London: A series of Sherlock Holmes films, first released more than a century ago, has been restored and will soon be shown on screen for the first time since 1942.
The reels were brought up from the British Film Institute (BFI) National Archive vault to be inspected and are being cleaned, digitised and tinted, according to a BBC report.
Three of the films that have undergone restoration will be shown at Alexandra Palace Theatre in north London on October 16 as part of the BFI Film Festival.
Bryony Dixon, BFI's silent film curator, said: "There’s been a demand for these for years."
"People are waiting with bated breath for basically the last of the silent Sherlock Holmes films, the last ones to be restored in the whole world."
"The Stoll Sherlock Holmes series has never been publicly available. We hope to do it proud - but it is a big project.”
Sherlock Holmes has been played by famous actors - from Michael Caine to Ian McKellen, and more recently Benedict Cumberbatch and Henry Cavill.
Eille Norwood played the sleuth in the series of films the BFI is restoring.
Author of the original stories, Arthur Conan Doyle, approved their adaptation and remarked of Norwood: "His wonderful impersonation of Holmes has amazed me."
The British Film Institute said restoring the films was a "big project".
The BFI restorers need to be sleuths themselves when deciding how the original Sherlock Holmes films would have looked, the BBC report added.
