The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Volume III

21st December, No Comments

By The Good Doctor

Volume III of The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes brings us another mixture of stories from the Canon (The Man with the Twisted Lip and The Speckled Band) and pastiches including stories that I mentioned but never published (The Tankerville Club and The Camberwell Poisoners) and some completely new stories all from the prolific Anthony Boucher and Denis Green. The recordings are, as usual, complete with the war-time announcements, original narrations and radio commercials. The quality on some of them is not perfect (they are the same transcriptions that appeared on the original cassette versions) but this should not mar your enjoyment.

Again we have twelve broadcasts with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as me (never quite as bumbling as he was in the films) except for one story where Eric Snowden took Bruce’s place as he was ill. The details on the packaging lack the actual broadcast dates but I will fill those in for you.

Disc 1 – Introduced by Ben Wright

The Murder in the Casbah (based on a reference in SCAN and broadcast December 3rd 1945)

The Tankerville Club (based on a reference in FIVE and broadcast April 22nd 1946)

Disk 2 – Introduced by Harry Bartell

The Strange Case of the Murderer in Wax (based on a reference in SECO and broadcast January 7th 1946)

The Man with the Twisted Lip (broadcast May 6th 1946)

Disc 3 – Introduced by BenWright

The Guileless Gypsy (based on a reference in REDC and broadcast February 11th 1946)

The Camberwell Poisoners (based on a reference in FIVE although the disc and the box carry the title incorrectly as ‘The Camberville Poisoners’, and broadcast February 18th 1946)

Disc 4 – Introduced by Harry Bartell

The Terrifying Cats (based on a reference in BLAC and broadcast February 25th 1946. In this episode my part is taken by Eric Snowden as Nigel Bruce was ill. Snowden was later to play me in a later series with Ben Wright as Holmes). These facts are not disclosed on the CD or the box!

The Submarine Caves (based on a reference in BRUV and broadcast March 4th 1946)

Disc 5 – Introduced by Peggy Webber

The Living Doll (based on a reference in COPP and broadcast March 11th 1946)

The Disappearing Scientists (based on a reference in REIG and broadcast April 8th 1946)

Disc 6 -

The Adventure of the Speckled Band (broadcast November 11th 1945)

The Purloined Ruby (based on a reference in SECO and broadcast May 7th 1945)

I am still listening to these recordings and some of the extras are quite fascinating, including an interview with a certain Irene Norton nee Adler! I will provide more details as they come to light.

 

 

 

Posted in Basil Rathbone, Radio, The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Uncategorized

The Carleton Hobbs Sherlock Holmes Further Collection

13th August, 2 Comments

By The Good Doctor

Following on from the release of the first collection on six compact discs, this Sherlock Holmes Further Collection (BBC Audio) comprises six more compact discs with another twelve of my stories from the Canon with Carleton Hobbs as Holmes and Norman Shelley as me.

Each story is introduced by Nick Utechin, former editor of the Journal of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. Recordings of four of the stories were supplied by Roger Johnson, also of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, as these were missing from the BBC Archives.

The packaging of this second set differs from the first. The six compact disks are stacked together on a spindle rather than in pairs in separate 2CD cases and this may result in some wear over time.

The sleeve notes are minimal (Nick Utechin’s introductions on the discs provide all the information you really need).

One quibble though. The track listings are incorrect. Someone has assumed that each disc contains 20 tracks and that each of the two stories on each disc takes up 10 tracks. This is not the case as my correct track listing below shows. I have also given the full broadcast date.

