TV Review: The Granada Adaptation of Sherlock Holmes

Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes

The Granada adaptation is popular all over the world for its authentic portrayal of the Sherlock Holmes Canon.

Jeremy Brett is a good physical match for the role. Brett’s Holmes does chase the dragon and due credit has to be given to the series makers for making the decision to show Holmes as he is without any sugar-coating. Brett also maintained a 77-page file on Sherlock Holmes, detailing the mannerisms and habits of the detective. Brett’s dedication to the role is legendary and is the subject of an excellent book by David Stuart Davies.

The Granada adaptation scores a home run with Dr Watson as well. Both David Burke and Edward Hardwicke play Watson as the kind of competent doctor and ally, Sir Doyle had described in the canon. This is another proof of the series maker’s dedication and respect to the canon. Burke remains my favorite for the simple reason that he is more of the age of the canonical Dr Watson. Hardwicke is also good as Watson, but I always imagined Dr Watson as being considerably younger, especially after being spoilt by Burke and Vitaly Solomin (Russian adaptation).

Brett and Burke as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson

Brett shares excellent on-screen chemistry with both Burke and Hardwicke.

One of my favorite characters is Mycroft Holmes, the elder brother of Sherlock. To quote Sherlock, “He is the British Government”. Mycroft is the superior to Sherlock not only in age, but in the powers of observation and deduction. Charles Gray is pitch perfect as Mycroft not only in terms of physical appearance but in his body language as well. 

Click on the link below to buy your copy:

Mycroft is one of the founding members of Diogenes Club, home to some of the most unsociable and misanthropic men and even speaking is banned in certain areas inside the club. The scene in the The Greek Interpreter episode where Burke’s Watson silently walks through the Diogenes Club, observing the unsociable inhabitants is an instant classic.

The famous lodgings at 221 B Baker Street

In addition to the Diogenes Club, the props and sets in the other episodes also are painstakingly done recreations of their Victorian-era counterparts. As an icing on the cake, few of the episodes even have the original Sidney Paget drawings shown during the end credits.

The music by Patrick Gowers is an asset to the series and complements the mood nicely.

As an avid fan of Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories, I have seen various adaptations of the world's premier fictional detective. The Granada adaptation is one of the best adaptations with its loyalty to the canonical stories, the sets and costumes.

Unfortunately, Brett suffered from bipolar disorder and this greatly affected his performance in the later seasons. Some of the scripts (especially the feature-length episodes) lacked in quality.

Still the first two seasons are a recommended watch for fans of the Sherlock Holmes Canon.

Click here to read all my posts about the Granada adaptation.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by clicking here.

Image Source: Bending the Willow: Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes by David Stuart Davies 

You might also like:

Bending the Willow

Canonical References in "A Study in Pink"

Book Review: Bending the Willow: Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes by David Stuart Davis

This is a review of the Kindle version.

David Stuart Davies is a big fan of Brett’s interpretation of Sherlock Holmes and his admiration leaps right out of the pages. His book gives great insight into the inception and making of the Granada series. The book delves on how Michael Cox, the producer cast Jeremy Brett and David Burke. David Burke had to leave the series due to some pressing personal concerns and the mantle passed on to Edward Hardwicke (who was suggested for the role by Burke himself).

The series makers have taken the utmost pains to make as faithful an adaptation of the canon as possible. Right from the casting of the principal characters to the sets and locations, the series does great justice to the stories. Jeremy Brett was passionate about his work and did considerable research to make the best possible adaptation.

David illustrates this by citing the example of The Hound of the Baskervilles where Holmes observes Watson’s reflection in a shining coffee pot. Brett realized that he could not see the reflection in a coffee pot, but in the lid. As can be seen in the Granada adaptation, Holmes points to the lid of the coffee pot. This is but one of the many trifling details that Brett painstakingly worked on to give what is considered by many as the definitive portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.

Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes

To his credit, David gives a fairly objective critique of the series. He candidly agrees about the deterioration in the performance of Brett as his physical tribulations worsened considerably even as the series kept chugging on. I have often considered that the Holmes as portrayed by Brett was as much a reflection of Brett’s personal characteristics as much of Holmes.

Click on the link to buy the book:

In the adaptation of The Adventure of the Creeping Man, Brett’s Holmes is quite hostile towards the army personnel. There is no such description in the canon. David explains the reason for this hostility: Brett’s father was in the army and never approved of his son’s decision to take up the acting profession. Jeremy in fact had to change his family name from Huggins to Brett in order to take up the acting profession at the insistence of his father. The lack of approval from his father seems to have had a significant psychological effect on Jeremy and unfortunately comes out quite strongly in the aforementioned episode.

The same issue crops up again when Brett imagined the childhood of Holmes. As per his description, the younger Holmes was a social outcast while his brother Mycroft was always ahead in studies and settled in life nicely. Sherlock would have been a school dropout and finally became the only consulting detective in the world. The interesting fact to be noted is that even here, Brett imagined Holmes’s father to be “an army toad”.

As the series progressed (as did Brett’s manic depression), more and more of Brett came into his portrayal of Holmes, making the real Holmes almost an afterthought.

(An aside: if you are looking for help with manic depression or any mental health issues you may be facing, BetterHelp is one of the world's largest e-counseling platforms. BetterHelp has the resources to provide you with help.)

Here is a clip from "The Musgrave Ritual", in which Brett (as Holmes) is unable to control his fits of laughter:

The book delves quite a bit into the physical hardships Brett had to undergo and it is quite depressing to read. Brett suffered greatly and still insisted on donning the grease-paint.

Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes.

This book is a must read for fans of the Granada adaptation and/or Jeremy Brett.

Click here to read all my posts about the Granada adaptation.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by clicking here.

Image Source: Bending the Willow: Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes by David Stuart Davies

You might also like:

Canonical References in "A Study in Pink"

Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes

Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes

Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes 

Considered by many to be the definitive Sherlock Holmes, Jeremy Brett needs no introduction to his legion of fans. For the uninitiated, Brett played Sherlock Holmes in the acclaimed Granada TV series (1984 – 1994).

Brett presented a considerably dark version of the character. Unfortunately, Brett suffered from physical tribulations and his performances in the later episodes were markedly different. It was painfully obvious that his work had become an all-consuming obsession. Brett continued to play Sherlock Holmes before his untimely demise in 1995.

Click on the link below to buy your copy:

His work is nicely complemented by Edward Hardwicke (who replaced David Burke after the first 13 episodes) as Dr Watson. A refreshing feature of this adaptation is that Dr Watson is portrayed as a competent doctor (as described in the canon). The Granada TV adaptation stands right along with the Russian adaptation in making this right choice of portraying Dr Watson and both these series are my perennial favorites.

The Holmes brothers

Charles Gray is a charming Mycroft Holmes, every bit the superior of Sherlock in the powers of observation and deduction.

Eric Porter makes a good Moriarty. We can believe this version of Moriarty to be the criminal mastermind, worthy of being the archenemy of Sherlock.

Supporting cast include Rosalie Williams as Mrs Hudson and Colin Jeavons as Inspector Lestrade. Both the actors are well cast and leave their imprints on their characters.

In total, 41 out of the 60 works by Sir Doyle were adapted and barring a few episodes, most of them are loyal to the canon. The sets and the locations are strikingly similar to the stories. The cast and crew have put in their best to create one of the best adaptations of the world’s foremost fictional consulting detective.

Click here to read all my posts about the Granada adaptation.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by clicking here.

Image Source: Bending the Willow: Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes by David Stuart Davies

You might also like:

Bending the Willow

Review - The Granada Adaptation