The series exaggerated the similarity between Bell and Holmes for dramatic effect, with Doyle acting as John Watson, and included several scenes from the books (the assumption being that these would later inspire Doyle's fiction). The 2000 episode starred Ian Richardson as Dr Bell and Robin Laing as Arthur Doyle, and was filmed in Scotland and in Cromer in Norfolk. Richardson had earlier played Sherlock Holmes in 1983 television versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four.