CD1

  • The Copper Beeches (Track 1 Introduction to the Collection, Tracks 2 Story introduction, Tracks 3 to 9 Story) broadcast 11th August 1959
  • Thor Bridge (Track 10 Introduction, Tracks 11 to 18 Story) broadcast 1st January 1962

CD2

  • The Sussex Vampire (Track 1 Introduction, Tracks 2 to 9 Story) broadcast 18th September 1964
  • The Three Garridebs  (Track 10 Introduction, Tracks 11 to 19 Story) broadcast 4th September 1964

CD3

  • The Three Gables (Track 1 Introduction, Tracks 2 to 10 Story) broadcast 2nd October 1964
  • The Retired Colourman  (Track 11 Introduction, Tracks 12 to 18 Story) broadcast 9th October 1964

CD4

  • The Boscombe Valley Mystery (Track 1 Introduction, Tracks 2 to 8 Story) broadcast 12th December 1966
  • The Crooked Man  (Track 9 Introduction, Tracks 10 to 16 Story) broadcast 19th December 1966

CD5

  • The Cardboard Box (Track 1 Introduction, Tracks 2 to 11 Story) broadcast 19th April 1960
  • A Case of Identity (Track 12 Introduction, Tracks 13 to 22 Story) broadcast 26th June 1969

CD6

  • The Naval Treaty (Track 1 Introduction, Tracks 2 to 19 Story) broadcast 22nd March 1960
  • The Noble Bachelor (Track 20 Introduction, Tracks 21 to 26 Story) broadcast 18th August 1959

As I usually transfer compact disks to iTunes I also noticed that the track listing have not been uploaded into Gracenote (where iTunes get its track information from) so there is no information downloaded into iTunes to identify each track other than the track number.

Posted in Carleton Hobbs, Radio

Holmes Christmas List 2010

31st October, 1 Comment

By The Good Doctor

As happened last year, with the case of the Blue Carbuncle just chronologically around the corner again and people beginning to think about gifts, Holmes has compiled his Christmas list.

He did not get everything that was on last year’s list but this year’s list is completely new. I have provided links to amazon.co.uk and amazon.com where possible.

1. Top of the list this year is the DVD of the BBC Sherlockwith a contemporary take on the classic stories set in present-day London. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as me, his loyal friend. We couldn’t be more different, but Sherlock’s inspired leaps of intellect coupled with my pragmatism forges an unbreakable alliance.

Across three, 90-minute, thrilling, scary, action-packed and highly entertaining television movies, Sherlock and I navigate a maze of cryptic clues and lethal killers to get at the truth. Holmes has come out of the fog. With sparkling scripts and unforgettable performances from the two leads, this is Sherlock for a new generation. The DVD contains all 3 episodes and the original Pilot.

Amazon UK: Sherlock [DVD] and Sherlock [Blu-ray] , Amazon USA: Sherlock [DVD] and Sherlock [Blu-ray]

2. Linked to the BBC Sherlock is this neat, compact magnifying glass that every modern Sherlock needs. Watch Sherlock in A Study In Pink to see how he uses it. All you now need is the scarf, the coat and his endearing manner with all those about him and you’re set to go sleuthing this Christmas!

Amazon UK: Eschenbach Magnifying Glass

3. The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries, which I mentioned in Part 2 of Holmes on British Radio , has just been released. These are four new Holmes stories with a railway theme written by John  Taylor who wrote The Undiscovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. These new stories are ”An Inscrutable Masquerade”, “The Conundrum of Coach 13″, “The Trinity Vicarage Larceny” and “The 10.59 Assassin”.

According to Taylor, in a drawer in my desk, I have a locked cedarwood chest containing notes referring to some of Holmes’ cases that, for one reason or another, never saw the light of day. Now, for the first time, I have decided to reveal the truth to the world. In these four thrilling stories, Holmes experiments with the science of ballistics, locates some missing gold bullion, investigates the theft of a large amount of money and solves the baffling mystery of the Stovey murder.

If all that wasn’t enough then the stories are read by the newest Sherlock – Benedict Cumberbatch. Just one question then. Why is Sherlock (Cumberbatch) reading these stories rather than me (Martin Freeman)?

Amazon UK: The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries, Amazon USA: The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries (sorry but not available in the USA in time for Christmas but you could try The Unopened Casebook of Sherlock Holmes instead).

4. I have already reviewed this digitally-restored collection of the 14 films with Basil Rathbone as Holmes.

The multi-million pound restoration is discussed in a 5 minute featurette with Robert Gitt, Head Preservation Officer at the UCLA Film and Television Archive. Along with the beautifully restored films are audio commentaries by Sherlock Holmes Expert David Stuart Davies (author of numerous books on Holmes and Rathbone) on The Scarlet Claw, The Woman In Green, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death and The Hound of the Baskervilles. There is also an audio commentary by another Holmes Expert Richard Valley (acclaimed author and publisher of Scarlet Street Mystery Magazine who in Amazon’s review is said to be currently penning a book on Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes although he sadly died in 2007) on The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes.

