Sherlock: The Hounds of Baskerville

In the novel by Doyle, a family legend has a huge, demonic hound haunting a doomed family (the Baskervilles). Some members of the family are horrific humans, who possibly deserve to be doomed. But the more recent members are decent people, and the story focuses on them. A distant Baskerville relative (unknown to the last two direct heirs) manipulates the situation until the last two direct heirs believe they, too, are being hunted by a hound. He is hoping to inherit the vast family wealth. An escaped convict also comes into play, being sheltered by the Baskervilles house servants.

Holmes is able to discover the culprit, but has no proof. He directs Henry Baskerville to walk alone on the moor, and thus is able to catch Stapleton (the distant heir) in the act.

The BBC adaptation in modern day London bears very little in common with the original story. The "hound" is actually "HOUND", a secret military project which uses some type of chemical/drug to amplify a patient's fears. Thus the hound is actually a product of Henry Knight's over-drugged imagination. At one point four different characters experience a delusion all at once, because the drug is being administered through the ground fog in the area. "Baskerville" is a military compound, where at first Holmes thinks perhaps they have actually created a monstrous animal. But the link to the drug and experiment is actually only one individual, who tries to throw Holmes off the scent.

Again, two very different stories, both enjoyable.