For a Christmas Special, it's quite a dark episode. I don't really care about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and Baker Street in London, England. I saw this on the holiday favorites DVD collection among many holiday themed episodes from various series. It's okay but not the best.
4 Reviews
The Case of the Christmas Pudding
Prismark1029 December 2021
John Norton has been convicted and sentenced to death by the judge.
Norton swears revenge on Sherlock Holmes. Even though time is running short for Norton. Holmes is not taking the threats lightly.
A homemade Christmas pudding delivered to Norton's prison cell by his wife might be the means for his escape.
This festive episode really has Holmes worried and he asks Dr Watson to go and stay at a hotel until it is all over.
The trick is to find how did Norton manage to cut through the bars of his cell and what was in the pudding.
Holmed thinks that something had light dusting of diamonds.
Norton swears revenge on Sherlock Holmes. Even though time is running short for Norton. Holmes is not taking the threats lightly.
A homemade Christmas pudding delivered to Norton's prison cell by his wife might be the means for his escape.
This festive episode really has Holmes worried and he asks Dr Watson to go and stay at a hotel until it is all over.
The trick is to find how did Norton manage to cut through the bars of his cell and what was in the pudding.
Holmed thinks that something had light dusting of diamonds.
Gift for viewers
hte-trasme27 December 2009
Since I've been watching this very good 1950s Sherlock Holmes TV series, I've found "The Christmas Pudding" to be one of the finer episodes, even though it is rather atypical and its strangeness are not all the same as those of the other episodes.
The episode unusually begins in media res, with Holmes and Watson already attending the trial of a criminal, and this deviation in a series that has mainly followed the tradition of beginning with the two in the Baker Street rooms works very well. In fact, this entire episode is not much of a whodunit and more of a how-will-he-do-it, with John Norton the criminal threatening to escape and kill Holmes. We can guess pretty easily that his wife has slipped him something in the titular Christmas pudding as we are familiar enough with that trope, but it doesn't detract from the suspense.
Strangely for a Christmas episode, this one features little of the humor that characterizes these incarnations of Holmes and Watson. Instead it is played very straight and for suspense, which it gets. Even Eugene Deckers, which has been hilarious in some previous episodes, is instead very threatening here.
It is strange to see Sherlock Holmes falling pray to irrational fears, but somehow Howard and Crawford pull it off. Holmes' deception to get Watson to clear out of 221B so that he will be out of danger is actually rather touching. Interesting to note that this is also unusual because, strangely in this series, Inspector Lestrade does not appear.
This is a very well done episode, and good viewing for those who like a little murder and jailbreak at Yuletide.
The episode unusually begins in media res, with Holmes and Watson already attending the trial of a criminal, and this deviation in a series that has mainly followed the tradition of beginning with the two in the Baker Street rooms works very well. In fact, this entire episode is not much of a whodunit and more of a how-will-he-do-it, with John Norton the criminal threatening to escape and kill Holmes. We can guess pretty easily that his wife has slipped him something in the titular Christmas pudding as we are familiar enough with that trope, but it doesn't detract from the suspense.
Strangely for a Christmas episode, this one features little of the humor that characterizes these incarnations of Holmes and Watson. Instead it is played very straight and for suspense, which it gets. Even Eugene Deckers, which has been hilarious in some previous episodes, is instead very threatening here.
It is strange to see Sherlock Holmes falling pray to irrational fears, but somehow Howard and Crawford pull it off. Holmes' deception to get Watson to clear out of 221B so that he will be out of danger is actually rather touching. Interesting to note that this is also unusual because, strangely in this series, Inspector Lestrade does not appear.
This is a very well done episode, and good viewing for those who like a little murder and jailbreak at Yuletide.
Not the Holmes many have come to love
planktonrules15 October 2018
Warning: Spoilers
After reading the entire library of Conan Doyle stories about Sherlock Holmes, it's likely you'll realize that most of the Sherlock Holmes movies and television shows do a poor job of capturing the legendary detective. In "The Case of the Christmas Pudding", the folks who wrote the episode really weren't in touch with who Holmes was supposed to be and the story seems very slight.
When the show begins, some jerk is being sentenced to death for murder. It seems that Holmes was instrumental in the case and the condemned threatens to kill Holmes once the verdict was read. The show then consists of the man escaping from prison (due mostly to idiot jailers) and then Holmes killing the guy and then showing the prison officials how the man escaped. It all seems quite strange for many reasons. First, the security in the prison seemed incredibly lax considering he's about to die AND threatened to escape and kill Holmes. Second, Holmes seems very uncharacteristically scared. Third, the criminal seemed incredibly easy to defeat. Overall, a diappointment and as a result I am a bit hesitant to watch more of these TV shows.
When the show begins, some jerk is being sentenced to death for murder. It seems that Holmes was instrumental in the case and the condemned threatens to kill Holmes once the verdict was read. The show then consists of the man escaping from prison (due mostly to idiot jailers) and then Holmes killing the guy and then showing the prison officials how the man escaped. It all seems quite strange for many reasons. First, the security in the prison seemed incredibly lax considering he's about to die AND threatened to escape and kill Holmes. Second, Holmes seems very uncharacteristically scared. Third, the criminal seemed incredibly easy to defeat. Overall, a diappointment and as a result I am a bit hesitant to watch more of these TV shows.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
