Nick_Hopkins

Thank you for your welcome and it's very interesting to read your interpretation of the episode. I must stress that I did enjoy it and maybe it is a little unfair to judge it having seen it on the big screen as that is not really how it should be watched (by that I mean that if they were ever to make a movie, it would obviously be very different). Ideally I think this ep would have been followed rather quicker by the next as it is a bit of a tease. ^_^

^_^ I wouldn't say 'still' in theatres. They obviously have to do the subtitles so most movies aren't shown here until months after they are in the U.K. and America. I would say that the show has a small level of popularity here (which is more than the vast majority of British shows have). I'm sure I will see it again at some point. I wouldn't have said that the plot was too complicated but maybe a little lightweight compared with some of the other episodes.

I haven't read the other posts in this thread because I wanted to get my thoughts down first... I finally managed to see the special at a cinema in Japan today. It was interesting to see it on the big screen (although it is more suited to television for obvious reasons) and also odd that they played Steven Moffat's introduction to 221B beforehand then Mark Gatiss's interviews at the end. It was generally enjoyable but also a little messy. Once any show starts to introduce dream sequences there is the possibility that you will lose the dramatic element and this happened here. I am also probably alone in not really enjoying Andrew Scott's acting and will not be disappointed if Moriarty only has a posthumous influence from now on. Having said that, some fine acting and some amusing jokes about the canon as well.

I think your clockwork plots are still there, but they are adding in a more "American style" of character development, if that makes sense. I feel like, in the British shows I watch, the character development is central because it works its way out in a very intricate fashion over the run of a series (season, for the Americans) or an entire show (series). In that way, it seems that British character development feels more organic, and the plots can be somewhat secondary to understanding how the characters got where they are. American dramas seem to be the reverse for me, with sometimes very tight plots, but characterization that can rely on a single exposition supposedly explaining the actions of the character during that episode and then perhaps disappearing later (unless that exposition is supposed to be a big theme). I think that general difference is the difference for me between Sherlock and Elementary. So this week they're supposed to be doing some riff on Hound of the Baskervilles. I don't know if I'm excited to see it or terrified that its going to be a mess. It's very interesting to read that explanation of things. I guess because American shows have so many more episodes and very often have larger writing teams.

It's really interesting to read some of the posts in this thread and see how opinions have developed and changed over time. Like many other people, my first thoughts when this series was originally mentioned were not positive but the makers soon changed my mind. It's a good time for American drama and also a good time to be a Sherlockian. Weird now to think that until recently there had not been a successful Sherlock adaptation for decades...

Interesting to read the (old) comments about the Jeremy Brett adaptation. I think I remember from David Stuart Davies' book that budget cuts were already affecting the series by this point, so they had to film in the Lake District. The Granada series had sadly already peaked by this time and producer Michael Cox had moved on.

I would personally go with: Hound Sign Scarlet Valley The latter two books feature Holmes and Watson far too little to be considered. It is a close run thing between Hound and The Sign of Four but the former has the more dramatic storyline. The fact that I have seen it televised so many times and yet still want to read it again speaks volumes. (However, The Sign of Four was the best full length Jeremy Brett episode in my opinion.)

Thanks for the additional information. I presume that they are pretty scarce nowadays.

Thanks for posting about this. I really enjoyed the first episode. Geoffrey Whitehead is a fine actor and it was interesting to see Patrick Newell (later Blessington in Adventures of course) as Lestrade. I am interested to learn there were workbooks published (in Polish I presume?). It's a shame that this series has been forgotten over the years.

I am a new poster here (from the U.K. originally) and longtime fan of Sherlock Holmes in almost all of his forms... Jeremy Brett will probably always be my definitive Sherlock but I have recently enjoyed greatly both Sherlock and Elementary. I also have a fondness for the likes of Basil Rathbone, Ian Richardson, Clive Merrison and many others. As well as being a huge fan of the books of course... I look forward to engaging with other Sherlockians!