# Jeremy Brett: best Holmes ever?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 18, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919 "2003-02-18T17:28:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/1 "2003-02-18T17:28:14Z")
I watched 2 of the Jeremy Brett as Holmes episodes last night. I’m convinced that Brett is the best Holmes ever. I’ll be watching two more tonight.
I used to be a huge Basil Rathbone as Holmes fan, but Brett is better. Aside from the fact that they actually talk about him using Cocaine (which never happened in the old shows), he really brings out the twitchy, anti-social, eccentric Holmes. Burke as Watson is much better than Nigel Bruce ever was, too.
Anyone have a different opinion? Why?
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MODERATOR COMMENT: Please note this thread was started in Feb 2003, and is resurrected in Oct 2013 in post #37. Resurrecting old threads is OK, we just want you to be aware and so not start dreaming up responses to 11-year-old posts (the original poster may no longer be around, and even if they are, probably won’t remember what they said. – CKDH
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/2 "2003-02-18T17:42:59Z")
Jeremy is my favorite, but I’ve liked quite a few portrayals.
I liked Nicol Williamson’s take on Holmes in “The Seven Percent Solution.”
And I liked Basil Rathbone a great deal, though I couldn’t stand Nigel Bruce (Watson should NOT be a blithering idiot).
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### Author:  [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/3 "2003-02-18T17:48:21Z")
PS Is it possible to rent the Jeremy Brett “Macbeth” anywhere? I can’t find it on NetFlix.
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### Author:  [@vertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertigo)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/4 "2003-02-18T17:48:38Z")
I agree, Brett was (for me) by far the best. I can’t watch any Holmes without comparing them (unfavorably) to him. It’s a shame he died relatively early in life.
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### Author:  [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/5 "2003-02-18T17:53:06Z")
Jeremy Brett _is_ Sherlock Holmes. Basil Whatshisname is just a wanna-be 😛
Who’s Burke? I thought that Edward Hardwick (sp?) played Watson in the Jeremy Brett series. And Harwick is the best Watson. With him, you can actually imagine Watson as being a competant doctor (albeit one who’s lousy at solving mysteries 😉 )
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### Author:  [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/6 "2003-02-18T17:58:26Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by NoCoolUserName \*
> \*\* Aside from the fact that they actually talk about him using Cocaine (which never happened in the old shows_\*
Au contaire’ my friend. The 1939 movie [“The Hound of the Baskervilles”](http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&id=1800078354&cf=info&intl=us) did mention, obliquely, to Holmes’ use of cocaine. The last line of the movie “Watson, the needle” was not restored in prints until 1975 according to [this site](http://www.sherlock-holmes.org.uk/films/The_films_of_Basil_Rathbone/the_hound.htm) .
I was a 14 year old, and as I was big Holme’s fan at the time my mom took me to some art theatre in Akron (didn’t know we had any of those) to see this limited re-release. I remeber quite clearly the advertisements mentioning the drug-use being alluded to.
I second the opinion of Nicol Williamson, I love “The 7 Percent Solution”. Wonderful pastiche.
So, who’s the best Watson from the Granada series? Burke or Hardwicke?
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### Author:  [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/7 "2003-02-18T18:08:57Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Diceman \*
> **Jeremy Brett _is_ Sherlock Holmes. Basil Whatshisname is just a wanna-be 😛**
Pistols at dawn, sir. My seconds shall call upon yours.
> [@](#):
>
> **Who’s Burke? I thought that Edward Hardwick (sp?) played Watson in the Jeremy Brett series.**
David Burke was the first gentleman to play Dr. Watson opposite Jeremy Brett for the Granada television series [“The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”](http://dvds.helpfulreviews.com/dvd/B000060MVK.html). He was later replaced with actor Edward Hardwicke. Both men did a great job and while, I lean towards Hardwicke as the better of the two at capturing the essense of the retired army doctor, I enjoyed them both.
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### Author:  [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/8 "2003-02-18T18:23:24Z")
Another vote in favour of the unbeatable Brett/Burke partnership. Brett is a sad loss.
How about a nomination for the _worst_ Homes and Watson combination? My vote would go to [Christopher Plummer and James Mason in _Murder by Decree_](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0079592). It’s one thing to complain that Watson shouldn’t be a bumbling idiot as per Nigel Bruce, but _Holmes_ as a bumbling idiot? Dr Watson (Mason) had to run the whole show in that film with Holmes (Plummer) routinely stumbling into traps and needing to be physically carried by the good doctor at one point.
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### Author:  [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/9 "2003-02-18T18:50:49Z")
Brett “got” Holmes, totally, including his sometimes mercurial personality.
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### Author:  [@TheRealJohnPeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheRealJohnPeat)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/10 "2003-02-18T19:34:55Z")
Before I saw the Granada series I always pictured Holmes as Basil Rathbone - but since it HAS to be Jeremy Brett.
He really ‘fleshed out’ the character - a lot of the Holmes stories don’t really give too much personal detail to the role - but Brett’s portrayal is masterly…
As for the ‘nastiness’ and ‘drugs’ aspect - the BBC in the UK recently screened a version of Hound of the Baskervilles starring Ian Hart as Holmes
[http://www.bakerstreetdozen.com/roxhoun.html](http://www.bakerstreetdozen.com/roxhoun.html)
He wasn’t bad either - the drugs angle was - if anything - OVERdone really but the ‘nastiness’ was left-out mostly (and Watson was played quite ‘dumb’) - the entire thing would be an ‘acquired taste’ to a Brett-fan but it passed the time 🙂
I can’t recommend the Granada/Brett SH series enough tho - fabulously well done they are…
(Star Trek fans will note that a member of the TNG cast even appears in one - who, shall remain a mystery for now 🙂
TTFN
JP
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### Author:  [@TheRealJohnPeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheRealJohnPeat)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/11 "2003-02-18T19:36:29Z")
p.s. Teach me to read my own links - Holmes was Richard Roxburgh - Watson was Ian Hart 🙂
(Oh Editting Posts why do you desert me so?)
