"Now, Watson, the fair sex is your department," said Holmes, with a smile.

[letheron]

Oh my, now, the great Sherlock Holmes was one of my very first literary crushes, way back in the day when I used to carry around a red leather bound edition of his exploits - all butterfly-wing thin paper and tiny cramped print, it smelt like tobacco and old dusty libraries, and thudded shut most satisfactorily with a lovely dull thud (like a heavy

Comments

[wrathchild]

I just burned you three Holmes DVDs starring the late, great Jeremy Brett as the man himself, David Burke and Edward Hardwicke as Watson and a who's who of Brit cop shows and period dramas in supporting roles. Should you not like this new film, I think these will assist the healing process no end.

Now, forgive my ignorance, but I've never seen Ian Hart's portrayal of Watson. He makes a bloody good John Lennon in Backbeat though.

W

[wrathchild]

I lie, apparently. I have seen Mr Hart in The Case of the Silk Stocking and, while the story itself was a load of gash (my new favourite expression- often used when discussing the relative fidelity of Rebus adaptations to their source material), his performance impressed me a great deal more than Rupert Everett's.

I avoided The Hound of the Baskervilles because it was full of bloody Australians. What did I miss?

W

[letheron]

The Case of the Silk Stocking... Hurm... yes... let's just leave that one alone, shall we? Please tell me that you thought Ian Hart was good though - despite the ludicrousness of casting the usually brilliant Helen McCrory as an American for godssake (WHHHHYYY? *cries a little*) and having him fall in love with her and her stupid smarmy lines.
So, aside from Ian Hart's fabulousness, gad, sir, I completely agree it was a load of tosh otherwise.

I avoided The Hound of the Baskervilles because it was full of bloody Australians. What did I miss?

Lots! :D Richard Roxburgh was actually very good - my only complaint was that he perhaps took Holmes' neverwhereiness a tad too far and was sometimes rather inaccessible. Ian Hart was - magnificent, oh yes, just wonderful, gadding about the moors with a revolver in a smoking jacket. Two words: Neve McIntosh, who always, effortlessly, charms - charms me anyway, I'm fostering a major girlcrush there. And Richard E Grant is Richard E Grant - he's always fabulous, and he's delightfully evil in this

[wrathchild]

"I can copy it to DVD and send you a (shaky) copy if you like?"

Thank you! I suppose I should see it if only for comparison's sake.

"I feel like I need to foist as much Ian Hart off on people as I can."

Preaching to the converted here. Backbeat showed me how good he was, and you really need to see it even if you're not an armchair Beatles historian because Sheryl Lee's in it too.

"Sounds pretty obscene, even for me - wherever did you pick it up?"

On the Ian Rankin forum of all places, from someone complaining about the Rebus adaptations :). Ken Stott and Claire Price are the best things about them, and do all they can to make them watchable, but such things are beyond even gods.

"I just noticed that Ian Hart played Arthur Conan Doyle in Finding Neverland! Stuff like that makes me *so* happy! :D"

Have I ever told you about the rugged, manly sniffles I get every time I watch that film? It has the same effect as putting Since I've Been Loving You or The Rain Song on repeat, but with period costumes.

W

[wrathchild]

Just because this topic provides an excellent distraction from what I'm supposed to be doing with my afternoon, do you think Clive Owen (eyesight permitting) would make a good Watson?

Also, it seems pertinent to mention that I would be eternally grateful to anyone who can find me a copy of this here Baskervilles adaptation, for obvious reasons.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0174399/

W

[letheron]

Hmm... maybe. I actually think he'd be a better Watson. Owen is just too... charismatic. I mean, he draws too much attention to himself - not in a showy way - but he's magnetic, even I can see that, despite the fact that I sometimes feel like the only female on the planet who *isn't* in love with him.
If they do another bloody Baskerville adaptation maybe he could play Jack Stapleton?

Throwing names around... for Watson or Holmes: Tom Ward? Robert Carlisle? James McAvoy? JJ Feild?

And yes! That version must be found and devoured! Speaking of devoured... what did you think of 'Planet of the Dead'?

[wrathchild]

I was thinking more Clive Owen as Watson and Robson (whose middle name should really be Upon) Green as Holmes, but I dread the Pandora's Box such a pairing would open among the respective female followings of the actors in question.

Tom Ward is superb Watson material, but I struggle to think of a Holmes that would suit him. Robbie Coltrane's all I've got for moment, and that's unlikely at best.

Planet of the Dead improved mightily on its second viewing but, much like the Easter eggs it featured, seemed to be all outer shell with nothing much inside. Tennant did his best with the material on offer and Michelle Ryan was of course lovely, but I've seen much better.

W

[letheron]

Bleargh, I did, of course, mean "Owen would make a better Holmes". :/