The Naval Treaty
| "The Naval Treaty" | |
|---|---|
| The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes episode | |
| Episode no. | Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Alan Grint |
| Written by | John Hawkesworth, based on the short story "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
| Original air date | 8 May 1984 |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
"The Naval Treaty" is an episode of the Sherlock Holmes television adaptations of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories, produced by British television company Granada Television between 1984 and 1994, starring Jeremy Brett as the famous detective. It was the third of seven episodes aired in the series' first season, called The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The episode first aired on 8 May 1984.
The episode opens on a rainy night. A frantically crying man (Percy Phelps) is carried into his home by a few men while his fiancée (Annie) and her brother (Joseph Harrison) watch over him worriedly. The titles follow. The scene changes to the drawing room at the residence of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson at 221B Baker Street Holmes is busy with a chemical experiment pertaining to a case he is investigating when Dr. Watson enters the room with a letter he has received from his childhood friend, a senior at school and a brilliant academician, Percy Phelps. Holmes reads the letter handed to him by Dr. Watson in which Percy states that after completing his education he obtained an appointment at the Foreign Office where he was able to win a position of trust and honor, and that a misfortune has occurred which has ruined his career and reputation. He requests Dr. Watson to get Holmes to meet him so that he may get his assistance in the matter. Holmes deduces from the writing that it is of a woman and that she is of an exceptional nature, and agrees to accompany Dr. Watson to Phelps’ home, Briarbrae House in Woking.
Scene changes to the garden of Briarbrae House where Joseph Harrison comes across Holmes and Dr. Watson as they are walking in. Holmes deduces from the monogram on Harrison’s jacket chain that he is not a member of Phelps family.
Inside the house, in Phelps’ sick room Holmes and Dr. Watson are greeted by Phelps himself and his fiancée Annie by his bed side.
The scene changes to Lord Holdhurst’s office as Phelps starts narrating the incidents of the evening of 23 May, when he was summoned by Lord Holdhurst in his office. Lord Holdhurst entrusts Phelps with the task of creating a copy of a document - a naval treaty signed between England and Italy. He also tells Phelps that the job has to be done very carefully and while making sure that the contents are not leaked, as the Russian and French embassies are out to pay an immense sum of money to know the contents of the document. He suggests Percy to stay back after office, so that everyone has left and then work on copying the document and specifically asks him to keep both the original document and the copy locked in his desk drawer and hand it over to personally the next morning.
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