The Sign of Four is one of my favourite Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories, so I naturally hope that any adaptation would be good. And they have been, the best being the Jeremy Brett version. Burbank's version is highly laudable. There are some letdowns, two of them are general problems with all four of the Burbank Sherlock Holmes adaptations. The character designs are rather stiff and the camera angles rather rushed, while the pacing has moments when it is sluggish and I felt that the character of Jonathan Small was not quite sinister enough. However, the backgrounds and colours are very evocative and impressive, The Baskerville Curse may be the best overall of the four in terms of story and atmosphere, though I give all of them the same rating, but it is The Sign of Four that is the most handsome-looking. The music manages to be haunting and not over-bearing, and the dialogue is thought-provoking. What struck me as really good about these four adaptations is how faithful in detail and spirit to Conan Doyle's writing they are(which is more than I could say about the worst of Burbank's animated adaptations, and I can only think of 5 or 6 that completely underwhelmed me) and Sign of Four is no exception. Most of the characters are true to character, and the voice acting is solid. As with the other three adaptations there is the odd monotone voice but that is certainly not the case with Peter O'Toole, who is splendid as Holmes. In conclusion, a number of excellent things with some letdowns. 7/10 Bethany Cox