Oh, yes, he really was the iconic man for that job. It's really a pity, though, that no-one has properly tackled the originals again. While Granada made a marvelous series, it has been more than 30 years, after all.
This quarantine has me rediscovering this series and as I watch one episode a night I feel privileged to have grown up on this series. It has kept me sane through the pandemic.
Hardwicke portrayed Watson as a compassionate individual with deep thoughts. Burke portrayed him as a cheerful nice person. Both were absolutely great.
@@danmusi7849 My most sincere apologies, I did not have the privilege of learning your language. I find my self in a position of not being able to understand your comment. Sorry.
@@apurvakmr3 years later... My fellow French countryman danmusi7849 said (literally) : "I think like you". I hope it will please you a little, even in retrospect, 😏. "Salut et Fraternité" = "Greetings and Fraternity"
Completely True, the man did a good job indeed 👌 Today's actors seem like complete amateurs to me in comparison to him, can't even stand them. This is real acting.
I loved that Edward recognised the difficulty in playing Holmes and Watson as they were two young men. It's estimated pretty accurately that at the beggining of the stories, Holmes was 27 and Watson 28/29 years old, and they retire when they were 50 and 51/52 years respectevily. There has been not even one adaptation of the stories that respects their ages, but I think that if Jeremy Brett had started playing Holmes at a younger age, he wouldn't have done it so well, being a character so remarcably complex. Same goes to Watson, although he isn't as deep as Sherlock. Hardwicke and Burke were excellent Watsons in spite of that, the best ones, and Jeremy Brett's performance is beyond words.
They could’ve done a Boyhood style approach, meaning they filmed in real time to reflect the aging of the characters and filming every so odd years-so if they were to have done that approach, they would’ve began production in the 1950’s, and spanned over 30 years to the 1980’s.
Actually, they would’ve, if they did a production approach like that, they would’ve begun production in 1961 (when Hardwicke was 29 and Brett 28 respectively) to 1983, so they would’ve filmed over the course of 22 years.
I doubt we will ever see television or film of Holmes and Watson as good as this again sadly. It was a programme that literally no expense was spared on, even building a huge set of Baker street, which for a long time you could visit. But the quality of the actors and scripts, was unrivalled.
I too dearly miss Jeremy Brett and yes he indeed was and is Sherlock Holmes. But I have to agree that I too do really miss Hardvicke as Dr. Watson as well. He was a splendid Watson. My they both rest in peace.
By far the greatest Sherlock Holmes and Edward Hardwicke was the best Dr Watson of all time...its hard for me to watch another actor play Watson's part...they were made 4 the roles.
Let me point out that Watson here is given a chance to contribute, while in the Rathbone versions he's portrayed as a bumbler; maybe not the actor's fault, but poor choice by writers, directors.
My only regret in ife is that I didn't take the oppurtunity to see Brett and Hardwick playing "The Hound of the Baskervilles" in London theatre back in 1988. Such talents, such great actors - deeply missed.
I might be a bit hard to see from the shadows of Mr.Brett, but Mr.Hardwicke was the ultimate Doctor Watson! A man in whose hands i would put my life in a heartbeat! So gentle and calm, yet intelligent and strong.
I stumbled upon a dvd set in college, was instantly hooked and looked up the rest on youtube. No other version compares to what the two actors brought to the role. I'll never understand the attraction outsiders have towards other falsified portrayals of the role that were done in america. The other british actors who played Holmes just didn't have that extra something that Brett tapped into showing the fun or quirky sides of Holmes and his mannerisms. The hound of baskerville story has been totally overdone and pummeled into the ground when there's more compelling stories of the canon. My top 5 are: Master blackmailer, eligable bachelor, creeping man, last vampyer, and illustrious client. RIP our beloved Jeremy Brett !
I have bipolar. It was a big thing for him to come out and tell people which Stephen Fry also did after him. Both people have helped me realise life isn't just having bipolar!
Brett is the quintessential Holmes and I've seen em all. As a kid Basil Rathbone was Holmes alongside Nigel Bruce as the bumbling Watson which I took as canon. After reading the SH works of Doyle I realised Watson was anything but and Holmes was a strange, eccentric secret drug user, all of which came together when I first saw the Granada series and Bretts poytrayal of Holmes. I'm currently binge watching it for the second time in 6 months, masterpiece. I was unware that they planned to make every story and Brett sadly died before that was possible. What a waste RIP Jeremy & Edward :)
1:18 I would not have been as collected as Richard E Grant was when meeting Hardwicke. I would've been absolutely flabbergasted! Stuttering and shaking and possibly crying and such...
love you jeremy, you are forever in my mind and my daily takes on life, what a wonderful character to follow, you shall live forever as the consciousness as those who need to know the truth and the way man should use his integrity to solve life's mysteries
This in my opinion is chemistry between two characters. Others who have played or should I say TRIED to play Watson. Have Failed. Marvellous show. There’s nothing I can add as far as J.B is concerned, born for the part lol.
