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I’m so sorry but I’m NEVER getting over this from the BBC Radio Holmes adaptation of The Empty House (spoilers below)
Mary: “Oh my poor John… first Mr. Holmes… and now me…”
Watson: (very broken) “Mary…”
Mary: “Everyone you love… it hardly seems… fair… I’m… so… sorry…” (she takes her last breath)
YOU CAN’T JUST-
Bert Coules when I get you-
Been enjoying the heck out of the Silver Blaze story lately (ACD original, Granada, and BBC Radio versions alike).
This story has so much to love:
Holmes showing off for Watson just because:
"We are going well,” said [Holmes], looking out the window and glancing at his watch. “Our rate at present is fifty-three and a half miles an hour.” “I have not observed the quarter-mile posts,” said I. “Nor have I. But the telegraph posts upon this line are sixty yards apart, and the calculation is a simple one."
Holmes being rude to a man who absolutely deserves it (I love it when he just downright refuses to shake hands with people he doesn't like):
[Holmes] turned upon his heel, disregarding the trembling hand which the other held out to him, and we set off for King’s Pyland. “A more perfect compound of the bully, coward, and sneak than Master Silas Brown I have seldom met with,” remarked Holmes as we trudged along together.
The little moments of friendship between Holmes and Watson really stand out in this one too, here's a handful of my favourites:
“I should be most happy to go down with you if I should not be in the way,” said I. “My dear Watson, you would confer a great favour upon me by coming."
[Holmes'] eyes were on the trail, but I happened to look a little to one side, and saw to my surprise the same tracks coming back again in the opposite direction. “One for you, Watson,” said Holmes, when I pointed it out. “You have saved us a long walk, which would have brought us back on our own traces."
I could see that Holmes was extremely pleased, for he chuckled and rubbed his hands together. “A long shot, Watson; a very long shot,” said he, pinching my arm.
Holmes also gets to prank just about everybody in this story in one way another, which is quite entertaining for both Holmes and the reader (if not the rest of the characters). Clive Merrison of the BBC radio adaptation does an excellent job of Holmes’ self-pleased, scheming voice when he’s up to something; it’s quite delightful.
And of course I love any story that gives Granada an excuse to let Jeremy near horses (the way you can hear him murmuring softly to reassure Silver Blaze when he sponges the dye off his face, my heart <3)
sloppy attempt at drawing Jeremy and Silver Blaze hidden under the cut so I don’t have to look at it unless I want to
Attention Jeremy Brett fans!
There’s a new Kickstarter campaign for a reprint of Sherlock Holmes Magazine #2 – the Jeremy Brett edition
To mark the 40th anniversary of the Granada TV Sherlock Holmes series, Sherlock Holmes Magazine hopes to publish a new, updated version of the Jeremy Brett special, which has long been out of print.
Please consider backing the campaign if you’re able and share widely! Click the link for more info (Kickstarter link) (SH magazine link)
"my heart actually belonged to Holmes" oh ok. so we're just gonna say it like outright like that. girl what the fuck???
I'll put the transcript below:
It's a crime that the BBC radio adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes stories with Clive Merrison are not more popular. LIke go have a listen, it's the best adaptation of Sherlock Holmes there is. And it's especially a crime crime that the fucking BBC Sherlock show is more popular than the Merrison radio series. The Merrison series is the actually good "BBC Sherlock."
This promo image of Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams who played Watson sums up my feelings when someone mentions BBC Sherlock in positive terms. They look as they are staring at someone who has said something dumb, and thinking BBC Sherlock is good sure is dumb.
History of Garridebs
2020 is not only the year of the 10th anniversary for BBC Sherlock, but also the year the canon story “The Adventure of the Three Garridebs” finally fell into public domain worldwide.
To celebrate this I had written a series of posts in December 2019 about every single adaptation of 3GAR there has been – so far.
While 3GAR marks a lot of “firsts” for Sherlock Holmes adaptations in general – and was also used as the plot for the first known pilot episode of television history, ever – the history of these adaptations themselves is quite unfortunate.
It may have been a comedy, or it may have been a tragedy indeed.
Canon story
The Adventure of the Three Garridebs (1924) It may have been a comedy, or it may have been a tragedy ...
