In 1992 Granada Studios paid a vist to Guy’s Cliffe to film this episode. The large fire that was intended to be part of the opening scene was of course only supposed to be simulated by pyrotechnical effects. However the flames spread along unnoticed wooden beams in the brickwork. Despite precautions and a fire engine on standby, the supply hose of which failed, the prevailing wind soon ensured an inferno! The fire took away parts of an already ruinous house but one consolation was that the remedial work carried out after ensured the survivabilty of the standing walls for seventy years. The episode shows some of the parts that were lost as the fire was the last scene filmed.

You can still purchase “The Last Vampyre” from Amazon.com for further viewing.

The Last Vampyre

Cast:

Sherlock Holmes - BRETT, Jeremy
Dr Watson - HARDWICKE, Edward
Bob Ferguson - BARRON, Keith
John St Claire Stockton - MARSDEN, Roy
Reverend Augustus Merridew - DENHAM, Maurice
Mrs Mason - SPRIGGS, Elizabeth
Pedlar - JONES, Freddie
Carlotta - VASQUEY, Yolanda
Jack Ferguson - DEMPSEY, Richard
Dolores - AUBREY, Juliet
Michael Mason - HETHERINGTON, Jason
Mr Gresty - GEDDIS, Peter
Mrs Gresty - LANSBURY, Kate
Vera Gresty - REDMOND, Maria
Miss Ruddock - MASON, Hilary
PC Ware - TOMLIN, Stephen
Mrs Carter - O’BRIEN, Eileen
Mr Carter - ABRAHAMS, Andrew
Tom Carter - MARASCALCHI, Marcello
Albert the pageboy - PARRIS, Paul
Recardo the baby - PRICE, Anthony

Story:

Sherlock Holmes goes from investigating mere murder and mayhem to a fiend of possibly supernatural origin in this made-for-TV thriller. In the 1790’s, a wave of murders hits the small British community of Lamberley; as the victims are young women who suffer severe wounds and bleeding from their necks, many locals believe a vampire is to blame, and that the aristocratic but mysterious Lord St. Clair is thought to be the creature of the night in question. A gang surrounds and lynches Lord St. Clair, pounding a stake through his heart and burning him. In the early 20th Century, a similar series of murders begin happening in the same small town, shortly after the arrival of John Stockton (Roy Marsden), a distant relative of Lord St. Clair, who often visits the grave of his dead ancestor. The people of Lamberley believe Stockton is to blame, and noted detective Sherlock Holmes (Jeremey Brett) is brought in to investigate. Holmes and his associate Watson (Edward Hardwicke) discover Stockton is a student of the occult who enjoys playing with the assumptions of others, but in time they wonder if he may indeed be a vampire after all. The Last Vampyre was adapted from the short story The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire by Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle.