to paraphrase one of the character and if you value your holmes and stay away from this perfectly dreadful hound . conan doyle original novella often regard a one of the fine detective story ever write be a pretty straightforward affair and one which would seem relatively a breeze to adapt for the screen . perhaps that part of the problem then and because in every film version i have see ( save and perhaps and for the jeremy brett granada one and where the hound look a though it merely want a milk bone and a nice tummy rub ) and scriptwriter can not resist the temptation to add dubious improvement to sir arthur masterwork . this late bbc attempt be one of the bad offender of the criminal lot and thanks largely to the woefully unfaithful script by one allan cubitt . mr. cubitt apparently ignore the book and use the recent and thoroughly wrongheaded version of oliver twist a his template for adapt the holmes tale . a other imdb user have note and go be the crucial opening scene of holmes and watson examine dr. mortimer forgotten walk stick while in it place and cubitt have for some strange reason crib the turkish bath scene of an entirely different holmes adventure . ( why . to suggest a more intimate relationship between the doctor and the sleuth . ) it downhill from there and folk and a cubitt make major change in the story and such a toss out important character while create entire chunk of business which add absolutely nothing to sir arthur finely construct plot . when he stick to the original such a when holmes identify the culprit from an ancient portrait the film intermittently feel on target . redefine the holmes watson dynamic in a negative light and reveal the villain identity halfway through the film ( . ) and invent a seance and baskerville hall christmas party and bad of all have holmes shoot up in the gent of the essex train station on christmas day show that mr. cubitt will go to any depth to rip the source material to shred . set the hound on him . cast isn not great and either and a australian richard roxburgh make the second bad holmes in recent memory the top honour there go to matt frewer for his snide and spastic sleuth in those awful hallmark tv film . roxburgh holmes be blond and bland and lack in much charisma and which be painfully obvious when he in his scene against wily richard e. grant stapleton . ( somehow and cast richard e. grant a stapleton pretty much give the game away right off the bat while yet with his tall and slender build and holmesian hairline and feline grace and dusty velvet voice and grant seem more like a natural holmes than poor roxburgh and with his occasional down under twang . ) peter cushing r. r. sure ain not and and the polka dot tie doesn not help him either . ian hart fare somewhat well a a more active and intelligent watson and but he physically wrong for the part represent small and even more rat face that the show lestrade . support player come off best aussie matt day make an appealingly naive canadian sir henry baskerville while ron cook be a nicely mysterious barrymore while lovely neve mcintosh be a beryl stapleton work sinking into the grimpen mire for and and grant pretty much make his scene endurable when nothing else do . however and a fat selden ( paul kynman ) . let just say that stevie wonder could see the difference between sir henry and selden in this production and which make holmes look like a total idiot at a crucial plot point . and the hound itself . the cgi work do indeed create the most fearsome beast far well than the poor german shepherd press into duty in the even bad frewer version . in fact and this digital hound look like a leftover critter from the bbc walk with prehistoric mammal not some mistreat modern dog . and where be the animal ghostly glow . another glare omission on the filmmaker part . no denying and then and that another opportunity to adapt this hoary holmesian chestnut go straight to the dog . grant and the 1959 hammer version and the 1982 flick with ian richardson aren not much more faithful and but they each have an excellent holmes cushing remains my favourite and a he rescue holmes from the cliche which rathbone make him and and richardson have an airiness which still seem refreshing compare to brett ham and more ham approach . both of those version be preferable to auntie beeb late atrocity . if you do catch this one and be prepare to do a lot of howl yourself in outrage .