Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking is a British television film originally broadcast on BBC One in the UK on 26 December 2004. It stars Rupert Everett as Sherlock Holmes and Ian Hart as Dr. Watson.
A string of murders occur in London, all involving young, upper-class women who are found strangled with silk stockings. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are called in to investigate and soon discover that the killer is targeting women with connections to a particular social club. As they dig deeper, they realize that the culprit is a respected doctor with a twisted sense of morality who has been driven to commit these crimes by his own inner demons. With the help of a key witness and their deductive skills, Holmes and Watson are able to identify the killer and bring him to justice.
Do not confuse with The House of Silk, an official Sherlock Holmes novel by Anthony Horowitz.
Tropes:
- Calling Card: The Serial Killer leaves one silk stocking knotted about the necks of his victims, and another stuffed down their throats.
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase
- Clothing Combat: The Serial Killer strangles his victims with a silk stocking.
- Human Shield: When Holmes confronts Charles in his lair and pulls a gun on him, Charles grabs the unconscious Roberta and uses her as a shield as he attempts to escape.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: After learning that the twin he has in custody is not the killer, and that the other twin has abducted Roberta, Lestrade beats up the one he does have in an attempt to find out where Roberta is being held.
- Never Suicide: The killer's first victim was pulled naked from the Thames and the coroner ruled her death a suicide. However, Holmes realises that the first victim he knows of was actually Not the First Victim and, upon exhuming the body, Watson is able to find a silk stocking stuffed down her throat. It's the discovery of this first victim that eventually leads Holmes to the killer.
- Not the First Victim: There is a Serial Killer on the loose who abducts and garrotes the daughters of wealthy aristocrats, each time dressing them in the clothes of their previous victim. As Holmes concludes, logically there must have been an original victim for him to get the first set of clothes. Sure enough, they're able to find a young woman who was recovered from the Thames naked a few months previously. Whilst the coroner ruled it a suicide, upon exhuming the body, Watson is able to find a silk stocking stuffed down her throat. It's the discovery of this first victim that leads Holmes to the killer.
- Opium Den: The film opens with Holmes in an opium den.
- Pistol-Whipping: During their final confrontation, Holmes goads Charles into dropping his Human Shield Roberta by fondling Roberta's stolen ballet shoes, which sends foot fetishist Charles into a fury. He lunges at Holmes and Holmes smacks him in the head with his revolver.
- Serial Killer: A serial killer stalking the teen-aged daughters of the aristocracy brings Sherlock Holmes out of his drug-filled semi-retirement.
- Serial Killer Baiting: Holmes asks Roberta Massingham to act as bait in order to draw out the killer of her sister.
- Slipping a Mickey: Charles gives Roberta a glass of drugged champagne and then attempts to abduct her when she passes out.
- Trespassing to Talk: Holmes sneaks into the bedroom of Roberta Massingham in the middle of the night to ask her to act as bait to catch her sister's murderer.
- Twin Switch: The murderer turns out to be a pair of identical twins, which enables them to always have an alibi when they kill.
- Two Dun It: The murderer turns out to be a pair of identical twins, which enables them to always have an alibi when they kill.
