Les souvenirs de Sherlock Holmes

The fascinating Granada series with the incredible Jeremy Brett as the master sleuth Sherlock Holmes continued well into the 1990's with episodes pertaining to the later life of the great detective. The stories, in read form, are quite fascinating and when brought to the screen, they were, as always carried over with care and panache.

Following on from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes continues to solve crimes in his own inimitable fashion. He is ably assisted by his friend Dr Watson.

The third Sherlock Holmes series to star Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes. The first series, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, was brilliant. Quite easily the definitive adaption of the novels as it replicated the Victorian England setting and atmosphere so perfectly. The plots were solid and character engagement was good. The engagement levels were aided by the fantastic performances of Jeremy Brett.

The second series, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, was also great but not quite as good as the first series. Most of the ingredients were still there but it didn't quite have the darkness, grittiness, tension and engagement levels of The Adventures Of so brilliant. It just felt less polished.

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes started very well and seemed a worthy follow-up to those two excellent series. However, from a point the episodes get weaker and weaker, as if all the best stories had been taken and the producers were happy to adapt any Sherlock Holmes story into an episode. Some very odd plots, culminating in the final episode which was pure style over substance.

Jeremy Brett also isn't quite in the same form as he was in the first two series, further diminishing the quality.

All in all it's okay but nowhere as good as the first two series.

Last night "The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes: The Creeping Man" aired on the Biography Channel. It started out scary but with a typical British flair for understatement. But it ended up amazingly! Charles Kay, a marvelous character actor if ever there was one, played a widower with a daughter engaged to his assistant. One morning she tells her father she has seen an intruder at her window. Her father gives her the "there-there" treatment, saying she was only dreaming because her bedroom is too high up for an intruder. But when the truth comes out, the story becomes a feat of sheer amazement, especially the end which I shall not spoil by giving it away here. All I can say is Charles Kay should have gotten the British equivalent of an Emmy for that performance. I think he even surpassed the (late) GREAT Jeremy Brett, whose Sherlock Holmes is so wonderful. Mr. Kay, if you can read this, I hope you know how much I enjoyed that scene last night and how much I've enjoyed all your works. And I wish with all my heart I could tell Jeremy Brett how marvelous I always thought he was, whether he was playing a toy soldier in 19th century Russia (Nicholas in "War & Peace,"), a martinet in "My Fair Lady" (even if he didn't really sing "On the Street Where You Live" to Audrey Hepburn) or as Sherlock Holmes. I used to think there was only one Sherlock Holmes - Mr. Basil Rathbone. Now I see there are 2. And I hope they're in heaven, talking to one another about Sherlock and talking with the "discoverer" (author) of Sherlock Holmes, namely, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Anyway, if you didn't see the episode last night, then wait until it comes back again or if you don't want to wait, then order the Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. This was a marvelous episode in a truly marvelous series.

Thank goodness for the wonderful folks at Granada Television. In the mid 1980s, they created the absolute best Sherlock Holmes ever to make it to the big or small screen. Unlike all the previous versions, which LIBERALLY deviated from the Conan Doyle stories, the Granada films tried to be perfect in every detail.

Unlike the caricature of Holmes that you see in previous films where he wears a deerstalker hat, smokes a curved pipe and spouts "elementary, my dear Watson", this Holmes is true to the original character. Additionally, Dr. Watson is not the bumbling idiot as portrayed by Nigel Bruce (Bruce should burn in Hell for how he ruined this character).

The first mini-series by Granada was exceptional and Jeremy Brett was the greatest Holmes ever. The second picked up exactly where it should have as did this third series.

Intelligently written and wonderful throughout. See these films and get hooked!!

Jeremy Brett is ( possibly next to William Gillette, Basil Rathbone or Arthur Wontner ) the greatest Holmes portrayer of all time. He, with Edward Hardwicke (son of Sir Cedric) make the stories come alive with actors just like the characters. If you love Holmes, try to catch this on TV (I'll admit it's not always on).