Adaptations
Radio (1932): Gordon & Lovell One of many “firsts” for The Three Garridebs
TV (1937): Hector & Podmore The original Sherlock Holmes pilot episode
Radio (1939): Rathbone & Bruce The Three Garridebs: A “jolly story” for Christmas Day
Radio (1949): Stanley & Stelton The plot-heavy adaptation of 3GAR
Radio (1964): Hobbs & Shelley The one that gets it right
TV (1994): Brett & Hardwicke The one that had to make do
Radio (1994): Merrison & Williams The 3GAR adaptation that’ll shatter your heart into a million pieces
Radio (2009): Lowrie & Albert By permission of the estate of Dame Jean Conan Doyle
Short story (2015): The Phantom of the Music Hall When two Garridebs appeared in a Doctor Who short story
Video game (2015): The Great Ace Attorney The shard that got stuck in John’s pipe - TAKE THAT! OBJECTION!
TV (2017): Cumberbatch & Freeman (part 1) (part 2) (part 3) References to Doyle’s The Three Garridebs in series 4 of BBC Sherlock
TV (2019): Miller & Liu ”Miss Understood”
Michael Williams (Obituary, January 13) spoke his first words as Dr Watson at 10.15am on October 9 1989, in a one-off Radio 4 adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study In Scarlet.
Clive Merrison wrote a letter to the Guardian to say how much he loved his Watson, Michael Williams, and now I’m crying.
We both enjoyed the derring-do, the chase, the "murder, 'orrible murder!" in the stories, but we preferred to be back in those strange little lodgings, in an England of empire and aspidistra. Give us the sounds of crackling fire, the ticking of the grandfather clock and the clip-clop of hansom cabs on Baker Street outside, and in that place, just the two of us, with gentle tweaking from our directors, Enyd Williams and Patrick Rayner, and usually in a script by our main adapter Bert Coules, we would like to think that we could cook up a bit of jazz.
So I’ve been listening to the Clive Merrison radio Holmes at the (indirect) urging of a number of you all, and I’m in love. Although I’ve only listened to a handful of the episodes so far (largely the novel-length stories), I’m sure that there’ll only be more to love as I go on. There’s a lot that makes the show wonderful, but I wanted to share some of my favorites!
The sass - particularly from Watson. Holmes gives him a hard time, and Watson gives it right back. He’s a patient man, but everyone has their limits, and Watson makes it pretty clear when Holmes is testing his.
Waton’s characterization in general. From the moment of their meeting, it’s clear that Watson respects Holmes, and admires him, and genuinely enjoys his company (usually), but he doesn’t worship him. Yes, Holmes is brilliant, but that doesn’t give him a pass on being a dick; for every disparaging comment Holmes makes about him, he has a sarcastic remark of his own. I also get the sense that Holmes says some of what he does just because he enjoy’s Watson’s comebacks.
Moriarty. Unlike the original stories, which invent Moriarty on the spot, and unlike even Granada, which introduces Moriarty in the episode prior to The Final Problem, the radio show introduces Moriarty early and develops his character well beyond what’s in the stories. Some people might mind that; I don’t. In the episode of The Final Problem, the listener gets to be a fly on the wall in Moriarty’s meetings, both academic and criminal, and learns the extent of his activities and influence. In The Valley of Fear, which I just finished, Holmes brings up his suspicions of Moriarty’s involvement in the plot to the investigator on the case, and gets a response that strongly implies that not only has Holmes been trying to bring the Moriarty issue to Scotland Yard’s attention, but that Scotland Yard is sick to death of hearing about it. I love it.
Holmes’ voice. We’ve all been lulled by the buttery tones of one Jeremy Brett, but in the stories Holmes had a voice that was almost so high-pitched as to be querulous, and Mr. Merrison fits the bill. It’s almost startling, at first, if you’ve accepted J Brett as your lord and savior the de facto Holmes, but it’s excellent in its own right and well worth the initial shock.
Judy Dench voices Mrs. Hudson. Just for one episode, and only then for a few lines, but still. Incredible.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to entertain yourself tonight.” (Holmes, to Watson, in The Valley of Fear. Need I say more?)
That’s all for now, but I’m sure I’ll find more! I probably won’t update this post since many others have done wonderful, in-depth reviews of individual episodes as well as the show of a whole (and I thought I still had some of those posts saved in my drafts so that I could link to them, but apparently not), but if you’re one of those people, I owe you a big thanks for helping me find this show!