Richard Valley has also provided production notes and the films are accompanied by photo galleries, movie posters and theatrical trailers.

Amazon UK: Sherlock Holmes – The Definitive Collection, Amazon USA: The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection (different packaging in the USA)

5. Again I have already reviewed Sherlock Holmes for Dummies and despite its American bias and a couple of errors (my wife becoming Mary Marston instead of Morstan and mistaking the blue plaque above the Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street for a legitimate historical plaque) it is still a handy guide to the stories, Britain as it was at that time, the characters in the stories, our portrayals in films, on television and on the stage, etc.

Amazon UK: Sherlock Holmes for Dummies (paperback), Sherlock Holmes for Dummies (Kindle edition), Amazon USA: Sherlock Holmes for Dummies (paperback), Sherlock Holmes for Dummies (Kindle edition)

6. Continuing with the guides, I have now reviewed Close to Holmes – Alistair Duncan’s popular guide to Holmes and Conan Doyle’s London.

I have already reviewed his two other books, Eliminate the Impossible and The Norwood Author.

Close to Holmes is a handy guide that will just about fit in your pocket as you explore London as it is today and how it looked in the late nineteenth century to us and to my literary agent Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Alistair Duncan’s research is carefully done, as usual, and he treats us to pictures of many of the locations as they were and as they are now.

Amazon UK: Close to Holmes (paperback), Close to Holmes (Kindle edition), Amazon USA: Close to Holmes (paperback), Close to Holmes (Kindle edition)

7. The second edition of Christopher Redmond’s Sherlock Holmes Handbook sums up this Canadian scholar’s lifetime expertise about Holmes. The first edition appeared in 1993 and this new edition catches up on new films and books and the advent of the Internet.

It is still one of my favourite guides providing a summary of each story in the Canon, the characters in the stories, the cases I chose not to publish, our rooms at 221B, Holmes’s methods and so on. In the section on Crime and Punishment, as well as a summary of British law (and law enforcement) as it was then, there is a summary of other detectives’ work before, during and after Holmes’ career.

Amazon UK: Sherlock Holmes Handbook, Amazon USA: Sherlock Holmes Handbook

8. The exhaustively annotated, ten-volume edition of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Edgar Award winner Leslie S. Klinger ends with The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes.

As is well known, Holmes’ adventures have inspired a vast body of literature. Since the 1920s these “writings about The Writings” have contributed fascinating new insights into the stories, enhancing the pleasure of reading them.

This final volume of The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library covers more “adventures” of Sherlock Holmes than those that are contained in the sixty tales. This deposit of extra-Canonical material is known by Sherlockian scholars as The Apocrypha.

Amazon UK: This volume is not yet listed by amazon.co.uk, Amazon USA: The Apocrypha of Sherlock Holmes

9. Until Benedict Cumberbatch came along most people hailed Jeremy Brett’s portrayal of Holmes as the best ever.

Bending the Willow, David Stuart Davies wonderful tribute to Jeremy who said that he wanted his interpretation of Holmes to “bend the willow, but not break it.”

Apparently a second edition of this fascinating and perceptive study is available but I have not yet seen it. The second hand copies listed on Amazon are quite expensive so it may be worth contacting the publishers direct.

Amazon UK: Bending the Willow, Amazon USA: Bending the Willow

10. Finally the Sherlock Holmes film. This was originally top of the list but I am now undecided about this as my initial enthusiasm for it has dissipated in the wake of the BBC Sherlock. I now wonder if anyone will really be able to capture what Holmes and I were up to in Victorian times. Some of the liberties taken with the Canon now begin to jar - such as Holmes appearing never to have met my future wife when in reality we both met her at the same time in 221B at the start of The Sign of The Four. Still, it is a very enjoyable film and the new one in production has Leslie Klinger advising them and with the addition of Stephen Fry as Mycroft this should help to ensure greater fidelity.

