Number 13

 "Well, I'm sure I don't intend to disappear..."

So we here we have the second of the BBC's 2000s revival of their Ghost Stories for Christmas. For the second year in a row it's an M.R. James adaptation, and for the second year in a row it features Watson himself, David Burke, in a major role.

It's a very CGI'd Victorian cathedral town, and an Oxford don, a Professor Anderson, sets out to study some recently discovered manuscripts for the cathedral authorities. Hilariously, there's a lot of lampshading the fact that he seems doomed early on. He's just that little bit arrogant and aloof. He seeks for knowledge. He pooh poohs superstition. He scoffs at the mention that his predecessors have suddenly disappeared (without paying!) and utters the above quote.

And... as with many hotels, his place of abode has no Room 13, except... sometimes it does. And there are voices at night of confessions from the witch trials of 1647. It's all very ominous...

SPOILERS!

And yes, a twist... Professor Anderson's fate is (just!) averted, and the evil creature from the dark past seemingly destroyed by means of a humble axe. We have, for most of the story, a very textbook M.R. James structure, but subverted at the end.

All in all, then, a quality production, and all the more for the low budget and no-star cast.

A View from a Hill

 "I can't explain it..."

I confess I've never read any M.R. James, just as I've never read and H.P. Lovecraft or Robert E. Howard- I suppose, like many people, and without thinking about it, I tend to gravitate towards novels without considering short stories. I really ought to correct that.

I mention this to excuse the fact that I've now seen a good half dozen or so of his stories as adaptred on the BBC as Ghost Stories for Christmas. And I'm beginning to detect a pattern to many of them- a distant, unholynevil from the past ensnares a curious scholar with temptations of knowledge, slowly luring him to his doom. It's a simple formula, and one that can be easily repeated without going stale.

This story fits the template exactly. Young and awkward academic Dr Fanshawe visits a friendly local squire, stoically philosophical about his financially straitened existence, in order to catalogue some archaeological relics. But what whe finds are some unusual binoculars which tempt him slowly, inexorably, gentle BBC jump scare by gentle BBC jump scare, to the gallows.

It's superb, of course. Well directed, with the entire cast excelling. It's fun to see David Burke as the sinister butler trope, but it's Mark Letheren who truly excels as the shy, solitary Dr Fanshawe.

Overall, good stuff. And yes- I will indeed be watching several such stories between now and Christmas Day.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 2- The Final Problem

 "You have less frontal development than I should have expected..."

This episode is, like the short story to which it is almost entirely faithful except for the detail of having Moriarty behind The Red Headed League, completely unlike any other instalment. There is no mystery, no whodunit; this is an entirely different genre as Holmes is close to nailing Moriarty so he and Watson must flee to the Continent. 

I’m no fan of the short story, so it says quite something that I very much enjoyed this episode. The wonderful visuals- particularly the location filming in what I assume must be Switzerland and the actual Reichenbach Falls- are a huge part of this, of course. So are the magnificent performances of Jeremy Brett and Eric Porter. Their initial confrontation scene in Baker Street is mesmerising.

The case in France from the short story is also expanded to concern the theft of the Mona Lisa, which adds an extra element of fun, with Holmes finding a parallel in a skilled copyist of Old Masters- and is that J.P. Morgan to whom Moriarty was about to sell the forgery? 

It’s a fitting end to the first iteration of ITV’s version of Sherlock Holmes. Fortunately, though, it will continue in other titles, with a less wooden Watson than David Burke. And, as I have access to them all, I shall go on and onto the end...

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 2- The Red Headed League

 "It is quite a three pipe problem..."

Yes, I know; it's been a while, and I stopped abruptly, but now I'm back to blogging the Jeremy Brett series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations. I stopped because of an unfortunate cock-up with Sky Plus, but now I have Britbox. I can now continue the last two episodes of Adventures, folowed by the first series of Return. There may be another pause there untl I'm able to see The Sign of Four, but that's a solid nine episodes for now.

The Red Headed League is one of the more well-known of the Conan Doyle short stories, and certainly one of the ones with which I'm most familiar. It's therefore a rather good episode to reintroduce myself to this wonderful series, drowning in redolent Victoriana, as I again experience the wonders of Jeremy Brett's performance and the nicely adapted story, complete with dialogue reflecting the actual speech patterns of Conan Doyle's characters. There's a superb case here, with Richard Wilson and Tim McInnerny standing out, while John Woodnutt is splendid as his usual vaguely arrogant authority figure. Roger Hammond also tands out in a bravely comical portrayal of Jabez Wilson.

It's an interesting choice, though, in this penultimate episode of the series, to have the whole thing be masyerminded by Moriarty, to give Brett a nice little speevh introducing him as formidable foe, and to give the superb Eric Porter a sublime cameo at the end.

Roll on The Final Problem. This programme is superb. I've missed it.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 2- The Resident Patient

"I don't suppose you've read my monograph on cigars and cigar ash?"

Yes, you guessed it; another brilliant episode, superbly acted as ever, with a genuinely surprising twist although, of course, the Russian count was always more than a little suspicious. John Ringham deserves particular praise as this week's Inspector.

