Mary Morstan (Seagrove) refers to the on-screen incarnation of Mary Morstan, as portrayed by Jenny Seagrove in the ITV Granada Television adaptation.
Portrayal in the series[]
Mary is a young governess in her late 20s or early 30s. She's an orphan, her father Arthur Morstan having died several years prior. Since reaching adult age, she's worked as a governess for several families. Mary decides to pay a visit to 221B Baker Street after having received mysterious small gifts from her late father's former army colleagues each year, already for several years now. She suspects the mystery might have something to do with a secret inheritance left over by her father, prompting Holmes and Watson to start a deeper investigation of her case.
Mary Morstan is based closely on her Canon counterpart. The biggest exception to this is that she doesn't eventually become Dr. Watson's fiancée, and later wife. This makes her one of the few live-action portrayals of Mary Morstan that never become known as Mary Watson.
Personality[]
Mary is an intelligent, very calm and measured person. She has a gentle and courteous demeanour, even when dealing with people towards whom she could feel justified anger. Despite her "stiff upper lip" attitude to handling the challenges life has thrown at her, she shows clear signs of grief for her late father several times. She's also deeply determined to uncover the secrets of her mostly deceased family's past.
Dr. Watson's implied attraction to her seems to be primarily emotional and intellectual. He shows signs of wanting to defend her from rude behaviour by others several times, including chastising major Sholto for keeping secrets about her deceased father to himself for years and not telling her the full truth sooner. However, Dr. Watson also privately admits to Holmes he finds Mary pretty and charming.
Appearances[]
Mary Morstan makes a single appearance in the Granada-produced ITV series, in the 1987 feature-length adaptation of the Canon novel The Sign of the Four.
