THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES AND DOCTOR WATSON (1979). In Russian with English subtitles

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (Russian: Приключения Шерлока Холмса и доктора Ватсона) is a series of Soviet television films portraying Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional English detective, starting in 1979. They were directed by Igor Maslennikov.

Overview
Between 1979 and 1986, Soviet television produced a series of five films at the Lenfilm movie studio, split into eleven episodes, starring Vasily Livanov as Sherlock Holmes and Vitaly Solomin as Dr. Watson. Later, a cinematic adaptation was made based on the 1986 episodes. This film was called The Twentieth Century Approaches.

Episode #1 and #2

1979 Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
1st episode: "Acquaintance" (based on "The Adventure of the Speckled Band").
2nd episode: "Bloody Inscription" (based on A Study in Scarlet).

Jauniela street, in old Riga, doubles as Baker Street in the series.
The script was written by Julius Dunsky and Valery Frid on their own initiative.
Igor Maslennikov was not a big fan of Conan Doyle's work, but he liked the idea of a future TV movie. In addition, there was an interesting juxtaposition of characters in the script Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, which was supposed to attract the viewer and what, according to the director, previous film adaptations lacked.

"Holmes is opposed to the official police system of Scotland Yard, because the main thing for him is to help, not just to punish. This, it seems to me, is the secret of the enduring love of readers and viewers for Sherlock Holmes, the living personification of loyalty and reliability — qualities that people have always needed so much. That was the reason why we were so willing to work on these films." --- Igor Maslennikov

Unlike some of their Western counterparts, the films are very close to the literary source. Some of the departures include Holmes' easy-going and humorous demeanor, as well as comic relief provided by some of the characters (most notably that of Sir Henry Baskerville and his butler Barrymore in The Hound of the Baskervilles episode).

Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin met at the auditions, and they immediately formed friendly relations:

As the lead Vitaly Livanov commented: "In relation to life, we coincided in many ways. Vitaly shared with me deeply personal experiences, and I think he did not share these experiences with anyone else… Love can be played on the screen. And friendship is impossible to play. You need to be friends."

A street in old Riga doubles as Baker Street (the same street was used for exterior locations of Tsvetochnaya street in "Seventeen Moments of Spring").[4][5] Many scenes were filmed in Saint Petersburg and Tallinn. "The role" of the Reichenbach Waterfall was "performed" by Circassian waterfall in Abkhazia.[6]

Regular cast
Vasily Livanov as Sherlock Holmes
Vitaly Solomin as Dr. Watson
Rina Zelyonaya as Mrs. Hudson
Borislav Brondukov as Inspector Lestrade
Igor Dmitriev as Tobias Gregson
Boris Klyuyev as Mycroft Holmes
Viktor Yevgrafov as Professor Moriarty
— Vasily Livanov[1]