Rishad Saam Mehta goes undercover in England, tracking the shooting locales of the just released movie Sherlock Holmes

Itu00a0is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of London" u2014 Sherlock Holmes

The movie will of course thrill those acquainted with Holmes and Watson through Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. While the latest silver screen Sherlock isn't anything like the Holmes we saw on telly years ago in Granada's Adventure of Sherlock Holmes, Robert Downey Jr instills a fresh and contemporaryu00a0 streak into the character while drawing inspiration from the original. The result is a quick-thinking detective who uses his fists rapidly, thinking through where to place his punches and in what sequence so as to quickly and silently incapacitate the baddie. Much like he uses his powers of observation and deduction. Holmes brilliantly comes across like a Victorian James Bond (which he in a broad sense was), but every trait you see is drawn from Conan Doyle's description of the detective.

Conan Doyle always maintained that Holmes and war veteran Watson were a formidable force against a gang of thugs should it ever come to that. While in the books it rarely came to that, in the movie it very often does much to the viewers delight. And yes there is a lot of deductive mind work too that gels beautifully with all the action.

So that is Holmes and Watson taken care of, what about the locations? Luckily London and other cities in the UK still lend themselves beautifully to a feel of the Victorian era. The makers sourced these out, added the magic of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) and the result is a stunning and evocative depiction of Victorian London.

I followed the trail the moviemakers had shot at since it would take me on an interesting jaunt around middle England.

My first stop was Manchester, birthplace of the industrial revolution. The neo-Gothic interiors of the imposing Manchester Town Hall that was completed in 1887, beautifully filled in for the insides of the houses of parliament that have been shown in the movie. Watch for that part while seeing the film and notice the bee symbol on the floor. The bees are the symbol of Manchester whose citizens pride themselves to be as hardworking as the insect.

But step into the inner courtyard of the town hall and you've immediately travelled a century back in time u2014 that is what I felt. The absolute period construction, right from the balconies to the cobblestones made this place an ideal set to depict dark sinister London streets. Just add a hansom cab and you've got your shot. Even the original gas lamps are still there!

I followed the trail to Liverpool, an hour from Manchester by train. The city's Mersey River has been plying with trade since the Middle Ages and the Victorian era Stanley Docks here were ideal to depict the Thames Iron Works scene. If you take the Mersey River cruise in Liverpool and look at the Stanley Docks from the river, you'll get an accurate idea of 1890s London Docklands that you will see in the film.

My trail continued onto London, which Conan Doyle obviously knew very well. And the beauty is that even today, 130 years after he put pen to paper and brought Holmes to life, you can catch glimpses of the London that features in his stories.

Holmes and Watson's most-loved haunt was the Strand that was then and even now one of London's most fashionable thoroughfares. The first scene in the movie will have anyone familiar with London immediately recognising the St Paul's Cathedral. The geometrical staircase that Holmes runs down in the opening scenes of the movie is the magnificent one inside St Paul's Cathedral and also starred in a Harry Potter film. As Holmes and Watson track the villainous Lord Blackwood across Victorian London you will instantly recognise Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, Brompton Cemetery (one of the finest in the world and where Blackwood rises again) and the Big Ben. Through the magic of CGI you will be treated to a view of the Tower Bridge under construction which was being built during the time frame of the movie.

Walking down the Strand, you will find there's so much of the literary ambience of Sherlock Holmes that you can soak in. There's the Lyceum Theatre on Wellington Street by the third pillar of which Mary Morstan, who later marries Dr Watson, met the duo in The Sign of Four.

Two streets later at Southampton Street, the red and white building once housed the offices of the Strand Magazine that published the sleuths' stories. A crowd of angry readers gathered here to protest when Conan Doyle killed off Holmes in The Final Problem. Hence Conan Doyle had to resurrect him.

Right opposite is Simpson's in the Strand. Sherlock Holmes must have loved it because the restaurant receives mention in two stories. Holmes loved "Looking down at the rushing stream of life in the Strand." from its windows. The dining room is elegantly panelled in dark wood, with a white, ornate wooden ceiling high above.

The service is still the same as what the duo must have enjoyed. White-clad carvers trundle joints of meat over to your table, where they lift silver covers to carve your typical British meal in front of you.

The meal there was my penultimate stop on the trail. I'd saved the best one for last.

Just off the Strand and below Trafalgar Square tucked away in Northumberland Street lies The Sherlock Holmes Pub, which was once the Northumberland Hotel and featured in a story. More than just a pub, it is a shrine.

Downstairs, the pub is rich with relics and souvenirs. The Hound of the Baskervilles gazes mournfully down from a glass box on a wall. A glass case holds various artifacts, like Holmes' handcuffs. Posters, photographs and programs from Sherlockian entertainments line the walls. Upstairs, behind a glass wall in the restaurant, is a replica of the 221b sitting room. People come here for a chance to enter, however briefly, the world of Sherlock Holmes.u00a0

It was the fitting conclusion to my trail.

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