Douglas Wilmer as Sherlock Holmes

Close on the heels of the great detective’s birthday, here comes another reason for Sherlockians/Holmesians to rejoice: Douglas Wilmer celebrates his 93^rd birthday today.

Douglas Wilmer starred as Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series (1964-68) for the first 13 episodes and was succeeded by the late, great Peter Cushing for the rest of the series. Nigel Stock portrayed Dr Watson for the entire series.

Wilmer also had a cameo role as a Diogenes Gent in “The Reichenbach Fall” - the final episode of the second season of the BBC series Sherlock.

Wilmer’s run as Sherlock Holmes in the 1964-68 BBC series consisted of the following episodes:

·        The Speckled Band

·        The Illustrious Client

·        The Devil's Foot

·        The Copper Beeches

·        The Red-Headed League

·        The Abbey Grange

·        The Six Napoleons

·        The Man with the Twisted Lip

·        The Beryl Coronet

·        The Bruce-Partington Plans

·        Charles Augustus Milverton

·        The Retired Colourman

·        The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax

All but the 2 episodes (The Abbey Grange and The Bruce-Partington Plans) are available on DVD.

Most of the episodes are very faithful takes on their source materials with some minor changes. A recurring change is that the episodes do not start with the client’s visit to 221 B Baker Street. Instead, we see the actual crime happening and then we have our customary visit by the client. This is a welcome change and is something unique to this adaptation.

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My favorite episodes are “The Devil’s Foot” and “The Beryl Coronet”. These are two of the least filmed stories in the Canon. The Granada version is the only other adaptation of The Devil’s Foot. There are references to the story in The Hounds of Baskerville (BBC’s Sherlock) and The Spider Woman (Sir Basil Rathbone).

As for “The Beryl Coronet”, I believe this is the only adaptation.

Wilmer brought the right amount of humor and eccentricity to the role. This version of Holmes is one of the most Canonically faithful ones ever portrayed on screen. Vasily Livanov presented the brighter aspects of Holmes’ personality and Benedict Cumberbatch is doing a great job at portraying the colder side of Holmes and his black moods. Wilmer’s version provides a fine balance between these two extremes.

Wilmer did a lot of research as part of preparing for the role and the hard work is quite evident in his portrayal. Wilmer’s natural sense of humor and intelligence shines through and his performance is a delight to watch.

Some of the script work for the episodes was not upto the mark. Wilmer himself rewrote the scripts to make them more in the Doylean mold.

Wilmer left the series after the rehearsal periods were reduced severely. It is gratifying to come across a dedicated craftsman like Wilmer who did not bow down to commercial reasons and stood by his artistic integrity.

Happy Birthday Douglas Wilmer and wishing you many more years of healthy life ahead!

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Sir Vasily Livanov as Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock

TV Review: Sherlock - "The Reichenbach Fall"

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman with Loo Brealey as Molly Hooper

Sherlock has become very famous thanks to his recent high profile cases. Moriarty has some truly nefarious plans in store for Sherlock. To achieve his ends, Moriarty deliberately gets arrested and Sherlock is called in as the main witness.  Moriarty gets acquitted thanks to some behind the screen shenanigans. Right after his acquittal, Moriarty pays Sherlock a visit at 221B and promises that he owes Sherlock a fall.

Mycroft had given a lot of information about Sherlock to Moriarty (when he was jailed) in order to gain some information in return. Using the said information, Moriarty has a reporter put the entire life story of Sherlock in print. The catch is that the story paints Sherlock as the man who perpetrated the crimes.

Sherlock works on an abduction case and figures out the location where the abducted kids are being kept. One of the abducted children seems to be highly alarmed by the presence of Sherlock. Sgt Donovan, never a big fan of Sherlock, raises the question: does Sherlock set up the cases that he alone solves time and again without any official help. In the very first episode A Study in Pink, Donovan had warned John to stay away from Sherlock. Credit is due to Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss for providing such a well thought-out character and story arc for the series.

Sherlock and Moriarty have a face-off

Meanwhile, a reluctant Lestrade has been ordered by his superior to have Sherlock arrested. But Sherlock has no intentions of being incarcerated. Soon Sherlock and John find themselves on the run from the official force, after resisting arrest. Sherlock arranges a meeting with Moriarty atop St Bart's Hospital. Moriarty has already hired sharpshooters to off Lestrade, John and Mrs Hudson unless Sherlock takes the fall which in this case is a literal leap to his death.

Sherlock takes the fall or so John and the rest of the world thinks. We have to wait for the next season for the answer(s).

The newcomer with a significant screen presence is Katherine Parkinson as Kitty Riley, the reporter. Cumberbatch and Freeman continue their solid work. Gatiss and Graves have considerable presence in this episode and as always are a pleasure to watch.

Loo Brealey makes a comeback as Molly Hooper and continues her work as the counterpart of Twilight's Bella Swan with Sherlock as her Edward. The pining on her behalf, the so close yet distant Sherlock. The parallel to the Twilight series is not insignificant, if you ask me!