Amazon UK: Sherlock Holmes [DVD], Sherlock Holmes [Blu-ray], Amazon USA: Sherlock Holmes [DVD], Sherlock Holmes [Blu-ray]

This was, as I predicted, a bumper year of Holmes books and other paraphernalia following the Sherlock Holmes film and Sherlock TV series and with follow-ups to both in production yet another bumper year may be soon upon us.

Posted in Basil Rathbone, Benedict Cumberbatch, Books, Films, Sherlock, Television

Sherlock Holmes – The Last Act

15th October, No Comments

By The Good Doctor

I  was invited to see Roger Llewellyn in David Stuart Davies’ play “Sherlock Holmes – The Last Act“. This was a somewhat daunting prospect for me. The play is set in 1916 and Holmes has come back to our Baker Street rooms from his cottage is Sussex following his two years of retirement.

What has brought him back? My funeral!

Roger Llewellyn is the only person in this play though through his marvellous virtuoso performance we get to meet me (my middle name is apparently Horatio and I speak with a Scottish accent), Mrs Hudson (first name Martha and sounds like Janet from Dr Finlay’s Casebook) plus Lestrade and many others. He changes accent and persona quickly and with ease and there is much humour from David Stuart Davies skill with the Canon. The second half is somewhat darker, delving, with much conjecture into Holmes’ early life. Mysteriously, The Hound of the Baskervilles appears in the play after references to The Final Problem and The Empty House when it should be earlier but it suits the mood of the second half. I will not spoil your enjoyment by telling you how it ends but I hope you will be moved – I was!

David Stuart Davies wrote this play after seeing Roger Llewellyn’s first theatrical encounter with Holmes in an adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles. He wrote this solo drama specially for Llewellyn and the show premiered at The Salisbury Playhouse in 1999, won five stars at Edinburgh, was selected as one of The Top Ten Fringe Plays, and has toured world-wide ever since with over 550 performances so far!

The play explores the mind of the real man – not the thinking machine. An unexpectedly passionate and secretive man, with a cutting sense of humour (as I know all too well!)

Stripping away the infamous clinical façade, Holmes reveals fears, weaknesses, and the devastating consequences of the dramas of his formative years. The whole being ‘deduced’ from the ‘clues’ in the Canon.

Following the success of this play, Davies wrote a second Sherlockian venture “Sherlock Holmes – The Death and Life” which was premiered at Guildford in March 2008. This play deals with Arthur Conan Doyle tiring of what he sees as the intolerably arrogant Sherlock Holmes, and suggests that he created the malevolent Professor Moriarty to dispose of him. But the author’s dangerous strategy, combined with his passion for raising the spirits of the dead, has rather more bizarre and dramatic consequences than he bargained for!

Audio versions of both plays are available (see the links above).

David Stuart Davies has written extensively about Sherlock Holmes. His non-fiction books include:

His fiction books include:

  1. Sherlock Holmes and the Hentzau Affair (1991)
  2. The Tangled Skein (1995)
  3. The Scroll of the Dead (1998)
  4. Shadow of the Rat (1999)
  5. The Veiled Detective (2004). Explores the relationship between Holmes, myself and Professor Moriarty
  6. The Games Afoot (2008)

He is the editor of several collections for Wordsworth & Collectors Library including:

He has written and narrated commentaries for the digitally re-mastered Basil Rathbone Holmes films.

If you get the chance to see it, please do. You will laugh and you may cry but you will not be disappointed!

Posted in Books, Films, Plays, Roger Llewellyn

The Definitive Sherlock Holmes

30th August, 1 Comment

By The Good Doctor

With all the current debate about who is the definitive Holmes (Rathbone, Brett or Cumberbatch?), I thought it was worth reviewing Basil Rathbone’s fourteen films as the Great Detective which have been carefully restored in The Definitive Collection.

These films updated elements of the Canon to the early part of the 20th century (except for the first two which remain in the Victorian era and were the first films to portray us in Victorian times) in a similar way to the 21st century updating that has taken place in the BBC Sherlock series.

