Sherlock Holmes

[juni]

Old news to many here but I recently "acquired" the first season of Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett. Very entertaining and Jeremy makes a fine Holmes. Also, lots of pipe smoking. This is a very interesting churchwarden, although Mr Holmes could clean the stem every once in a while (it is very oxidized):

I find that the in new Sherlock Holmes series by BBC the person playing Holmes is borrowing heavily from Jeremy. I do like the new series too though.

 

[unclearthur]

I have the whole series. Fantastic!

 

[pstlpkr]

Out of all the excellent episodes, my favorite moment is the one where Holmes :puffpipe: and Watson :: burst out laughing at the end of Mr. Jabez Wilson's tale, ending at #7 King Edward's Street the "Manufactory of Artifical Kneecaps" in The Red Headed League.

:rofl:

 

[htmn246]

verry good series i have most of them and all of Rathbone's

 

[juni]

I've decided I like the shape of that churchwarden and will now start looking for one like it (I'm easily impressionable). :lol:
(I have now watched two episodes, it is becoming an afternoon pipe/coffee/TV ritual)

 

[juni]

I found it quickly: http://www.pipesandcigars.com/pechpiprsmft.html
Jeremy says in an interview that it is a "Peterson churchwarden in the Dublin shape".

 

[nemrod]

juni: I've got one but rusticated - be wary of the dip-staining, if they do it to the smooths as well On a related note I don't think the Peterson dublin c/w looks anything like the one in the picture. The stem is bent sharply, the shank is slimmer and longer and the walls of the bowl looks a bit thinner and higher.

 

[brian64]

Excellent! Jeremy Brett's performance in the Granada series will always be the definitive version of Holmes imo. I've been rewatching it lately as well. He seems to have been born for the part. The last 10 years of his life were rather tragic after the death of his wife. He never really got over it, and struggled with health issues, both phyisical and mental, while still filming the series. She died in '85 and he in '95. But he certainly left the world with the ultimate portrayal of Holmes. :puffpipe:

 

[papipeguy]

I must have read the entire collection of Holmes stories 100 times in high school and college. Holmes is the reason I took up the hobby. Jeremy Brett was brilliant in the part and I enjoyed all of his work. There was a short lived series with a modern Holmes. Interesting but not for the purists.

 

[PeriqueMyInterest]

I have been watching the entire series on youtube and only have a few episodes to go. He is brilliant in it and every pipe I see I want! I also have a Peterson churchwarden in the Dublin shape and it is a great smoker after it gets broken in but that must be an old line of churchwardens because they look completely different.

 

[lordnoble]

You are absolutely correct, assaad. While Brett says that it was a Peterson Dublin churchwarden, the current incarnation from Peterson is far different than either that were seen in the series. Also, the original prop was stolen which is why the pipe changes in later episodes such at the one shown in the original post. You can tell that pic is from a later episode by looking at Brett's face. By the time, those last episodes were shot, Brett was undergoing treatment for manic-depressive disorder which he took lithium, whose side-effects include fluid-retention. He tried to combat this by wearing more coats and such. Granada also included his brother Mycroft (portrayed by Charles Gray of 007 & Rocky Horror Picture Show fame) more often to help solve the crimes which were actually solved by Sherlock in the stories.
Sorry. I LOVE this series (in case you couldn't tell by my avatar), and when I read Holmes stories (which is for a few days every month), I picture and hear Brett's Holmes in my mind. This said, I also love the new (modernized & re-imagined) series with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. While non shall supplant Brett as the quintessential Homes for me, Cumberbatch breathes new air into the character and makes him come alive in the context of our modern society. My only negative of the new series that Holmes doesn't smoke which, I think, is a trademark characteristic of the character.
Ok. I'll shut up now.
-Jason

 

[clanobucklin]

I think Jeremy Brett is the definitive "Holmes." Funny I heard in an interview that before he took the part - his brother said "That he would make a terrible Sherlock Holmes."

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I love Jeremy Brett as Holmes as well and the churchwardens he smoked in the series. I think he's the closest to the character of Holmes in the stories. Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce were so far off from who the original characters were it wasn't even funny. I mean seriously Watson was a doctor, how could a doctor be the bumbling sidekick that Bruce portrayed? To me it was best put that Watson wasn't bumbling he was a doctor and therefore he worked in an a,b,c order. Holmes on the other hand worked in an a,c order skipping b. I loved Brett and Edward Hardwicke as Holmes and Watson. I'm very thankful to Netflix for having just about all of the episodes up on instant watch.
BTW when is this new BBC Holmes on? I live in the States and only get BBC America.
Also the new Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law Holmes is due out in December with Jared Harris as Moriarty and Stephen Fry as Mycroft. After Brett and Hardwicke I think Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law are the next truest to the characters of Holmes and Watson.

 

[lordnoble]

Check out "Sherlock" on Netflix... It's only 3 episodes, but they will have more this fall once the writers can create new episodes (they're probably finishing up the current Dr. Who series).
-Jason

 

[tom12]

I remember watching him as a child and he is the definitive television Holmes. I have watched a few episodes but I've never seen him use a clay pipe as Holmes does in the book, does anyone know if Brett did?

 

[capnbellamy]

Brett and Basil Rathbone are my farouite Sherlocks, at this point. The sharp, aquiline features just make his thought processes more...impressive? It's a look that entirely works with the Holmes idea. I do like Downey Jr. but his is the more...vague and wandering intelligence. It's a different interpretation. Benedict Cumberbatch does an extremely good modernised version. The lack of smoking (a huge number of nicotine patches instead) is just an excellent touch for our current society.
As for the pipe, it's superb. Not quite the typical hooked 'Holmes' pipe, but wonderful for that.

 

[PeriqueMyInterest]

tom12, I have seen him use a clay pipe at least once on the show but not very often. I have not been able to get into the books yet because I cannot by new books until I move but I cannot wait to read them all! The churchwarden he smokes in the earlier episodes I think is nicer but that one above is very nice as well.

This one looks more like the Peterson Dublin

But that pipe does not look very oxidized juni, I do not think it is volcanyte.

 

[tom12]

Cheers Assaad,
The books are excellent, I've also downloaded some BBC plays from the 1960's that are well worth listening to.

 

[pstlpkr]

The Sleeping Cardinal 1931
Here is a very Oldie but a very goody. Staring Arthur Wontner.

This is one of my very favorite Sherlock Holmes mysteries...

Lots of good pipes too.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Caught that new BBC Sherlock on Netflix instant watch. Took a while to get used to Holmes being set in modern times, but the acting was done really well and the writers stayed pretty true to the story. The new Holmes seems as though he's watched a number of the Jeremy Brett Holmes' because he has very similar mannerisms and delivery of the lines. I think they're still using the same set for 221 B Baker Street as they did in the Jeremy Brett versions some twenty years ago. Wouldn't surprise me since they're both BBC shows. All in all though a pretty good redo of the series. Can't wait for more episodes to come.