Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett (Granada Series) - Appreciation Thread

I've seen the Granada series with Jeremy Brett (as Holmes) and Edward Hardwicke (as Watson) mentioned elsewhere on the forum, but I haven't seen any thread dedicated to this wonderful series, so I figured it's time to open one. With interest in Sherlock Holmes undergoing somewhat of a resurgance with various adaptations of the character...including the Robert Downey Jr. film version, the BBC series Sherlock, and the CBS series Elementary...it seems now is a good time to revisit the Granada series produced between 1984-1994.

For many people, myself included, the Granada series best captures the spirit of Sherlock Holmes and may come to the closest to bringing the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories to the screen in the spirit in which they were written. I won't suggest they are 100% faithful adaptations of the stories, but they come very close in many circumstances. When I initially read the stories before watching the TV series, I feared that the TV series would not live up to expectations. Instead, the TV series accomplished the rare feat of surpassing my expectations. Now when I read the Conan Doyle stories again, I see the Granada series in my head and hear the voices of Brett and Hardwicke coming from the pages.

For me, there are two key elements that makes the Granada series shine:

1. The production - Granada very effectively reproduced circa 1890s London streets in order to acheive a very authentic feel. Nowhere during this series do I feel as if modern elements are creeping into the production (such as wrong hairstyles for the wrong period, etc.). To my eyes, they've recaptured the London (and rural England) that one imagines when reading Conan Doyle's stories. If they cut any corners, it's not immediately evident.

2. Jeremy Brett - The man so devoted himself to the character of Holmes that many argue that it was detrimental to his own health and sanity. To the outsider, Brett's performance may seem a little over-the-top...some of his manic traits, facial expressions, and body movements seem odd to say the least...but he has so totally taken up the traits of Holmes that many other intepretations now seem bland in comparison (though I understand why others have their favorites too). Unfortunately, Jeremy Brett's health had deteriorated by the end of the series, so his final performances don't quite have the zeal of his early performances, but they still retain the magic that he brought to the role.

The series dramatized 41 of the 60 stories that Arthur Conan Doyle wrote. Five of the stories are presented as full-length features, with the remaining stories presented as one-hour (or roughly 51 minute) installments. They didn't tackle the stories in the order they were written, so the gaps are spread throughout the canon. Regrettibly, Brett's health did not hold out long enough for the 19 remaining stories to be produced. He died a little over a year after the last series was aired, having already decided to give up the role...as he could no longer perform to his own satisfaction.

Of the stories produced, some of my personal favorites include:
The Speckled Band
The Copper Beeches
The Musgrave Ritual
The Man With the Twisted Lip
The Devil's Foot

I'm curious to hear any fond recollections others have of this series and/or hear what stories that others find particularly enjoyable.

 

I really can't add anything to your write up, except to say Brett was surely born to play that role. It's hard to imagine it ever being surpassed for what I think of as an "authentic" Sherlock Holmes. I really enjoy the Sherlock reboot on the BBC (much more than the Robert Downey "franchise"), but that's a whole different thing, in a good way though.

 

Since it might also be worth discussing, it's important to know which DVD sets of this program are worth owning and which ones should be avoided.

Simply put, avoid ANY of the DVD sets that were released prior to the 2006-2007 restoration of the series. The DVD sets released in the early 2000s generally had inferior sound and picture quality and were produced from poor quality transfers. The series was later remastered/restored, partly for DVD release but also partly so the series could be re-shown on ITV in acceptible quality.

The American DVD set from 2007 is generally of excellent quality and presents all 41 stories over a total of 12 DVDs. The price is currently $102.82 on Amazon, but it fluctuates up and down by $10-20.

There are two UK DVD sets of the remastered series, both released by ITV, including this set and this set (click links). Prices currently range between 23-38 UK Pounds, which translates to $35-$60, assuming one has a multi-region DVD player that can also convert PAL to NTSC. Besides the lower price, the UK DVDs may be of higher quality, since the 41 episodes are spread out over 16 discs, not 12 discs (as on the US version). Therefore, one might assume less compression was used to fit the episodes onto the discs.

