A Ghost Story for Christmas Lot No 249

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Trying to recall ACD's story Lot No. 249, I don't think there's anybody like Abercrombie Smith's friend, who I don't think is named but is played by John Heffernan, in the original story. There's plenty of Holmes in this friend. I didn't like what Mark Gatiss added to the adaptation of MR James' The Mezzotint a couple of years ago but I didn't mind the Lot No 249 "friend".

Some bits I picked up in their conversation:

To a collector of fairy tales no doubt fascinating, from HOUN.
Escaped ape in town. Reminds "friend" of a case involving somebody called Presbury (The Adventure of the Creeping Man).
A natural explanation to everything that Abercrombie experienced.
The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply.
Has eye on some rooms in Baker Street if he can afford it. Asks Smith if he is interested in sharing. A doctor makes for a fine companion to any man.

Smith is thinking about specialising in ophthalmology like Doyle. He tells Lee that Frederick Treves of the London Hospital has some openings. Treves is known for saving King Edward VII and looking after Joseph Merrick The Elephant Man.

Lastly, these two look, or at least feel, like the nearest to Paget's illustrations than any other pairing I can recall, and they both had the mannerisms and body language to go with it. I'd like to see a straight adaptation, with these two, of maybe The Valley of Fear or a pairing of The Final Problem/The Empty House.

Here's a link to a mp4 720p version 1GB in size. The linked page has an icon with an arrow pointing down included in it, which is the download button.

On my Windows PC, the link actually has the video embedded. I suppose that's for streaming but I haven't tried it myself.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13mkEEpeFQFpMukxJInHZQvfFABL5D29K/view?usp=drive_link

 

 

 

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Replies

  • Sorry I missed this Jake. Thanks for posting it though.
    Cheers to you for the New Year

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