JP
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### Author:  [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/12 "2003-02-18T20:24:51Z")
Heh. Marina Sirtis as the Italian ex-girlfriend of the murderer in THE SIX NAPOLEANS. She’s Anglo-Greek and did a good job with her Italian dialogue.
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### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/13 "2003-02-18T20:50:50Z")
Jeremy Brett is about the best Holmes I’ve ever seen. I loved the Granada/WGBH productions (at least untilo the end, when Brett was dying but they pumped the series anyhow with a set of bloated narratives). I’ve heard that Peter Cushing did a set of Holms shows that were never released in America, but were quite good. I’ve aso seen John Wood on stage (in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of the Doyle/Gillette play “Sherlock Holmes”) and thought he did an excellent job.
As for th worst Holmes – What about
Roger Moore (!!!) in the TV movie “Sherlock Holmes in New York”. Good story, awful casting all around.
Charlton Heston (!!) in “Crucifer of Blood”. I like Heston, politics aside, but he’s no Holmes.
Reginald Owen in “A Study in Scarlet” – the world’s only _fat_ Sherlock Holmes. Holmes should never be fat. Or use a telephone.
I also hated the guy in the very recent PBS adaptation of “The Hound of the Baskervilles”. Holmes as a young smartass is a bad idea. Especially with an unconvincing CGI dog.
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### Author:  [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/14 "2003-02-18T22:22:16Z")
Most of the Peter Cushing Holmes programmes were deleted by the ever-lovable BBC … who have redeemed themselves, partly, by making the Cushing version of _The Hound of the Baskervilles_ available on VHS and DVD as part of the BBC Special Interests range. It’s available in PAL or NTSC video, or Region 0 PAL.
Not having seen this one yet myself, I’d agree that Jeremy Brett was the best Holmes. The latest _Hound_ adaptation wasn’t really all that good.
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### Author:  [@AnnaLivia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnnaLivia)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/15 "2003-02-18T22:47:06Z")
Brett was fantastic.
IIRC, he suffered from severe depression (to the point of making at least one public service-type announcement about depression) and played Holmes as a fellow sufferer.
A biography came out a few years back, which included pics of him from War and Peace with Audrey Hepburn. The book was a bit overdone, however.
Having seen a good chunk of Holmes and Holmes-related things (Do see "They Might be Giants!)
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### Author:  [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/16 "2003-02-18T22:48:40Z")
Look for the episode _Silver Blaze_. There the Jeremy Brett Holmes takes the coke addiction head-on and explicitly, with a few hallucinatory effects.
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### Author:  [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/17 "2003-02-18T23:37:15Z")
As a fan of the Brett Holmes, I am always a little disconcerted to see Brett as Freddie in _My Fair Lady_, dubbed singing and all.
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### Author:  [@Epigramcracker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epigramcracker)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/18 "2003-02-18T23:47:13Z")
Oh my goodness. This is why SMDB rocks my socks.
I discovered the Granada Jeremy Brett Holmes series in sixth grade and I’ve LOVED it ever since. I’m pretty sure I’ve watched every episode within an hour of my home. I’m not quite sure which one it is, but I remember a spectacular episode where he does some leaping over chairs. He’s so spot on it’s just amazing. I love their version of the Hound of the Baskervilles, as well as pretty much all the others. Great stuff.
Oh, and **UncaStuart** , you’re right! It’s too weird to see him as dapper little Freddy Einsford Hill.
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### Author:  [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/19 "2003-02-18T23:52:35Z")
A bit of a nitpic, **capacitor** – Holmes was never _addicted_ to cocaine – he turned to it for relief when the world provided nothing in the way of adequate intellectual stimulation for him. It was a distraction from boredom.
> [@](#):
>
> Save for the occasional use of cocaine, he had no vices, and he only turned to the drug as a protest against the monotony of existence when cases were scanty and the papers uninteresting.
> _–The Yellow Face, Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle_
I don’t recall the Jeremy Brett version of _Silver Blaze_ – how did they work it in? There’s no mention of cocaine at all in the story, unless I am much mistaken.
With regards to the OP, Jeremy Brett was _born_ to play Sherlock Holmes, and that series did more to redeem the authentic image of Holmes after the disservice that Hollywood did to him. I don’t know who that wooly old fellow with the deerstalker and the Meerschaum pipe was, but he sure as hell wasn’t Sherlock Holmes. Good on him for hunting down those Nazis, though. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)
#### Post date: [February 19, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeremy-brett-best-holmes-ever/155919/20 "2003-02-19T01:19:24Z")
All versions of Holmes have something to recommend them. Even the recent travesty of _Hound of the Baskervilles_ was fun gothic horror with Richard E. Grant doing a great turn. “Sir, I must confess… I covet your skull.” (Yes, I know the line got transposed in this version, but it was a great delivery) …I love “Young Sherlock Holmes” too.
But… Jeremy Brett simply owns. It just isn’t even close.
MPI Home Video is releasing their second round of Brett/Granada DVDs this Winter. Hound of the Baskervilles just came out a couple of weeks ago. I’m hesitant to buy more of them, however, because the quality control is so bad. I bought the box set and only two of five discs would even play. Exchanged it for a new set, and had the same problem across multiple DVD players. Emailed MPI about many times, never got a single response.
So I’m saving up for the super-expensive but undoubtedly high quality Japanese DVDs.
-fh
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