The fourteen films (in order of release) are:

  1. The Hound of the Baskervilles, based on the story of the same name. As this was Rathbone’s first film as Holmes, and he wasn’t as well known as Richard Greene (who played Sir Hennry Baskerville), he only achieved second billing! In The Definitive Collection, this film also has an added commentary version by David Stuart Davies providing lots of useful background to the film, the script, the actors, the scenery, the clothes, the music (or lack of it!) and to Rathbone’s portrayal.
  2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes was supposedly based on the stage play by William Gillette but little of the original plot remains apart from the conflict between  Holmes and Moriarty. This film also has a version with a commentary by Richard Valley (wrongly credited to David Stuart Davies on the DVD packaging).
  3. Sherlock Holmes and The Voice of Terror is based on His Last Bow.
  4. Sherlock Holmes and The Secret Weapon is inspired, rather than based on, The Dancing Men.
  5. Sherlock Holmes in Washington
  6. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death is based on The Musgrave Ritual and there is a version with audio commentary by David Stuart Davies (the packaging this time saying it is by Richard Valley). This film brings back the familiar dark mystery for Holmes to solve.
  7. The Spider Woman starts with the demise of Sherlock Holmes (similar to The Final Problem) and is followed by his surprise return (as in The Empty House). The following story is then based on elements from The Sign of Four and The Devil’s Foot. The theatrical trailer is included on the DVD.
  8. The Pearl of Death is based on The Six Napoleons. Again the theatrical trailer is included.
  9. The Scarlet Claw uses the device of a killer using a supernatural entity to cover up his crimes borrowed from The Hound of the Baskervilles. This has an audio commentary by David Stuart Davies and the theatrical trailer is included.
  10. The House of Fear is based on The Five Orange Pips. The theatrical trailer is included.
  11. Pursuit to Algiers. This is based on the affair concerning the steamship Friesland that I mentioned in The Norwood Builder.
  12. The Woman in Green is an adaptation of The Empty House but also includes elements from A Case of Identity and The Final Problem plus the first appearance of the Persian Slipper first mentioned in the Musgrave Ritual. This film has a version with an audio commentary by David Stuart Davies.
  13. Terror by Night is loosely based on The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax and the Blue Carbuncle. This includes the theatrical trailer.
  14. Dressed to Kill. This was known as Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Code in the UK. The theatrical trailer is included.

As well as the extras mentioned above The Definitive Collection also carries a “featurette” about the painstaking restoration of these films and how some missing elements were carefully replaced. Each film is accompanied by production notes by Sherlock Holmes devotee Richard Valley (who sadly died in 2007) and a photograph gallery.

Those who are critical of Nigel Bruce’s portrayal of me in these films should not forget that up until this point, Watson had either not appeared alongside Holmes or had been relegated to a minor role. Nigel Bruce ensured that from then on, Holmes would have his Watson and that it would always be a two-handed performance as it had mostly been in real life!

Posted in Basil Rathbone, Films

A criminal mastermind?

13th August, No Comments

By The Good Doctor

In 2004, there was a celebrity edition of Mastermind.

Stephen Fry was faced with 14 questions in the available time on his chosen specialist subject – Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.

Here are the 14 questions. How well would you have done?

  1. In which publication did the first Holmes story “A Study in Scarlet” first appear in 1887?
  2. In “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, by what name did Jack Stapleton head a school in Yorkshire and establish a reputation in entomology?
  3. What name did Holmes adopt in his guise as an Irish-American spy?
  4. Mycroft Holmes was a founding member of which club of the most unsociable and unclubable men in town?
  5. Irene Adler, always known as “the woman” by Holmes, was the prima donna of which opera company when she met the King of Bohemia?
  6. In “A Study in Scarlet”, what 5-letter word is scrawled in blood on the wall in a dark corner of the room?
  7. In “The Valley of Fear”, what was the local name for the members of Lodge 341 of the Ancient Order of Freemen in the Vermissa Valley?
  8. In “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax”, with which London banking firm did Lady Frances have her account?
  9. On which theorem did Professor Moriarty write a treatise that won him the mathematical chair at a small English university?
  10. When relating his very first case, “Gloria Scott”, whom does Holmes describe as “the only friend I made during the two years that I was at college”?
  11. In “The Solitary Cyclist”, what was the nickname of “the greatest brute and bully in South Africa” who conspired with Bob Carruthers to get Violet Smith’s fortune?
  12. In “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”, how did Dr Roylott get the poisonous snake into the room of his step-daughters, killing Julia?
  13. In which story did Holmes make his celebrated reference to “the curious incident of the dog in the night-time” – the curious incident being that the dog didn’t bark?
  14. What did the red-headed London pawnbroker Jabez Wilson have to copy out when he was duped by John Clay into accepting a position with the spurious “Red-Headed League”?

