghost. Regardless, there is plenty of gothic tweediness in Lot No. 249, which airs tomorrow on Buffalo Public Television (airing a Ghost Story for Christmas, more-or-less for Christmas, as it was originally intended).

Abercrombie Smith is a very smart but not quite genius Oxford medical student, who treats Edward Bellingham, the eccentric Egyptology scholar in the digs next-door for exhaustion, nervous collapse, or really just some kind bizarre trance-like state. Whatever you call it, viewers can tell he has been dabbling in black arts.

Sure enough, soon thereafter, Bellingham’s campus rival is throttled by a mysterious hulking figure. For an Oxford student, Smith puts two and two together relatively quickly, deducing Bellingham has found a way to reawaken and control the mummy he bought at auction—that would be lot number 249. However, before confronting Bellingham, he wishes to “consult” his unnamed friend, a detective hoping to soon move to Bakers Street, who is decidedly not inclined to give credence to the supernatural.

Indeed, the Holmesian references are quite amusing. Gatiss also amps up the gay subtext, which almost feels unnecessary for a story set in the rarified world of elite British public (meaning private) school alumni. Frankly, Mummy makeup technology really hasn’t needed to advance much since Boris Karloff bandaged-up in 1932, so this one looks just as well as most of the ones that came before.

Arthur & George: Conan Doyle Investigates

For Sherlock Holmes fans, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s embrace of spiritualism has always been an embarrassment. However, in the days following his first wife’s death, the great mystery writer also distinguished himself by exposing at least two grave miscarriages of justice, notably including the George Edalji case. The premise is completely true, but Julian Barnes fictionalized treatment cranked up the mystery and intrigue, as Doyle had done from time to time in his own historical fiction. Following in the tradition of two popular incarnations of Sherlock Holmes and the Murder Rooms series featuring Doyle and his mentor Dr. Joseph Bell, the television adaptation of Barnes’ Arthur & George premieres this coming Sunday as part of the current season of Masterpiece on PBS (promo here).

Doyle was always technically faithful to his first wife, even though appearances often suggested otherwise. He was indeed attracted to a Miss Jean Leckie, but still scrupulously respected his marriage vows. Nonetheless, when his wife succumbs to tuberculosis, guilt drags him into a deep funk. Somewhat ironically, the prospect of championing George Edalji’s cause rouses his spirits.

At one time Edalji was an aspiring solicitor, but his life was derailed when he was convicted of a rash of animal mutilations that shocked the provincial village of Great Wyrley. The crimes seemed to be related to a nasty spate of poison-pen letters, whose vitriol were primarily directed at the mixed-race Edalji family. Yet, the constabulary hastily concluded they were all the work of Edalji’s deranged, attention-seeking mind. Although Edalji has already served his sentence in full, he still seeks to clear his name, so he can once again pursue a legal career. Doyle is immediately convinced of the man’s innocence, but his Watsonish personal secretary Alfred Wood is not so sure. Unfortunately, Edalji’s squirrely behavior seems to justify his skepticism.

Martin Clunes is absolutely perfect as Doyle. He is blustery and larger than life, but in a way that suggests confidence and joie de vivre rather than the bumbling shtick of a Bertie Wooster. We can believe he created Holmes and is capable of conducting his own investigations. He also shares some rather earnest and engaging romantically-complicated chemistry with Hattie Morahan’s Leckie. In fact, their relationship subplot is not the empty dead weight you might expect. As Edalji, Arsher Ali is all kinds of awkward and standoffish, contrasting with his sociable benefactor quite effectively.

Veteran television director Stuart Orme realizes several impressively atmospheric sequences and maintains a healthy energy level, but it is a little embarrassing how long it takes Doyle to figure out who really did it, despite said villain’s compulsively suspicious behavior. Nonetheless, watching him apply his Sherlockian principles in practice is good clean fun. The three-part series is a reliably classy period piece with enough social conscience to give it some edge, but not so much that it gets preachy. Recommended for fans of all things Holmesian and Clunes (from Doc Watson), Masterpiece’s Arthur & George airs over the next three Sundays (9/6-9/20) on most PBS stations.