Interestingly enough, the series has also had a Blu-Ray release from Spain, supposedly created when the original films were transferred for restoration. I've also seen it reported that many (if not all) of the stories are presented in a 16:9 aspect ratio. While it's possible this ratio was created by cropping the picture, I've not heard anyone complain of that happening (in the few reviews I've read). So it's possible the original films were shot in widescreen and were usable in that format. This Blu-Ray set is currently available as a complete series, or is broken into smaller collections of episodes. While the complete series is available on Amazon UK for roughly 57 Pounds (when last checked) it can often be found at the Spanish Amazon site (click for product page) for cheaper. The set is currently 35.88 Euros, which is roughly $50 in US currency. If this set is as good or better than the DVD sets, that's a huge bargain.

I ordered the Blu-Ray set from the Spanish Amazon site earlier this week, so I'll report my thoughts on the set once it arrives and I've had a chance to do some comparisons.

 

Another fan of the series here. I remember watching it for the first time 27 years ago (in my hotel room in London on my honeymoon, no less) and getting hooked on it. Jeremy Brett was the quintessential Holmes for me and the same for Edward Hardwicke as Watson.

 

First got to see Brett & Hardwicke as Holmes & Watson during PBS' run of the TV series here in the US 3 decades ago...have been waiting for a proper remastering in HD of these wonderful episodes and feature-length movies, as I consider them to be the definitive screen canon of these characters...

 

I agree about Hardwicke. I probably didn't give him enough lip service in my original post, but he's also a huge part of the success of the series...perfectly playing the straight man Watson against the eccentric Holmes.

It's also worth remember that Watson was portrayed by David Burke in the first series of 13 episodes. Burke also did a fine and admirable job with the role, but most people seem to agree that Hardwicke really excelled as Watson.

 

Brett was the man. I never pictured Holmes as a very personable guy. Nicol Williamson was way over the top.
The scenes/sets were nice, but so much was done in castles/estates, I never really felt that it added a lot.

 

Big fan, here. I've read the stories a zillion times and I've seen these episodes numerous times, most recently on a personal Netflix marathon this past spring after rereading all the stories again.

I always kind of preferred David Burke as Watson and when re-watching recently I considered what the series might have been like with him in the subsequent episodes instead of Hardwicke. Nothing against Hardwicke, of course, it was just some thinking that passed through my feeble mind as I watched (and enjoyed) again.

 

Another thought ... I remember seeing Brett on a television interview (Brit talk show, I think) discussing the role and commenting that he probably would not like the person of Holmes and would not likely have him as a friend or some words to that effect. I found that to be an interesting thought when considering how an actor develops and portrays a character. He certainly was a master in that role.

 

I know that when I originally viewed the series in the 80s, I was disappointed to see David Burke leave the role. I had gotten used to him as Watson and didn't want anyone else to play the part. But I quickly warmed up to Hardwicke and he soon became my favorite.

However, I enjoy both portrayals of the character...and both perfectly complimented Brett's performance as Holmes.

 

The customer review of the Blu-ray at the Spanish Amazon site linked above says that the aspect ratio is 4:3, not 16:9, so that's probably a good thing. Thanks for posting about that! Please let us know if the disc is NOT region free as Amazon claims in the listing.

Derek

 

My favorite Holmes. I bought a 24 DVD set years ago for like 40 bucks online. Probably a Chinese ripoff, I should have known better. The menus don't work, the image freezes etc. Maybe half are watchable. Oddly, they included a dozen or so Basil Rathbones in there.

 

Thanks for seeing that. I notice that the reviewer (from the UK site) who said they were 16:9 was referring to the "Memoirs" series, but even then people replied to state they were 4:3. (I also just noticed that the scan of the back of the box set says they are 4:3.)

I'll try the discs first on my Region A Blu-Ray player first to see if I run into any region encoding issues.

 

I was slightly surprised just to see how many full episodes of the Granada series are available on YouTube. Instead of posting those links here, however, I would rather post a link to this link to a television interview that Jeremy Brett did about halfway through his career as Holmes, when he was doing a live stage production of the role. The thing to pay attention to is just how much thought that Brett put into his portrayal of the role, down to what types of pipes Holmes smoked and what circumstances Holmes would wear the famous deerstalker hat.

 

The best Holmes, in my opinion. I know that some people think Jeremy Brett was overdoing it with the gesticualtion and mannerisms, but Holmes is a larger-than-life character after all, isn't he? Of course, there is more to Brett's performance than that, but it's a common complaint that misses the mark, I think.

