Rare archive film of Sherlock Holmes' creator, alongside testimony from modern-day
experts, illustrates the author-cum-detective's role in two of the most controversial
and illuminating cases of injustice he handled in real life.

The first case is about the son of an Indian-born vicar in rural Staffordshire, George
Edalji. He was sentenced to seven years' hard labour for the horrific mutilation and
killing of horses. It is a tale of shoddy forensics, poison-pen letters and institutional
racism, which intrigued Conan Doyle, especially as it touched on events earlier in his own
life when he was a practising doctor: a young man died in his care and the circumstantial
evidence pointed towards his guilt.

The second case tells of Oscar Slater, a German Jew, sentenced to hang for the brutal
murder of elderly Glasgow spinster Marion Gilchrist. Doyle fought his corner, revealing
a high-level cover-up by the Scottish authorities to convict a man they knew to be innocent
to protect a well-connected family.

These cases contributed to the passing of the Appeal Court Acts in England and Scotland.

Download File Size:724.29 MB

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