Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

 
A search for Sherlock Holmes in the Internet Movie Database returns more than 1,400 films and television series. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective is the most frequently portrayed fictional character on screen. The earliest film adaptation dates back to 1900. In the early 1990s, an eight-part miniseries entitled SHERLOCK HOLMES - THE GOLDEN YEARS was announced, focusing on the later years of a retired Sherlock Holmes (Christopher Lee) and his trusted companion, Dr John Watson (Patrick Macnee).

Sherlock Holmes - Incident at Victoria Falls, 1:27:14

According to the website Televison Heaven, the international co-production appears to have been set up partly as a tax-avoidance scheme. Frank Agrama of Harmony Gold and Silvio Berlusconi of Silvio Berlusconi Communications were later convicted of tax offences relating to their joint film productions. In the end, only two three-hour television films were made: The Leading Lady (1991) and Incident at Victoria Falls (1992). As far as I have been able to ascertain, the second film was broadcast as a mini-series on television in a few countries.

Rather than being allowed to enjoy his retirement, the legendary Sherlock Holmes is asked by King Edward (Joss Ackland) in 1910 and asked to travel to South Africa to recover the Star of Africa, a priceless diamond. 

Victoria Falls, 16 July 2026

Upon arriving in Cape Town, a man's body is found in the safe instead of the diamond. Among the dead man's possessions is a train ticket to Victoria Falls, prompting Holmes and Dr. Watson to board a train bound for the famous waterfalls. Among their fellow passengers are several notable figures, including former US president Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (Claude Akins) and Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi (Stephen Gurney). The location filming in Zimbabwe took place in the autumn of 1990. 

The railway station where the Rhodesian Railways train pulls in is Victoria Falls Railway Station, which was built in 1904. The train is met by a group of soldiers led by Colonel Thornbury (Michael Brunner), who search the passengers in an attempt to find the missing diamond, but without success. The station is still in use today, although trains only arrive and depart a few times a month. When we visited, there was no one around apart from a gardener.

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Victoria Falls Railway Station, Victoria Falls, 15 July 2026

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Victoria Falls Railway Station, Victoria Falls, 15 July 2026

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Victoria Falls Railway Station, Victoria Falls, 15 July 2026

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Victoria Falls Railway Station, Victoria Falls, 15 July 2026

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Victoria Falls Railway Station, Victoria Falls, 15 July 2026

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Victoria Falls Railway Station, Victoria Falls, 15 July 2026

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Victoria Falls Railway Station, Victoria Falls, 15 July 2026

Just a short walk from the railway station is The Victoria Falls Hotel, where Holmes and Watson are staying. Like the railway station, the hotel was built in 1904, when present-day Zimbabwe was still a British colony. It remains an exclusive hotel, and access to the grounds is restricted to guests. As we were not staying there, we could only photograph the entrance.

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The Victoria Falls Hotel, Victoria Falls, 15 July 2026

Statue of David Livingstone,
Victoria Falls, 16 July 2026

Holmes and Watson then visit the waterfalls after which the town, railway station and hotel are named. The falls lie within a national park, where an entrance fee is charged. See Victoria Falls National Parkfor more information. Rain ponchos can be rented at the entrance. In places, the spray from the falls is so intense that getting wet is virtually unavoidable. When we visited, however, the weather was warm, and the spray was actually a welcome way to cool down. The walk along the falls begins at a statue of the Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone, which can also be seen in the film. On 17 November 1855, Livingstone became the first European known to have seen the falls. He named them after the British Queen Victoria, although the local population had long known this spectacular natural wonder as Mosi-oa-Tunya. Today, both names are used, including by UNESCO's World Heritage List. The statue itself was unveiled in 1934. I suspect the filmmakers were aware of this, but decided that Livingstone was too important to the story to leave out of the scene.

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Statue of David Livingstone, Victoria Falls, 16 July 2026

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Statue of David Livingstone, Victoria Falls, 16 July 2026

Holmes, Watson, Marconi, Lord Roberts (Richard Todd) and several other visitors pose for Roosevelt's movie camera, with Victoria Falls providing a spectacular backdrop. Roosevelt travelled through Africa in 1909. As far as I have been able to determine, he was not an amateur filmmaker himself, but his expedition was captured on film. See Theodore Roosevelt in Africa on YouTube.

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Victoria Falls, 16 July 2026

Sherlock Holmes - Incident at Victoria Falls, 2:00:08

Statue of David Livingstone, Victoria Falls, 16 July 2026

Sherlock Holmes - Incident at Victoria Falls, 2:00:09

Victoria Falls, 16 July 2026

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Victoria Falls, 16 July 2026

Victoria Falls is one of Africa's most spectacular waterfalls. More than 1,700 metres (5,600 feet) wide and around 100 metres (328 feet) high, it stretches along the Zambezi River and forms part of the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, with the river plunging into the gorge on the Zimbabwean side. The falls feature several times in the film, sometimes as little more than an atmospheric backdrop. One scene shows the Maharani (Sunitha Singh) meeting Captain James Morrison (Neil McCarthy) in secret.

