Aleksey Chardymskiy

A group of scientists is sent to the planet Arkanar to help the local civilization, which is in the Medieval phase of its own history, to find the right path to progress. Their task is a difficult one: they cannot interfere violently and in no case can they kill. The scientist Rumata tries to save the local intellectuals from their punishment and cannot avoid taking a position.

Based on Franz Kafka's The Castle. A certain K. appears in a snow-covered godforsaken village as if out of nowhere. All the power in the village belongs to the mysterious Castle that strangers are barred from accessing. K. presents himself to the locals as the Land Surveyor "summoned by the Governor himself." But he is denied work and a place to stay. The only person that doesn't turn her back on him is barmaid Frieda, lover of the powerful official Klamm. K. seeks a meeting with Klamm thinking that is the only way to get something out of the soulless bureaucratic machine. But without realizing it, he soon begins to play by its rules, setting himself up for inevitable defeat.

The action takes place in Victorian England in the last quarter of the 19th century. 27-year-old amateur detective Sherlock Holmes becomes a bystander to a crime along with Dr. John Watson, a military doctor who has just returned from the war in Afghanistan. During the investigation, Watson, not yet having an apartment in London, settles with Holmes in Mrs. Hudson's «half board», and then takes part in the affairs of his new friend. Watson gives Holmes boxing lessons. Watson himself is an experienced boxer, able to deal with several opponents with his bare hands. In addition, he is an excellent marksman. Considering Holmes a genius, the doctor decides to tell the whole world about his talent and the mysteries he revealed in his stories, where he often embellishes the events («the true story» of which the series presents). Watson is taught to embellish events by the editor-in-chief of the «Morning Chronicle».