Without the brilliant Jeremy Brett playing Sherlock Holmes, this episode may not have been as worthy or as interesting as on written form. But thanks to Brett playing the Holmes, with his facing tics and wonderful way of stealing a scene, this episode will be another grand adventure for all viewers.
It centers around an aging man, Blessington, that seems to be scared out of his wits concerning someone breaking into his home. Blessington, a wealthy man, keeps all his money in his house. He even tells Holmes that he does not trust banks. In order to keep someone around him all day, Blessington goes out and finds a young doctor, Trevelyan, needing an opportunity to start a practice and sets him up in his home. That way there would be someone else at the house all the time.
But it will not be long until Blessington reads the local news and becomes so agitated that he has bars placed on all the windows. He is so distraught that he asks the good doctor to call Sherlock Holmes to see if he can help in the matter. Holmes believes Blessington is hiding something and will not listen to his story. The next day Holmes is called to the house only to find that the fears of the old man were real.
This episode reverted back to having a lot of dialog that the viewers must follow to be up with the story. Taking the doctors talk at the beginning of the episode and Holmes speech in the bedroom of Blessington, it takes up more than half the program. But due to Brett's performance this episode was still an interesting watch for all viewers.