Stephen managed to get eight right.  I will post the answers at a later date.

Posted in Sherlock Holmes, Study

Every modern improvement which the march of civilisation demands [CHAS]

29th July, 3 Comments

By The Good Doctor

There were three reasons why I began writing again after all this time. One was the battle to save Undershaw, once the home of my literary agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. That battle seems almost lost.

The second reason was the Robert Downey Jr film “Sherlock Holmes” which still seems to divide opinions as to whether it used or abused the image of Holmes.

The third reason was the brave step by the BBC and the Dr Who team to bring Sherlock Holmes into the 21st century. This all started when Mark Gatiss, one of the creators, writers, and executive producers of the series was called in by the BBC in 2002. The BBC were thinking of doing a Sherlock Holmes Christmas Special and knowing Mark was a Holmes “purist” they asked for his advice. Nothing came of it but later on he began to discuss with Steven Moffat (the other creator and also one of the writers and executive producers) how they might bring Holmes and I into the modern day.

Well! I write after the three Season 1 episodes have been broadcast (both in the UK and the USA) and the DVD has been released. The series appears to have been a great success receiving critical acclaim from even the most traditional Holmesians.

Each episode contains a number of Canonical links to look out for.

A Study In Pink – Pilot Version (herafter referred to as [PILO])

The pilot version of “A Study In Pink” appears only on the DVD. More details to follow.

Episode 1 – A Study In Pink (hereafter referred to as [PINK])

[PINK] is based on my first story [STUD] where I first met Holmes, settled into 221B Baker Street with him and became involved in the case of Jefferson Hope. [PINK] recreates our first meeting and our decision to share diggings. It then picks up a singular element of the Jefferson Hope case – the use of identical pills, some with poison and some without to exact revenge on men who has wronged him.

This episode makes the occasional references to other stories in the Canon. One of these was to a case that I have alluded to but never written up. This was the case of Mr James Phillimore, who, stepping back into his own house to get his umbrella, was never more seen in this world, which I mentioned in [THOR]. James Phillimore is the second of the apparent suicides in [PINK] and we see him before he dies going back to get his umbrella!

One of Holmes’ laconic messages, sent as a telegram to summon me in [CREE] was “Come at once if convenient – if inconvenient come all the same”. This is sent as (two) text messages by Holmes in [PINK].

When I meet Stamford in the park, I am holding a coffee cup with the word “Criterion” on it. This is a reference to the original meeting in [STUD] which took place in the Criterion Bar which in [PINK] has now become a coffee bar!

Billy, who greets Sherlock and me as we enter the cafe was the name of our page in the original stories.

The cabbie in [PINK] is called Jeff Hope – in [STUD] he was Jefferson Hope.

You may also notice the website that Sherlock uses to find the fourth victim’s phone number is called “Mephone” – a skit on the “iPhone”. Get it?

Episode 2 – The Blind Banker (hereafter referred to as [BLIN])

[BLIN] contains references to [DANC] in the use of a cipher and to certain elements of [SIGN] in that the murders are committed in closed (locked) rooms by someone with excellent climbing skills.

The pace and flow of this episode is different to Episodes 1 and 3 and has a different writer. Allusions to the Canon are few but Sherlock’s laziness rather than untideness are starting to get to me along with his complete disinterest in my interest in women.

My unsuccessful attempt with a self-service till in a supermarket is probably something that will ring true for many people.

