Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle's immortal Sherlock Holmes was inspired by the genius of his professor and mentor at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, Dr. Joseph Bell. In this drama, based on Dr. Bell's previously unknown undercover work, the young Doyle joins Bell in his adventures. The mystery unfolds in 1878 as the university is in an uproar over the introduction of female students, one of whom -- Elspeth Scott -- catches Doyle's eye.

In Part 1, sleuthing surgeon Dr. Bell taps medical student Arthur Conan Doyle to help with Bell's undercover work for the Edinburgh police. His deductive methods crack one especially difficult case and set young Doyle thinking about another -- one that everybody, Bell included, has discounted as an unsuspicious death.

In Part 2, called in to treat Lady Sarah Carlisle, Dr. Bell and Doyle discover she has syphillis, which leads them to Edinburgh's seamy underworld and evidence connecting a series of murders to a surprising suspect. Complicating the plot are Doyle's fellow medical students: the beguiling beauty Elspeth, the religious fanatic Crawford, and the manic American Neill.