The moaning of a Holmes fan: part 7, the final problem

So.
We come to the end.
The big one.
The Holmes adaptation broadly agreed to be not only the best Holmes adaptation of all time, but also one of the best TV series of all time. Full stop.
And I agree. This is how I came to know Holmes, my first exposure to the character, the adaptation that made me fall in love.
To build up the excitement, as this is the last review of this series, at the end I will be crowning the best Holmes adaptation, and this is a real contender for that prize.
So, here it is.
The granada TV adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett.
The detective:
This Sherlock Holmes is straight out of the stories. Jeremy Brett captures every facet of the character that I have insisted is important, he’s a gentleman, he shows character development, he’s kind but occasionally ruthless. But what makes Brett’s performance truly special is his pacing. You can see this Holmes thinking, almost hear the cogs turning. And then he makes his decision, and springs into action almost faster than you can follow. This Holmes is, at his best, a powerful, almost indestructible figure.
Still, he is not without his vulnerabilities. This series doesn’t shy away from showing the detective when his health fails, when his self-destructive tendencies come to the fore. And even more importantly, Holmes acknowledges these. He deals with them. He allows Watson to care for him.
This is an aspect of the character only delved into in similar detail in the audio series, and the comparison is a good one. The two Holmes characters are different, but equally faultless. Both Merrison and Brett produce a detective who slips from indestructible and almost inhuman to vulnerable, and seeing that journey, or maybe feeling that journey, is incredible. They perform  role like a good musician playing a piece of music, they take the scripts, the stories, and they breathe a new life into them.
So what criticism can I levy?
Um...
Sorry. I have nothing.
Jeremy Brett scores a perfect 10 out of 10, and sticks the dismount.

Watson:
This Watson is another fine character, a superb portrayal. He is perhaps more restrained than many others. One scene I always look to when assessing this character is the big reveal, when Holmes goes from dead to live in Watson’s eyes, and this Watson gets the prize based on this alone (possibly tied with the BBC radio adaptation). He is initially shocked, then immensely pleased. But afterwards, when he is alone he starts to recover slightly and you can see some resentment coming through. Unlike some adaptations, he doesn’t flip out, and try to murder his resurrected friend, but there is a certain intense sadness there.
This role is beautifully acted, Watson is clearly Holmes’ friend, and I can see why they would be attracted together, and want to be together. They compliment each other well, and I like seeing them work together.
If I could give one criticism though, it would be that this Watson is pretty closely tied to Holmes, as in we don’t see much of his life away from Holmes. This is a common problem with lots of the adaptations actually, particularly the older, more true to the books ones. Probably because in the original stories, we see Watson writing about Holmes, not about himself, and so to get the same sense of Watson’s character in an adaptation where Watson is no longer the narrator, Watson centric scenes would have to be inserted deliberately. Shows like Elementary do this well, and in the BBC audio adaptation we still have that element of Watson’s narration. It’s a small niggle, but I would have liked to see more Watson here. I award 8.5/10 for this Doctor.

The other characters:
Like the other highly true to the story adaptations, there are a load of characters circling around the main duo here.  Lots of the detectives from the originals are portrayed here, and it’s nice to see others beside the usual Lestrade, and the occasional appearance of Gregson. Mrs Hudson appears too, which is nice to see. They’re all pretty well done, and true to the books.
What I particularly love among the supportive cast is the characters in each case are represented well, and are given time to demonstrate depth. Whenever Holmes says something surprising or damning, for example, there is normally a pause. The characters on screen are given time to think, to come to terms with what is happening and decide on the way forward. It is this timing, I think, that makes it so easy to feel sympathy for them, and it also brings a healthy sprig of realism. The criminals, the victims, they all seem like real people, which makes what happens to them appear all the more tragic.
Also, I think I have to talk about Moriarty. Now this is truly how I imagine him, an intellectual, a genius at the height of his powers who indulges in criminal activity almost for sport. He is cold and completely ruthless. His similarities and differences from Holmes are always intriguing. Here, he appears almost as a mirror of Holmes, with all the empathy and morality sucked away. You can see why he so repulses the detective, this enemy is a reminder of what Holmes might have been, had he chosen to become a criminal rather than a detective. Reichenbach is beautifully done, the haunting echoes of Watson’s voice calling for his friend seem to ring around the entire scene, as we see Moriarty and Holmes grapple. It’s dramatic, it seems almost inevitable after seeing these two dance around each other that they must end up there, with one living and one dying.
I can’t think of a better group of supporting actors. This lot get 10/10.

The rest of it:
Well really, what do you expect me to say? The plots are very faithful to the original material, the criminals are the same, the reveals are the same. It’s a shame that there are no stories unique to this series, are there are with the BBC radio series. These are pure representations of the works, brought beautifully to life in the time period they were meant to be told in.
What I would like to give some credit for are the little touches that help make this series truly special. The clever use of music, the lighting, the camera work. The sets are often lovely, and I sometimes have to remind myself that this wasn’t filmed in Victorian London. There is a real attention to detail, a real care taken about everything. No detail is left unchecked.
That being said, there is none of the clever camera work and animation that lets us peer inside the mind of Sherlock in the later series, but perhaps it is unfair to criticise for that, this was made in a different time and with a different intention. This isn’t trying to put a different take on TV Sherlock Holmes, this is TV Sherlock Holmes. This is the one that people start with, and seek to improve on, and for many people this is the first face of Holmes they see. It certainly was for me.
And so, I give a 9.5/10 for this category.

And there it is. The review is complete. Which leaves only one question to  answered, is this the best Holmes adaptation?
The scores are in, the audience gathers expectedly....
Sherlock: 17/40
BBC audio: 38/40
The Holmes films: 24/40
Mr Holmes: 26/40
The newly discovered casebook: 20/40
Elementary: 16/40
Granada: 38/40

Ah. So, I have completely failed to answer the question in hand. Which is the best Holmes adaptation? Either the audio series, or Granada. I’m actually almost glad that they are tied, they are both worthy winners. The other big shocker is that Elementary scores lower than Sherlock, mostly because I don’t think it’s a true enough adaptation. Still, it’s a shame it is at the bottom of the pile.
I have loved doing this series, and I am sure I will be saying more about Holmes in the future. What has surprised me is that the standard has been so incredibly high. I would, and do, watch/listen to all of these regularly, and will continue to do so. But really what shines through in all of these is the quality of the original material. So please, if you have enjoyed reading these reviews, or watching the reviewed material, set aside a short time. Pick up a copy of the original Holmes stories. They are easy, enjoyable reads, with an incredible depth, and the fact that they are still being adapted so many years after being written is a testament to their brilliance. They delight us, and will continue to be read and adapted in the years to come. And is there any better proof of how much they enthrall us than that?