This episode is better than most reviews say it is. It is best watched in isolation rather then straight after Episode 1.

Moriarty has the final word!

Episode 3 – The Great Game (hereafter referred to as [GREA])

[GREA] is based mainly on [BRUC] and [FIVE]. But there are snippets from all over the Canon.

The episode begins with a lesson on English that so many of us older citizens may think overdue. Then, after the credits we have the modern equivalent of Holmes using a pistol to “adorn the opposite wall with a patriotic V.R.” though this time it is a “smiley face” that is done in “bullet-pocks” (from [MUSG]).

Sherlock is bored and my blog of “the taxi-driver” case gets a bit of a critical review before the discussion about his understanding of the rotation of the Earth and the way he jealously guards access to his hard drive, brain or lumber room as he calls it  in [STUD]. This develops to the point where I have to leave “to get some air”.

A massive explosion follows but when I return Mycroft is there trying to get Sherlock interested in the Bruce-Partington Program. A civil servant called Adam West has been found dead and is suspected of stealing the plans (compare this to Cadogan West in [BRUC]). Note the competitive deducting by Sherlock (lilo) versus Mycroft (sofa) as to where I slept at Sarah’s.

Lovely quotation from Sherlock as we go off to see Lestrade – “Where would I be without my blogger?” similar to “I am lost without my Boswell” in [SCAN]. Then the envelope addressed to Sherlock that was in the strongbox recovered from the scene of the explosion is said, according to Sherlock, to be Bohemian stationery (another link to [SCAN] and possibly [CREE]). The writing on the envelope is said, by Sherlock, to have been done with a Parker Duofold pen with a Meridian nib – the very pen that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used.

There then follow four more problems for Sherlock to solve before he eventually solves the Bruce-Partington Program problem and the there’s a confrontation with Moriarty that is straight out of [FINA]. The cliff hanger ending is a Reichenbach Falls reprise alongside a swimming pool rather than above a waterfall.

We must wait until next year for an [EMPT] solution!

This was the first of the three episodes to be produced, after the pilot and may explain why [PINK] is so “polished”. [GREA] does not have the pace of [PINK] but is similar in style.

Unlocking Sherlock (only on the DVD)

“Unlocking Sherlock” explains the making of the series. More details to follow.

The DVD was released in the UK on August 30th with all three episodes (the first and third with commentaries by those who produced them), the 60 minute pilot which has not been broadcast and “Unlocking Sherlock” about the making of the series.

In the USA the DVD was released on November 9th, two days after the last episode  aired on the PBS network. The USA DVD has the same content as the UK DVD.

Season 2 will start on January 1st 2012 with A Scandal In Belgravia [SCAN] followed a week later by The Hounds of the Baskerville [HOUN] and the week after that by The Reichenbach Fall [FINA]. After each title I have given the main Canonical story that appears to be the main basis for the episode though, if Season 1 is anything to go by, these will not be the only references! Viewers in the USA will have to wait until May 2012.

Posted in Baker Street Irregulars, Benedict Cumberbatch, John Watson, Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, Television

Composed of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day before [ENGR]

16th October, No Comments

By The Good Doctor

Holmes displays a vast knowledge of the uses and properties of tobacco in solving cases. His experience with both tobacco and tobacco ash has been broadened by his being such a chronically heavy smoker, prompting me to note, somewhat bitterly, that he was a “self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco” [FIVE]

He often sits for hours shrouded in smoke. Once during the case of The Hound of the Baskervilles, as I returned to Baker Street “my fears [of a fire] were set at rest, for it was the acrid fumes of strong coarse tobacco which took me by the throat and set me coughing.”

His particular favourite is shag tobacco which he keeps in the toe end of a Persian slipper. Shag is a strong coarse tobacco much inferior to today’s shag which is often used for rolling cigarettes. He also keeps it in various tobacco pouches strewn across his mantlepiece.

Before breakfast he fills his pipe with “all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the mantlepiece” [ENGR].

He most commonly uses a black clay pipe, though I think it was once white! Occasionally he will use a briar with an amber stem. When a problem is taxing him he seems to prefer his cherrywood.