There's a striking opening, too, as Mr. Blessington has a surreal nightmare about finding his own body in a coffin. In hindsight, this is our first clue that his past misdeeds may be catching up with him. His mysterious behaviour is, we eventually learn, essentially his way of laundering the money from his criminal past, but sponsoring the career of a promising yet impecunious youth is certainly not a bad way to invest money.

The revelation is satisfying, and gives us a splendid opportunity to see Holmes do what he does best. Even if there's a convenient piece of karma required at the end.

And... that's it for a while. I've been recording these off ITV Encore and, I fear, a recording clashed and failed to record The Red-Headed League. But I will continue this little marathon as soon as I can...

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 1- The Norwood Builder

"All my instincts are one way and all the facts are the other."

A superb mystery this episode, with Holmes slower on the uptake than usual. It's also the perfect introduction to the perennial Inspector Lestrade, with a battle of wits between them shaping the whole story. The device of having the main suspect for the crime be Holmes' client is a superb one. As is the gradual revelation that the "victim" was not murdered, but simply wanted to have a man hanged just because the man's mother once rejected him.

This one makes you feel clever as a viewer; I admit I may have remembered Conan Doyle's original short story, but I guessed what was going on before Holmes did. Watson, too, plays a genuinely useful investigative role here. And the revelation at the end is truly dramatic and entertaining. I'm genuinely struggling to find a bad episode.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 2- The Greek Interpreter

"I'm not built for running, Sherlock!"

In what must have been one of the most long-awaited episodes we finally get to meet the legendary Mycroft Holmes, and the ever-splendid Charles Gray, reprising his role from The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, does not disappoint. The central mystery is engaging too and, again, dark.

Our introduction to the sedentary genius Mycroft is well-written, superbly acted and rather faithful to the books, although what leaps up to me is that this unparalleled genius seems to do no more for his living than to audit the books for a civil service department. No hints of espionage, then. At least not yet.

The entertainment value inherent in seeing the two brothers interacting again distracts us somewhat from the nastiness of what is going on, but there's no doubting the excellence of the episode. Two episodes in and this series is unfailingly excellent so far.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 2- The Copper Beeches

"There has been some villainy here..."

Yet again we have a governess (a young Natasha Richardson) called Violet as usual, troubled by the odd behaviour of her employer Mr Rucastle (a gleefully entertaining Joss Ackland), and a splendidly entertaining story of an imprisoned daughter that gets more than a little Charlotte Bronte at the end.

Again, though, the subtext is of the countless young Victorian girls who are being horribly oppressed by these patriarchal figures everywhere, which is really quite dark. And, as Holmes and Watson travel on the train down to deepest, darkest Hampshire, Holmes speaks of how the pretty houses of the countryside are to him a symbol not of beauty but of isolation, of "the impunity with which crimes may be committed". Behind this often light-hearted episode lies some real darkness.

There have been some fine episodes of late but, unlike the first series, the second series starts with one of the finest episodes yet.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 1- The Blue Carbuncle

"Mr. Holmes, the goose! The goose, Mr. Holmes!"

"Well, what of it, man? Has it come back to life and flapped through the kitchen window?"

A splendid Christmas episode here, with geese, snow, some first class dialogue and, best of all, Ken Campbell.

A famous jewel has been stolen and an innocent man arrested, while there seems to be an awful lot of commotion about a goose. These two plot threads dovetail spectacularly as Holmes gives us a fine example of his deductive powers and the episode ends up giving us plenty of Christmas cheer as an innocent man is freed and Holmes discreetly let's the culprit off just because it's Christmas. He may be a cold fish but no Scrooge he.

The most fun part is probably Holmes' analysis of Henry Baker's hat, but this is a particularly fine episode throughout. A fine conclusion to a fine first series. Roll on series two.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 1- The Speckled Band

"You scoundrel, Sir! I've heard of you before. You are Holmes the meddler. Holmes the busybody. Holmes the Scotland Yard jack-in-office!"

We get a variation of the trope here. Holmes is visited by a young woman living in a big house that is being terrorised by a bounder and a cad acting as patriarch, yes, but this time she's the step-daughter and not, as is more usual, a governess. The villain revels in the splendidly dastardly name of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, and is plotting to kill his step-daughter for her inheritance. With a snake, naturally.

This episode ticks all the usual splendid boxes, with some suitably Holmesian dialogue for Jeremy Brett to deliver as only he can. And Holmes handles the case superbly, with rather more actual deductive ability that he showed last episode. Not bad for a case which begins at such an ungodly hour.

And, of course, beneath it all is the awful position of the unmarried young Victorian women at the mercy of such horrid patriarchs as this. No wonder so many of them seek Holmes' help.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 1- The Crooked Man

"Whoever heard of a dog running up a curtain?"

Another excellent episode, and the debut of yet another Sherlock Holmes trope; the bitter and betrayed military man, back from India for revenge. It's a superbly done piece of telly, based on one of Conan Doyle's more memorable short stories; not strictly a whodunit, but making up for that with spectacle, a mongoose and dramatic pacing. There isn't even any real detective work from Holmes, but it's all so well done you don't notice.

