If you were a fan of the Grenada Studio's production of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries you may be interested to know that A&E has just released a boxed set of the entire series. It is on sale here for 10% off.
Before I saw Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes I believed that no one would ever top Basil Rathbone as the Victorian sleuth, but Brett has defined Holmes for the screen. As long as these performances exist on DVD there will never again be a legitmate reason to adapt any of Conan Doyle's Holmes stories for the big or small screen.
Here is what one reviewer has to say about the Granada series:
For this is as good as it gets. We have a glorious incarnation of Holmes and Watson here. Brett's Holmes - cantankerous, affected, whimsical, rude, arrogant, precipitous, charming - can only have been drawn from the deepest possible understanding of the text. There have been similar efforts along the same lines, though none so successful. No other Holmes has come close to Brett's portrayal of the brilliant but obsessed mind, teetering on the knife edge dividing madness and genius.
Brett's portrayal of Holmes is enough to lift this series above any other. But Granada (who are damn good at this sort of thing when they try) have nailed the two other vital essences of the stories and this makes their achievement unique.
Firstly we have a totally new take on Watson, a brisk, wonderfully intelligent man of action, a fearless fellow crime fighter and stalwart support. As David Burke leads Holmes round the Aldershot camp in The Crooked Man, you understand exactly what Holmes found appealing in the bluff ex-soldier, who chronicles his victories, appreciates and learns his methods and soothes his clients when Holme's interrogation causes offence. This is new and unsurpassed. . .
Before I saw Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes I believed that no one would ever top Basil Rathbone as the Victorian sleuth, but Brett has defined Holmes for the screen. As long as these performances exist on DVD there will never again be a legitmate reason to adapt any of Conan Doyle's Holmes stories for the big or small screen.
Here is what one reviewer has to say about the Granada series:
For this is as good as it gets. We have a glorious incarnation of Holmes and Watson here. Brett's Holmes - cantankerous, affected, whimsical, rude, arrogant, precipitous, charming - can only have been drawn from the deepest possible understanding of the text. There have been similar efforts along the same lines, though none so successful. No other Holmes has come close to Brett's portrayal of the brilliant but obsessed mind, teetering on the knife edge dividing madness and genius.
Brett's portrayal of Holmes is enough to lift this series above any other. But Granada (who are damn good at this sort of thing when they try) have nailed the two other vital essences of the stories and this makes their achievement unique.
Firstly we have a totally new take on Watson, a brisk, wonderfully intelligent man of action, a fearless fellow crime fighter and stalwart support. As David Burke leads Holmes round the Aldershot camp in The Crooked Man, you understand exactly what Holmes found appealing in the bluff ex-soldier, who chronicles his victories, appreciates and learns his methods and soothes his clients when Holme's interrogation causes offence. This is new and unsurpassed. . .
I agree 100%. If you, or someone on your Christmas list, is a fan this is a must-buy and the price is very reasonable considering what you get.
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