He never, never uses a Calabash. That was the pipe used by William Gillette in his otherwise accurate portrayal of Holmes and along with the deerstalker and the phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” are the stuff of fiction!

His pipes, like his tobacco are all over the place (his such an untidy person!). They are scattered over his mantlepiece and some are in the coal scuttle with the cigars.

As some of you may know, he has made a special study of tobacco ashes and believes he can distinguish at a glance the ash of any known brand of cigar or tobacco. He has written a monograph on the subject entitled “Upon the Distinction Between the Ashes of the Various Tobaccos” [SIGN].

We obtain our smoking requisites from Bradley’s off Oxford Street. I actually prefer ship’s tobacco, a strong blend from the Netherlands or occasionally the Arcadia micture.

The Ocular Helmsman has much detail about tobacco, pipes, cigars and this vile, filthy habit for those who wish to know more.

Posted in Characters, Ephemera, Pipes and tobacco, Sherlock Holmes

Jeremy Brett

21st August, 2 Comments

By The Good Doctor

For some people, Jeremy Brett, will always be the Sherlock Holmes.

He portrayed my good friend over 40 times in what the creator of the Granada Series, Michael Cox, meant to be the genuine article.

There was a dangerous and eccentric edge to his playing of the role which fascinated men and attracted women. His portrayal included some mannerisms that are so uncannily similar to those of Holmes that I find myself fooled occasionally!

The programmes spanned six series plus five feature-length episodes and a short episode broadcast as part of Telethon ’92. The latter has never been officially released though it is available on the Internet.

The whole project started with the best intentions – of keeping true to the stories as I had recounted them – but the commercial considerations of the powers that be at Granada and Jeremy’s failing health meant that the promise was not to be fully realised.

Some liberties were taken with the Canon. For instance, it was decided that I should not be married! So at the end of The Sign of Four, Mary and I go our separate ways. In The Mazarin Stone (from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes), the penultimate episode to be shown, Jeremy was too ill for filming having collapsed at the end of filming (sadly somewhat prophetically) The Dying Detective (from His Last Bow). The script was rewritten using Holmes’ brother Mycroft in his place. The script also includes elements of the Three Garridebs (from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes) with the result that David Stuart Davies (see below) calls it “a mess”. There was also a lost opportunity to bring in the poignant moment from The Three Garridebs where Holmes thinks I have been shot. Mycroft also appears to take my role in The Golden Pince-Nez (from The Return of Sherlock Holmes).

Two of the feature-length episodes strayed too far from the Canon for most people’s liking. These were The Last Vampyre (based perhaps too loosely on The Sussex Vampire from The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes) and The Eligible Bachelor (based on The Noble Bachelor from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes).

The Hound of the Baskervilles was another two-hour episode that was so disappointing that Jeremy Brett wanted to do it again. David Stuart Davies refers to the hound jokingly with a reference to Silver Blaze as “the dog that did nothing in the ratings”. The Sign of Four was the only feature length episode that provided a creditable performance.

In the midst of all this, in 1988 and 1989, Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke toured with a stage play entitled The Secret of Sherlock Holmes in which it is proposed that Moriarty is just a figment of Holmes fevered brain. I can scarcely put into words what I think of that!

You can judge for yourself as the Granada series is shortly to be available on DVD as Sherlock Holmes – Complete Collection.

If you want to know more about Jeremy Brett, his life and career, I can recommend two books. The first is my favourite as it’s written by someone who knows Holmes and I very well, David Stuart Davies, Bending The Willow. David’s enthusaism for Holmes led him to become a founding member of The Northern Mugraves Sherlock Holmes Society. He has also published Holmes of the Movies surveying the Great Detective on film.

The second is The Man Who Became Sherlock Holmes by Terry Manners – his first foray into the world of Holmes.

None of these books appear to be available new so you will need to consult a good second-hand bookseller to obtain a copy – or maybe your local library. There is also a very good website devoted to Jeremy Brett called The Brettish Empire.

Few people realise that one other person called Brett also portrayed Holmes. It would be an erudite scholar who knew the answer to that little puzzle!

Posted in Jeremy Brett, Media, Television

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