Katherine Parkinson with Benedict Cumberbatch

Andrew Scott gives yet another over-the-top performance as Moriarty. The script writers have done an amazing job with the way Moriarty plans to discredit Sherlock, but it is the way Moriarty is portrayed that is a big letdown.

For canonically accurate portrayals of Moriarty, I would recommend SherlockHolmes: A Game of Shadows and The Mortal Fight. Both Jared Harris and Viktor Yevgrafov gave amazing performances that stayed loyal to their canonical roots.

My favorite parts in the episode:

1. The cameo by the great Douglas Wilmer as an elderly gent in the Diogenes Club. For the uninitiated, Wilmer played Sherlock Holmes in the classic 1964-65 BBC series with Nigel Stock as Dr Watson.

2. Moriarty’s story about Sir Boast-A-Lot - captured perfectly the excessively show-offish nature of this version of Sherlock Holmes.

Douglas Wilmer in "The Reichenbach Fall"

The stuff that did not really work for me:

1. Despite Sherlock and John being fugitives, they are able to visit the St Bart's hospital and 221 B Baker Street conveniently, without taking any precautions (to the best of my knowledge) whatsoever to avoid getting arrested. This seems quite improbable, considering that Scotland Yard must (logically) be keeping an eye on these 2 places to apprehend the fugitives.

2. Moriarty referring to the original story The Final Problem a gazillion times. Yes we get it; the episode is based on that particular story. 

Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock. 

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Image Sources: Cumberbatchweb, Cumberbatchweb, The Sherlock Holmes Society of London and Cumberbatchweb 

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Sherlock (BBC Series) - Cast and Crew

Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch and Mark Gatiss in BBC's 'Sherlock'

This is my second post about the BBC series Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson respectively.

Please click here to read the first post.

Mark Gatiss, in addition to being the co-creator of the series, also plays Mycroft Holmes and he brings the requisite command and wisdom that Mycroft has always been associated with. In a significant deviation from the Canon, the Holmes brothers seem to have considerable hostility towards each other.

Una Stubbs as Mrs Hudson

Una Stubbs makes a bland Mrs. Hudson. Her characterization seems to be little bit inconsistent as she is reluctant to be a housekeeper initially (in “A Study in Pink”) but does so in “The Blind Banker”. Though not miscast, she does not exactly bring to mind the humble and caring Mrs Hudson, I came across while reading the books.

Rupert Graves’s Lestrade retains most of the characteristic traits of the character. He constantly needs Sherlock’s help to solve cases and is humble enough to admit it. Graves hits all these notes correctly to deliver a likeable Lestrade.

Rupert Graves as Inspector Lestrade

But not everyone in the Scotland Yard is a fan of Sherlock. Anderson (Jonathan Aris) and Sally Donovan (Vinette Robinson) are openly contemptuous of Sherlock. There is no love lost on both sides as Sherlock takes every opportunity to insult Anderson and even deduces an affair between Anderson (who is married) and Donovan. Aris and Robinson play their parts nicely and make sure that these two characters are the most loathed recurring characters in the series.

Vinette Robinson and Jonathan Aris as Sally Donovan and Anderson

Andrew Scott's version of Jim Moriarty is miles different from the Canonical version. I was initially not very keen on Andrew's portrayal but am slowly getting used to it.

Andrew Scott after winning the 2012 BAFTA award

For canonically accurate portrayals of Moriarty, I would recommend Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and The Mortal Fight. Both Jared Harris and Viktor Yevgrafov gave amazing performances that stayed loyal to their canonical roots.

Click on the link below to buy your copy of Season 2:

Lara Pulver portrays the highly modernized version of Irene Adler. Readers familiar with the original story A Scandal in Bohemia will recognize the changes made to the character as well as the story itself.

Lara Pulver as Irene Adler

Russell Tovey gave a great performance as Henry Knight, the BBC version of Sir Henry Baskerville. Tovey's performance was one of the highlights of the episode, that happens to be my favorite in the second season.

Russell Tovey as Henry Knight

Katherine Parkinson made her appearance in 'The Reichenbach Fall' as Kitty Riley, the reporter who unknowingly becomes a pawn in Moriarty's scheme to discredit Sherlock.

Katherine Parkinson with Benedict Cumberbatch

Last but not the least, the great Douglas Wilmer made a cameo appearance in 'The Reichenbach Fall' as an elderly gent in the Diogenes Club. He portrayed Holmes in the classic BBC series (1964-65). Wilmer is one of my all-time favorite actors to portray Sherlock and it was great to see him if only in a single scene.

Douglas Wilmer with Mark Gatiss

The background score by David Arnold and Michael Price is as critically acclaimed as the series itself. Rest of the crew delivers topnotch work as well. The series co-creators, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss are proclaimed fans of the Sherlock canon and have incorporated a lot of references to the original works. These easter eggs are by themselves a celebration of Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle.

Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock.

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ImageSources: Cumberbatchweb, Tumblr, Wikipedia, Cumberbatchweb, Tumblr, Cumberbatchweb, Cumberbatchweb

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