The Rivals of Sherlock HolmesThe Rivals of Sherlock Holmes - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video GamesThe Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes is a British anthology detective TV series produced by Thames Television. The first season aired in 1971, and the second in 1973. The series presented adaptations of short stories featuring fictional detectives who were literary contemporaries of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. The first season got the 1972 BAFTA TV Award for Best Design.
The list of the main characters include more than twenty detectives, both amateurs and professionals (for the full list of characters and their creators, see the article in Wikipedia).
The following weapons were used in the television series The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes:
In the final scene in "The Missing Witness Sensation" (S01E02) two police constables are armed with Webley Bulldog revolvers. Lady Molly (Elvi Hale) and her assistant Miss Mary Grandard (Ann Beach) train with Bulldog revolvers on a shooting range in "The Woman in the Big Hat" (S01E09).
In the opening scene in "The Affair of the Avalanche Bicycle & Tyre Co. Ltd." (S01E03) a private detective Horace Dorrington (Peter Vaughan) draws a Webley Metropolitan Police revolver from his table. The revolver has a fluted cylinder so it's a Metropolitan Police New Model version that appeared in 1883 and was adopted by the London police a year later.
Mr. Piercy (John Warner) holds a Webley RIC style revolver in the climactic scene in "The Ripening Rubies" (S01E12). Probably this is a Model 83 or Model 86. Of the two samples below, the screen gun has the extractor head like Model 86 but the cylinder looks more similar to Model 83.
Philip Marsden (Martin Jarvis) holds a Webley .455 Mk I in the climactic scene in "Five Hundred Carats" (S02E02) that is set in 1890 in the South Africa.
Lt. Charles Beaumont (Michael Johnson) owns a Colt Police Positive revolver in "The Horse of the Invisible" (S01E05). Thomas Carnacki (Donald Pleasence) and Harry Parsket (Geoffrey Whitehead) hold Beaumont's revolver in several scenes. The year when this episode is set is not specified, but the original story was published in 1910, so Colt Police Positive that was introduced in 1905 is not anachronistic although it is a very modern gun.
Harry Parsket (Geoffrey Whitehead) owns a pocket revolver in "The Horse of the Invisible" (S01E05). He describes it as a "German pocket gun" and a "peashooter", perhaps meaning a Velo-Dog. The gun is seen only in darkness and unclear. For what can seen, the revolver is probably a hammerless model, with a short barrel and without a trigger guard, so the folding trigger is a likely guess.
Horace Dorrington (Peter Vaughan) owns a top break 5-shot revolver in "The Case of the Mirror of Portugal" (S01E06). Judging by the shape of the rear part of the frame and the recurved trigger guard, this is one of the Smith & Wesson DA models, chambered in .32 or .38 caliber, like 2nd, 3rd or 4th Models. Some details, like the shape of the grip, seem to be different from original S&W revolvers, and the revolver is blued rather than nickel plated, so the screen gun is possibly a European clone. Such revolvers were widely produced in Belguim and some other European states.
In one scene Inspector Brent (Lloyd Lamble) takes the revolver from Dorrington's drawer and asks Dorrington if he has a license. Such a question is ridiculous for the Victorian era: while in 1870 a licence was introduced for anyone who wanted to carry a gun outside their home, there were no restrictions on keeping a firearm indoors. Dorrington himself uses the revolver later during the confrontation with Mr. Hamer (Paul Eddington).
In the climactic scene in "The Case of the Dixon Torpedo" (S01E08) Ivanov (Michael Poole), an agent of the Russian secret police, aims a St. Etienne Mle 1892 revolver at private investigator Jonathan Pryde (Ronald Hines). Probably a French Mle 1892 is used as a stand-in for a Russian Nagant M1895 (although the original story by Arthur Morrison was written in 1894, this screen adaptation is set not earlier than 1897).
The jeweler Bernard Sutton (Robert Lang) holds a nickel plated Smith & Wesson Safety Hammerless revolver in several scenes in "The Ripening Rubies" (S01E12).
Jack Bellingham (Simon Gough) holds a revolver in "The Secret of the Foxhunter" (S02E10). This is a kind of American Bulldog revolver, with a simple extractor rod and a loading port without cover. Such revolvers, very similar in appearance, were produced by Iver Johnson, Harrington & Richardson and other manufacturers.
A pocket revolver with nickel finish, folding trigger and Bulldog style extractor is held by Mrs. Kavanagh (Moira Redmond) in the final scene in "The Ripening Rubies" (S01E12). The general appearance of the revolver allows to suppose that this gun is of a Belgian or German manufacture rather than a British one.
Lt. Holst (John Thaw) of the Danish police finds a nickel plated pocket revolver with folding trigger in the cigar case of Russian Count Dimitri Wolkonski (Philip Madoc) in "The Sensible Action of Lieutenant Holst" (S02E06). Its notable features are short unfluted cylinder, probably chambered in .22 or similar caliber, more simple extractor than on Bulldog revolvers and rounded barrel.
A pocket revolver is held by Mr. J.T. Laxworthy (Bernard Hepton) in "The Secret of the Magnifique" (S02E04). It is seen only in nearly complete darkness, and it's impossible to identify the gun.
Professor Dyne (John Phillips) aims a snub nose top-break hammerless revolver at Charles Dallas (Robin Ellis) in "The Missing Q.C.s" (S02E11). Such revolvers, commonly referred as "bicycle guns", were produced by Smith & Wesson, Harrington & Richardson, Iver Johnson and other manufacturers.
A manservant in Captain Hisgins' house holds a double barreled shotgun in "The Horse of the Invisible" (S01E05). Charles Beaumont (Michael Johnson) takes the shotgun in the climactic scene in the same episode.
A Martini-Enfield Artillery Carbine is seen in hands of Philip Marsden (Martin Jarvis) in "Five Hundred Carats" (S02E02). In one scene Inspector Lipinzki (Barry Keegan) takes the rifle from Marsden. The plot is set in 1890, too early for the Martini-Enfield that was introduced in 1895 and even for the Martini-Metford carbine that appeared in 1892.
Several rifles are seen on Lady Molly's private shooting range in "The Woman in the Big Hat" (S01E09). Judging by the top H-style barrel bands and the barrel length, two of them are Mauser Gewehr 1898.
Except for the formentioned Mauser 98 rifles, there are four more lon guns on Lady Molly's private shooting range in "The Woman in the Big Hat" (S01E09). Two of them seem to be full-length military rifles (of those rifle 3 may be one of the pre-98 Mausers), and two more rifles are sporting or hunting guns with short handguards, semi-pistol grips and turned down bolt handles.
An anarchist group leader Alfred Barton (Julian Glover) holds a hand grenade in the climactic scene in "The Moabite Cypher" (S02E09). This grenade utilises the body of the German Kugelhandgranate Model 1915 n/A, while the fuze is probably of Mk 2 hand grenade. The year when this episode is set is not specified, but the original story was published in 1909 when hand grenades of such type were yet to be invented.