Perhaps it is an awful thing to say, but I think Brett's deteriorating health added some gravity to certain aspects of his portrayal of Holmes, mostly the already over-the-top dimension he had already established by then. I like to think that if a man like Holmes existed, he would also get progressively more eccentric and difficult to be around.

I slightly prefer Burke to Hardwicke, but this was not as dramatic a change as is sometimes claimed. (I've read some strange reviews on the internet.)

Now, one of the things I really like about this series is that it often plays up the gothic horror aspect that is latent in the Holmes mythos, as I am a bit of a fan of that genre of fiction, whether it's books or movies. But I don't think they ever overdid it.

Have we mentioned the opening sequence? Quite cleverly done, in my opinion. It certainly never got boring throughout the seasons.

 

I absolutely agree that Jeremy Brett was brilliant as Sherlock, and it is the closest to my image of Sherlock that I have read all my life. However, I much prefer David Burke to Hardwicke as Watson. I always pictured Watson as a bit younger than Sherlock and more "common". I found Hardwicke's Watson to be a little too old and a bit ostentatious.

 

I have fond memories watching this with my Dad growing up. I enjoyed Brett so much I would be entertained even in the episodes I did not totally understand.

 

LOve the show and, yes, he's the best Holmes for me too.

 

I usually have immense difficulty in accepting just about any visualization of something I have first read, but Brett makes such a convincing Holmes that I became an instant fan of him and the series. Of course, it was not just the portrayal of the main character that was spot-on; I'd say this series is exemplary in all respects.

 

I think I've seen maybe half the series and always liked it when we watched it - he was an awesome Holmes! We really ought to go back and watch them all, start to finish. I'd be tempted to buy the series on disc actually.

 

Here's a great 45 minute documentary about Sherlock Holmes that spends a lot of time concentrating on the Granada (ITV) series:

 

I received the Spanish Blu-Ray set in the mail today. The set is actually just a re-packaging of the five individual 2-disc Blu-Ray sets that were already released in Spain. So you get the five cases, each individually shrink-wrapped packaged inside of a rather flimsy outer cardboard slip case. But really, I'm not complaining, since I would personally prefer five individual cases over one giant cardboard case that one has to fold open multiple times just to find the disc they desire. Plus, one is treated to five individual covers (six if you count the slip case) instead of one cover. (My only nitpick is that they credit Edward Hardwicke on the cover of the "Adventures" set as Watson, not David Burke.)

Here is a photo of my set...



So far I've only tried out the first disc of the "Adventures" set. It immediately loaded up fine in my older Sony Region A Blu-Ray player (which is my most "picky" player of all), so it does seem as if these discs are indeed multi-region as advertised. The discs are also in 1080p/24fps format, which all Blu-Ray players should be capable of playing...unlike some European discs which are 1080i/25fps (50Hz) and don't always play on American Blu-Ray players (despite being region free). When loading the disc, one must chose the option for English ("Ingles") unless, of course, you want to listen to the Spanish overdubbing. Just select the language on the main menu or use your "audio" button on your Blu-Ray remote to find the correct language (only Spanish and English options are present).

As for the picture, I find it a substantial improvement over the current DVD sets...at least for the disc I sampled. The picture is noticeable sharper and a lot of fine detail is present. Some heavier grain is present, especially in darker scenes, but that seems to be expected...and is no worse than the DVDs, as far as I'm concerned. The series was, I believe, shot on 16mm film so it will never have the vivid detail of 35mm film...but despite the occasional softness of the picture (not a fault of the Blu Ray), this is the best I've seen these shows presented. Perhaps the only negative, if I had to name something, is that the color has perhaps a slightly flatter tone than in the DVD and is slightly less "rich" in feel. But overall, I think the improved image quality still provides for a better viewing experience.

While the remastered 2007 DVD set is perfectly acceptible, it hardly makes sense for an American viewer to spend nearly $100 (or more) for the complete DVD set, when the complete Blu-Ray set can be purchased from Amazon Spain for roughly $55-60 (which also factors in shipping).

 

Nice...just ordered this!!! Can't wait to see these classic episodes in 1080p...