softmachine

and that is so wonderfully atmospheric....... the fog...!!!!

"it was.... a bloody big snake....."

here's some more, whilst I ave the energy to copy it out! FIVE "But now comes the crux. There are a number of stories which really are a little hard to separate. On the whole I should think I should find a place for 'The Five Orange Pips' , for though it is short it has a certain dramatic quality all of its own." SECO "There are two stories that deal with high diplomacy and intrigue. They are both among the very best of the series." ( Naval Treaty and Second Stain) (i'm surprised he didn't also include The Bruce-Partington Plans alongside them, it has similar plot but bags more atmosphere IMO). "....there is no room for both of them in the team , and on the whole I regard the latter as the better story." PRIO "I also think that 'The Priory School' is worth a place if only for the dramatic moment when Holmes points his finger at the duke." (his reason is a bit bizarre - I get the impression ACD is just looking for any old excuse to get to the end of the list now!! It's a nicely anti-aristocratic moment but surely there are loads more exciting and noteworthy 'little details' that stand out better? OH well)

good point!

ooh, I have this in one of my books. I'll write as much as my tired post-workshift hands will allow and add tomorrow!! SPEC "There is the grim snake story The Speckled Band. That, I am sure, will be on every list." (how right you are!!) " REDH and DANC "Next to that in popular favour and in my own esteem I would palce The Red Headed League and The dancing Men, on account in each case of originality of the plot." (no arguments from me) FINA "Then we could hardly leave out the story which deals with the only foe who ever really extended Holmes, and which deceived the public (and Watson) into the erroneous inference of his death." (now this is interesting.... it's usually assumed that the legend of Moriarty being Holmes' nemesis came about gradually over the decades, unattached from ACD's intent, but here we see the very germs of that legend being sewn by ACD himself... if I can mix my metaphors!)

splendid gifts there, aely nice t-shirts idea, Irregular

I love that comment of his on The Devils Foot - "grim and new" !!! Very grim and very new..... ahead of its time. Some people, Isaac Asimov included, consider it to be a sort of precursor to the more 'psychedelic' science-fiction/speculative fiction of the 1960s. It's one of my favourites. I love the atmosphere of the brooding HOlmes at the start, and Watson trying to get him from taking on the case because he should be resting! And the ending of course with one of Holme's brilliant and occasional floutings of strict legality actually there's a big thread awaiting to be opened up here even if we just examine ACD's own little comments about the list, before we even get onto our own opinions of it...!!

there is a theory, expounded upon in the bbc docudrama about ACD, that he kept the story away from book collections for many years because it was so close to home.... his drunken father committed to the asylum, guilt over his family's treatement of the father, and also his mother's (perceived or real) infidelity.....

i'm not averse to it but I've always preferred physical media y'see

for me... the answer is 'whichever Holmes I am watching at that particular moment' (if they're good, obviously) Cumberbatch.... Brett.... Rathbone... Cushing..... Wilmer..... even Christopher Plummer is an unexpected new favourite...... there is too many to choose just one cop out answer I know...!

wow that is a fantastic bit of online detective work there Carol many thanks

ah thanks Carol! it looks like only Decree is available right now. I'm sure that will change in years to come (I hope!)

Just watched this today, having meant to do so for a while, and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Anyone else here a fan? I love the way in the opening scene in the opera house, the theme of class war (for want of a better description) is spelt out by the boo-ing and horay-ing of the Prince of Wales (and the Duke of Clarence who is important to the plot) .... and indeed by Holmes' and Watson's different reactions to it. It's pretty gruesome too, a few scenes gave me more than a few chills!! Plummer and mason are excellent as a Holmes/Watson partnership. I understand Plummer palyed HOlmes previously, does anyone know if that is also available commercially?

I think the harshest critic of the Utah sections is Ian Sinclair in his introduction to the Penguin Classics edition. He more or less says Doyle (not Watson? tsk!) inserted it just to pad the story out...... lol

precisely Watson's intention.... (according to Harrison, entertainingly)

ah!! thank you! this makes sense of things for me now. I was aware that HOlmes was out of copyright in Britain but didn't know that wasn't the case for the US. So Klinger's action makes sense now! lol

They really had mercy on the audience, then! haha!!!! Oh you cruel thing!! I think I must be one of the very few people in existence who actually LIKES that part of the book. It chills me to the bone everytime. The vultures flying overhead..... the romance that builds to inevitable tragedy... the 'Here lies..' sign..... ((shudders)).

I must rewatch the Granada version..... very chilling, and one of the best. Great acting. You actually do feel very much for the killer. In a horrible way. I love Sherlockian Michael Harrison's view on the story, that this was Watson's way of translating Holmes' involvement in the Ripper murders into a slightly more palatable version of events!!

it will be interesting to see the evolution of Sherlock/Sherlock Holmes fandom *as* a fandom (earlier generations seem/ed to see themselves as 'enthusiasts and scholars', with 'journals' rather than fanzines etc.... mainly i think because the BSI were such a snooty bunch of restaurant-supping upper class types *lol)

n.b the DVDs are thankfully easily available , ether on its own box set, as individual discs (I *think*) or even better as part of the big 6-disc 'The BBC Sherlock Holmes Collection' box set at least the Cushing series is easy to get rather than the Wilmer series, which you need to get from America for reasons which baffle me!!

thank you for the welcome, Carol yes it was just the case itself. The Utah section was told in short dialogue by Jefferson in his cell we get to see Holmes and Watson track down the actor who had shammed as the old woman (performing in music hall!) in this version! It's a lot of fun. Cushing is just so good.

it's in the Oxford editions as part of the Memoirs most editions of the Casebook (after various editing rejiggles over the years)

SIGN for me it's the story with *everything*!!!!!

the Cushing series managed to adapt it perfectly well, excising the 'first meeting' bits