Matthew Sweet describes Mr. Brett's portrayal of Holmes as being vampiric. Not surprising, really, when one remembers that Mr. Brett also portrayed Dracula. Both are tall and lean, with very strongly aquiline features; the two characters seem to have been made to be played by the same actor.
I had similar thoughts ! I don't know where to find the source of it in Jeremy's sayings but if I remember well, he actually saw something of a vampire in the Sherlock character. Am I over-interpreting when I see an inverse symmetry between these 2 scenes, 😉 ? ru-vid.comUgkxhdeiTJ9nsu_s0uQBBqWnBLAcjxl9eYfm and ru-vid.comUgkxhI5BMVnobCX_pfQQJAZ_4d9bkZm5h1Td
Jeremy Brett was my nans cousin and I used to go around his house when I was young and pinch sherbet lemons. When I was at primary school I got in trouble for saying I was related to sherlock holmes, I was told this wasn't true as he didn't exist. I was so confused, my mum had him to write to my head teacher to explain the situation 🤣
Edward Cedric Hardwicke 7 August 1932 - 16 May 2011 Jeremy Brett (Peter Jeremy William Huggins) 3 November 1933 - 12 September 1995 Robert Hardy 29 October 1925 - 3 August 2017
There could be no Sherlock Holmes without John Watson. Watson is the key that opens the door to 'civilized' society to Holmes. Every time we read or view a story about their separation, Watson integrates perfectly in the community of his day, while Holmes effectively disappears, becoming a wanderer, with no home base. He can't figure out or fit into ordinary life. Something his character says and acts upon quite often; describing it as 'boring'. In modern times, Holmes could be described as a person living on the far side of the Autism spectrum where minds are brilliant, but emotions have difficulty connecting with the outside world.
I've always found the end scene of the episode with the young Jude Law (Shoscombe Old Place, if memory serves) quite amusing- two Watsons in the same room!
I always watch the Jeremy Brett as Sherlock and Edward Hardwick. I loved these 2 and as a senior I loved rewatching the series many times. I wish I had been there to really see them. God Bless🙏♥️♥️🥰🙋 Charlotte in Oregon USA
I found the entire series on RU-vid. It is well worth the watch. I was very fortunate to watch a few of the episodes in my teenage years. A very good series, Jeremy Brett is MY favorite Sherlock Holmes. It is great to watch the series and to see a lot of great British character actors some in their very first roles!
Tal cual! En esta pandemia necesitaba arte extraordinario y lo consegui viendo esta serie con este actor tan único. Todas las noches miraba un capítulo o 2. Inolvidable...entrañable. Extraño una serie de esta calidad. Brett me emociona mucho!!!
My mother both adores, and is terrified of him. And she _hates_ what she fears with passion, it's always fun watching her struggling to not look at the TV screen during reruns xD
The one fellow said that Holmes is a superhero teamed up with someone fallible (Watson), wrong, sir. Holmes was terribly flawed and Watson gave him some stability. Holmes was an addict, bipolar, and very nihilistic about existence, yet he needed Watson's cool headedness and stability, proper of an army surgeon. With time you can see how Watson's compassion for people rubbed off on Holmes, as Watson began to learn Holmes's methods of deduction as well, hence the perfect duo.
Like Hardwicke,but think David Burke the best Watson i've seen .Donald Houston also very good in A Study In Terror.Film makers sometimes forget that Watson was a fairly young man in the stories.
While Rathbone was good at his part, those films portrayed Watson as a bumbler, not a fit helper of Holmes, and not believeable as the narrator of their shared adventures. Hardwicke gets to play a smarter guy, far more plausible as Holmes's sidekick. Brett/Hardwicke are a good team. Best versions of Conan Doyle's tales.
I wonder if they were going to do 'The Gloria Scot' ? That would have been class! Still I don't know how they would have afforded the Ocean scenes could have been the problem...
I’ll tell you why - plain and simple. Bc there is something in people (which is God given) that desires right to conquer wrong. Discipline over slothfulness. Drive and industry over lethargy and stagnation. Someone who always does the right thing (or almost always) ...someone who does what people desire to do but can’t seem to do it. Holmes defeats evil. And that is what the normal person desires. He is someone to look up to. Someone who doesn’t care what others think of him but cares for others and yet doesn’t get drawn in and keeps his mind on the goal. Definitely a man to admire and respect. Some people would say -- well he has a vice- but my perspective maybe is different bc I have 5 brothers and I realize this is human.
EXACTLY! A man I scarcely knew once said to me, "You have virtue." I don't know about that, but Holmes does. Holmes doesn't care what Ms. Hudson or Watson thinks about him, he knows what he must do. Homes has virtue. or as the NY Times headlined its Anthony Burgess review of the "Annotated Sherlock Holmes : "The Sainted Sleuth Still On The Case".
I never knew Jude Law started out with Jeremy Brett's "Sherlock Holmes" before he was involved with Robert Downey Jr.'s "Sherlock Holmes". 😲 Well, the more you know. 😥
