The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: King of Blackmailers

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: King of Blackmailers (1980) — watch online on iFILM — centres on a case that Mycroft Holmes hands to his brother. The Diogenes Club, London: members are not permitted to speak. Mycroft pulls Holmes and Watson into a private room to explain. A young woman set to marry a duke wrote letters she should not have. Those letters are now with a blackmailer.

Vasily Livanov's Holmes takes the assignment, though the adversary — Boris Klyuev, unhurried and methodical — is not rattled easily. Vitaly Solomin's Watson is drawn into the scheme directly, not just watching from the sidelines. Svetlana Kryuchkova adds an unsettling layer to the supporting cast. Of all the episodes in the Soviet series, this one carries the most ethical ambiguity: the law is not much help when the crime is knowledge. Stream King of Blackmailers online on iFILM.