The Best Non-BBC [Whatever]

[HerlockSholmes]

Hi Carol,

 

I didn't realise that Gatiss was not on the credits? I also quite liked Robert Morley as Mycroft in the Holmes/Ripper movie A Study In Terror.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Gatiss was omitted from the credits only for Study in Pink (for the surprise element).  I believe he's been credited for each of his appearances since then.

[HerlockSholmes]

I never noticed that Carol. I really like his Mycroft and I take my hat off to him as he contributed financially to the restoration of the Gillette movie.

[Boton]

I'm going to contribute a couple of others, both from House.  I realize this makes it sound like House is my favorite Sherlock Holmes portrayal, and it isn't.  It just benefits from the volume of episodes.  There were 177, which means certain ones were absolutely brilliant, and others were just cringingly bad.  But there were a couple of other moments that I think were "bests:"

 

Best "Woman Who Beat You" Story:  I'll give this one to "Three Stories," a House episode that many critics have said is one of the best episodes of television ever.  The story structure is fantastic, and, as a bottle episode, it is easy to jump in without having watched any of the preceding episodes.  The creative part, though, is what it does with the Holmesian legend that Irene Adler was one of the two people who "beat" Sherlock Holmes (based purely on the fact that he says there have only been two, and one was a woman).  I'll spoiler tag it for anyone who wants to watch the episode unspoiled.

 

 

In the episode, you find out that House's girlfriend and probably the only woman he ever loved was in some ways responsible for him winding up with a limp and debilitating pain. Although his leg problems stem from delayed treatment of a muscle infarction, House has requested no surgery in order to preserve muscle tissue and give himself a chance at a full recovery. Since he is unlikely to be able to withstand the pain of the healing process and stands a real chance at dying from it, he is sedated, putting Stacy in control as his power of attorney. She knows that the safest option is an amputation, but she asks for a middle ground, which is removing a lot of the necrosed tissue. This, of course, means that House wakes up without full leg function, and in permanent pain on top of it. She "beat" him, but not maliciously or on purpose, which makes it tragic rather than comic, which is how that is usually played.

 

 

Best "Garridebs" Moment:  Again, House, for "The Big C."  If it was worth a wound to see how much Holmes cared about Watson, then this episode is the pinnacle of that idea.  The "patient of the week" is horrible and should be FF'd through and ignored.  But the body of the episode -- my goodness.  Wilson opts for a Hail Mary cancer treatment that no doctor will perform, so he decides to do it for himself.  (The survival rate math absolutely doesn't work out, so you have to ignore that.) House offers to perform the treatment at 221B. What ensues is absolutely the most perfect platonic love story that I have ever seen.  I came out of the whole thing still positive that House and Wilson are platonic soul mates, but equally sure that I had just seen the best explanation of "til death do us part" that I'd ever witnessed on TV.  (Good spoiler: Wilson makes it through the episode.) I would love for someone to translate this kind of story into the Sherlock universe, but, even in fan fiction, no one can manage to walk the line quite this well, and most fan fics that start off with this premise end up in slash.  I think the success of this episode lies in the fact that House so willingly takes on some very, very un-romantic parts of caring for Wilson, and he does so willingly, without embarrassment, and in a very caring (for House) sort of way.  The look of desperation he gives when he thinks Wilson isn't going to make it, followed by him almost literally squaring his shoulders and committing to seeing things through Wilson's way, is one of the best-acted scenes on TV, for me.

 

Anyway, just more musings.

[HerlockSholmes]

An interesting post Boton. I've only watched a handful of episodes of House and I loved them all (after I got over visualising Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster!) The series is on my 'to get list.' How many series were made and is it finished now?

[Boton]

An interesting post Boton. I've only watched a handful of episodes of House and I loved them all (after I got over visualising Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster!) The series is on my 'to get list.' How many series were made and is it finished now?

 

It's finished; the whole thing is on Netflix, if you are a subscriber.  I think there are 8 series, maybe?  I think the last series is probably the weakest, but, ironically, it is the one that has "The Big C" and the finale, which is also one of the best of the episodes. (The last episode also features House facing some of his nemeses and demons, conjured up by his own mind, as he nearly dies and then makes an effort to live.  Familiar, eh?)

 

Thanks for resurrecting this thread!

[HerlockSholmes]

 

 

An interesting post Boton. I've only watched a handful of episodes of House and I loved them all (after I got over visualising Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster!) The series is on my 'to get list.' How many series were made and is it finished now?

It's finished; the whole thing is on Netflix, if you are a subscriber. I think there are 8 series, maybe? I think the last series is probably the weakest, but, ironically, it is the one that has "The Big C" and the finale, which is also one of the best of the episodes. (The last episode also features House facing some of his nemeses and demons, conjured up by his own mind, as he nearly dies and then makes an effort to live. Familiar, eh?)

 

Thanks for resurrecting this thread!

I don't have Netflix but I'll definately look at getting the series on DVD now that I know of the Holmes connections. I need to get a new DVD/blu-Ray player first though! This 'hobby' of mine could end up with me sleeping in a cardboard box

[Boton]

I want to buy the DVDs too, mostly so I can assemble my list of episodes that are worth watching over and those that can be skipped.  :-)  

 

I'm getting ready to read one of Conan Doyle's non-Sherlock Holmes works, so that should be fun, too.

[HerlockSholmes]

I want to buy the DVDs too, mostly so I can assemble my list of episodes that are worth watching over and those that can be skipped. :-)

 

I'm getting ready to read one of Conan Doyle's non-Sherlock Holmes works, so that should be fun, too.

Which one are you going to read?

[Boton]

The Stark Munro Letters

[HerlockSholmes]

The Stark Munro Letters

Excellent and semi-autobiographical. I have a couple of copies one is pretty battered! I recently re-read The Mystery Of Cloomber because it's quite short and I was waiting for a book to arrive.

 

I hope you enjoy it.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Darn it, every time I decide once and for all that I really needn't bother buying the DVDs so I can watch House, somebody comes along and posts a post like that one.  Phooey on you, Boton!  :P

[HerlockSholmes]

I wonder if anyone's had the experience of hearing a piece of information and then, years later, you begin to doubt whether you really heard it after all?

 

I had that experience and no one can put my mind at rest☹️ A fair time after the Grenada Holmes series had finished it was suggested that it might have been time for a 'new' series with a 'new' Holmes and Watson. I remember it being suggested in a newspaper that Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie might be right for the roles. I don't know if they were ever approached though. Steven Fry is a lifelong Sherlock Holmes Fan. He's just narrated the whole canon for audiobooks (more money for me to spend

[Carol the Dabbler]

That sounds like Mycroft and Sherlock as Sherlock and John -- but no, sorry, don't think I was privy to that rumor.

[Arcadia]

I wonder if anyone's had the experience of hearing a piece of information and then, years later, you begin to doubt whether you really heard it after all?

 

I had that experience and no one can put my mind at rest☹️ A fair time after the Grenada Holmes series had finished it was suggested that it might have been time for a 'new' series with a 'new' Holmes and Watson. I remember it being suggested in a newspaper that Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie might be right for the roles. I don't know if they were ever approached though. Steven Fry is a lifelong Sherlock Holmes Fan. He's just narrated the whole canon for audiobooks (more money for me to spend

[Carol the Dabbler]

Looks like they never followed through and actually made the show, though.  At least I don't see it on their IMDb overlap list.

[HerlockSholmes]

So I didn't dream it.

 

Thank you for that Arcadia. The cheque's in the post