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Victoria Falls, 16 July 2026

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Victoria Falls, 16 July 2026

A few days later, Holmes visits the post office to send a telegram. This is again the railway station.

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Victoria Falls Railway Station, Victoria Falls, 15 July 2026

From the hotel's gardens, the Victoria Falls Bridge can be seen spanning the gorge. Completed in 1905, the bridge connects Zimbabwe and Zambia. We also got a good view of it during a helicopter flight over Victoria Falls and the surrounding area. Later that day, we walked across the bridge ourselves and briefly found ourselves in Zambia — without actually going through customs. Visitors can obtain a temporary “travel document” at the start of the bridge; in reality, it is little more than a piece of paper.

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Victoria Falls Bridge, 16 July 2026

Screenshots © Harmony Gold Finance Luxemburg S.A. 

Namib-Naukluft National Park, Namibia

 
In the film THE CELL, the FBI calls on Dr. Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez), a child psychologist conducting experimental research into a virtual reality treatment for coma patients. The FBI hopes to use this technique to locate a young woman who has been abducted by Carl Rudolph Stargher (Vincent D’Onofrio), a serial killer who is currently in a coma.

The Cell, 0:01:18

Deane is treating Edward Baines (Colton James), a young man with schizophrenia who is in a coma. The opening scene of the movie shows her making contact with him in a virtual reality environment. Director Tarsem Singh chose striking locations for this scene: Sossusvlei and Deadvlei in the Namib-Naukluft National Park in Namibia. As far as I know, this is the first time this national park has featured in a feature film.

We visited this national park on the last day of our tour of southern Africa, and it was one of the highlights. Namib-Naukluft is Africa’s largest protected area and encompasses both desert and mountains.

Namib-Naukluft National Park, 26 July 2026

The day began very early. Before sunrise we were already on our way because it can get very hot in the desert. It was almost an hour’s drive from our lodge to Sesriem Gate, the entrance of the park. Our first stop was Dune 45 in Sossusvlei, an area with tall, orange-red sand dunes. ‘Vlei’ is Afrikaans for ‘lake’ or ‘marsh’. Dune 45 takes its name from its location: it is situated 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Sesriem.

In the film, Catherine Deane arrives here on a black horse, wearing in a white dress. As she dismounts and walks up the dune, the horse turns into a statue. I have not been able to find out what this means. Judging by the shadows, this scene was filmed at the end of the day. When we arrived here in the morning on our safari truck and walked up the dune ourselves, the sun was already higher in the sky.

The Cell, 0:01:08

Dune 45, Sossusvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park, 26 July 2026

The Cell, 0:01:22

Dune 45, Sossusvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park, 26 July 2026

A flash of light catches Catherine’s attention. She sees Edward holding a mirror that reflects the light, standing in a landscape of dead trees surrounded by dunes. This is Deadvlei, also known as Dodevlei, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Dune 45. This clay plain is more difficult to reach. 

The Cell, 0:02:42

Deadvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park, 26 July 2026

We travelled the first part of the way by truck, but when it could not go any further due to the bumpy road, we were transferred to an off-road vehicle. After a few kilometres, we were dropped off at a car park. From there, it was another 20-minute walk through the loose sand to reach Deadvlei, where the temperature had risen considerably by then. Around 900 years ago, the climate in this area became much drier and the shifting sand dunes cut off Deadvlei from the river. Without water, the camel thorn trees died and Deadvlei became a white clay pan. The extreme aridity prevented the trees from decomposing. Instead, they were scorched black by the intense desert sun. The trees have not been fossilised.

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Deadvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park, 26 July 2026

When the sun shines on the landscape, the dunes turn orange and the plain a pale yellow. Together with the dark trees and blue sky, this creates a surreal landscape reminiscent of a painting by Salvador Dalí or Giorgio de Chirico. Looking in the opposite direction, this effect is less pronounced but still striking.

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Deadvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park, 26 July 2026

The Cell, 0:03:02

Deadvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park, 26 July 2026

Prior to our visit, I was curious to see if I could spot the dead trees that appear in the film, but that turned out to be no problem. Only the stump that Edward leans against was not there, but this must have been a prop. Visitors are not allowed to touch the trees.

The Cell, 0:03:08

Deadvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park, 26 July 2026

This is one of the most extraordinary places I have ever been to. It was not easy to get there, it was hot and the grains of sand made the camera lenses dirty – but it was well worth the effort.

Deadvlei, Namib-Naukluft National Park, 26 July 2026

Screenshots © Katira Productions