Please note:

This is the original, slightly edited script I wrote a few years ago for a book/movie comparison project while doing my undergraduate degree. I (a teacher) was supposed to record a video and post it on YouTube for my imagined students to watch. The free version of the movie maker we were told to use only allowed for three minutes of content, thus why this is extremely short. The video is no longer up on YouTube, but I thought it would be amusing to post my old, super-short script. My imagined audience was students after reading the book and assumes that students are familiar with the plot and character. If you're curious, I scored 100% because I rocked it.

CONTAINS SPOILERS for The Hound of the Baskervilles and for the 2002 BBC adaptation of that story

[lightning and thunder, eerie music]

Welcome, all, to our book-movie comparison of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. There are a lot of film adaptations of the Hound of the Baskervilles out there, but today we will be focusing on the 2002 BBC adaptation starring Richard Roxburgh as Sherlock Holmes and Ian Hart as Doctor Watson.

First, let's remind ourselves what happens in the story. A man named Sir Charles dies mysteriously and Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson must protect his nephew, Sir Henry, from being killed by a phantom hound that haunts the Baskervilles. Holmes and Watson discover it was Mr. Stapleton, a relative of the Baskervilles, who was controlling the hound and was plotting the death of Sir Henry.

For our first comparison let's talk about the legend of the hound. In the book, the hound appears to take revenge on Sir Hugo Baskerville after he kidnaps a girl and chases her onto the moor when she tries to escape. In the movie, the woman is actually Sir Hugo's wife who he is abusing and the hound is her dog. In both, however, the hound kills Sir Hugo and continues to haunt the Baskerville family.

Next let's talk about Miss Laura Lyons. In the book she is reason Sir Charles is outside at night to be frightened to death by the hound. The movie, however, gets rid of her all together and implies that Stapleton used his wife, still posing as his sister, to lure Sir Charles out.

Another character that is different from the book is Selden, the convict. In both versions he is Mrs. Barrymore's brother, but in the film the Barrymore's lie to protect him and Watson has no idea he's related to Mrs. Barrymore until after Stapleton's death. Stapleton also comes to the hall for food instead of Mr. Barrymore taking it out to him. Watson and Baskerville don't chase him onto the moor in the movie.

The setting of the movie is also different. Both are set in Devonshire, but the book is in October while the movie takes place in December at Christmastime. Holmes and Watson attend a Christmas party at the hall which Holmes uses as a distraction to break into Stapleton's home and gather evidence he is the one plotting to kill Sir Henry, which never happened in the book.

Finally, let's talk about your favorite part: the ending! The biggest difference is that Stapleton kills his wife instead of just beating her and tying her up like he does in the book. This makes Watson so angry he tries to kill Stapleton, and during the fight Stapleton gets away and Watson gets shot in the arm. Holmes chases Stapleton onto the moor where he, not Stapleton, falls into the mire. Stapleton is about to kill Holmes when Watson shoots him and pulls Holmes out of the mire. It's a very different ending, but what do you think? Was it appropriate for the film? What was your favorite difference? That's all for now, I'll see you guys later.