It's also the debut of another trope, the extended flashback from the Indian Mutiny on a television budget, and somewhat startling to see a young Fiona Shaw so soon after her turn in Tru Blood. It's incredible to reflect at this point that we're only five episodes in. The format, the look of the series, and the performances of the two leads (Brett especially) feel as though they've been in place for years.

This is the first episode, though, that doesn't quite feel as though it's from a very different time, as it may have done in 1984. Wars in south Asia are, alas, a thing of recent memory to us too.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 1- The Solitary Cyclist

"Did I really do remarkably badly?"

"Yes."

The first example of a big Sherlock Holmes trope debuts this episodes, as a young governess in a strange big house seeks Holmes' services. We'll be seeing a lot more of this sort of thing. But here we have a splendid tale of bicycles, silly disguises, lechery, forced marriage and South African skulduggery. Woodley, a true blackguard, is given a South African accent to show how nasty he is; it is 1984, after all, and apartheid is still practised.

The second best bit is when Holmes sends Watson off on a little mission and then bollocks him for his lack of observation although, of course, Watson's hunch eventually proves to be part of the solution. But the real best bit, of course, is the most Victorian bar brawl ever, with Holmes duffing up a "ruffian" whilst loudly proclaiming throughout that he is fighting like a "gentlemen". Naturally it ends in a round of applause...

It's another first class bit of telly from a series that hasn't had a misfire since A Scandal in Bohemia. The series is only four episodes in, but has felt fully formed for at least three. Superb.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 1- The Naval Treaty

"Help yourself to tobacco from the Persian slipper!"

SPOILERS

Apparent diplomatic intrigue as a treaty is stolen, seemingly by an agent of the French or the Russians; there's even a red herring with a French-sounding name. But the real culprit is, of course, obvious; he's played by the most famous actor, which tends to be a dead giveaway, in this case the sometime star of Blake's 7.

There's a lot here to remind us of just how weird late Victorian times were, though. Percy Phelps is what they used to call "highly strung", a condition not much seen nowadays. But he's posh, well-connected, and has managed to get himself a much sought-after job in the foreign office as an... office dogsbody. Yes, this posh bloke does the late Victorian equivalent of the photocopying for a living.

The tale is well told, bookended by amusing scenes of Holmes doing chemistry with a proper chemistry set complete with various weirdly-shaped glass vessels and bubbling liquids. Holmes, contemplating a beautiful flower, reveals his belief in a superior being. And we have the first of many resentful and contrary inspectors, in contrast to The Dancing Men's fawning example. And that's two superb episodes in a row.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 1- The Dancing Men

"Sherlock Holmes is cheerful, so Sherlock Holmes must have a case."

At last a proper episode with a mystery to solve- and it's a bloody brilliant one. We have code breaking (shades of Edgar Allan Poe's The Gold-Bug here in Watson's explanation; Poe looms large with the Sherlock Holmes stories), some Derbyshire local character, some Chicago underworld intrigue, a truly engaging mystery, and a gripping story through out. Mind you, it doesn't look very impressive to me that Holmes manages to get his client killed by waiting too long for a telegram. Still, never mind.

The code breaking scenes are particular god fin, as is Holmes' extraordinary rudeness to poor Hilton Cubitt. The crime scene deductions are truly satisfying, and it's amusing to see a provincial inspector so enraptured by all that Holmes says and does. This is the first time and not the last that a professional will defer to this gentleman amateur.

This, of course, is a far more accurate example of what this series is going to be like than A Scandal in Bohemia, and it sets the bar high. And those things that haven't changed- the sumptuous Victorian visuals and Brett's sublime performance- are what truly sets these adaptations apart.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Series 1- A Scandal in Bohemia

"It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data."

Yes, I know: I'm doing so many TV series at the minute, some of which are on a bit of an unfortunate hiatus (in the case of Buffy and Angel it's a missing disc in a DVD box set!). But this is being shown on ITV Encore, I have fond memories of it, and I couldn't resist. So, you know, soz and that.

And everything about it screams class. Jeremy Brett is peerless, of course. David Burke is an engaging, if traditionally bumbling and alarmingly reactionary, Watson. The way Victorian London is presented is visually sumptuous and wonderful; this programme was made in 1984, yet its depiction of the 1880s hasn't dated in the way that programmes from the 1970s often have. It all promises much. Except... A Scandal in Bohemia has always been one of the worst Sherlock Holmes stories and a well-polished turd is still a turd.

Yes, there's Irene Adler, but she isn't really any more than a plot device and the actress is pretty blah. So much for "The Woman". And what the story's really about is trying to make sure that a philandering European royal (a hypothetical "King of Bohemia"- Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary?) gets away with his awful behaviour simply because he's royal. Holmes and Watson even break the law to help him. No one seems to stop and think that the King is just some over-privileged laddish twonk. But, of course, it's the 1880's.

There are interesting titbits- Holmes cocaine addiction is mentioned from the start, Holmes as asexual (a bit of a thing with late Victorian men) is explored as an idea, and we see Holmes in disguise for the first time. But, I think, we'll have to wait a week before we see the series really start.