The Game Is Afoot: For all things Sherlockian

[Jim Kelly]

What other actors do people think would have been good as Sherlock but never played the role?

Thinking about this, I considered who is a tall British actor--and immediately thought of Stephen Merchant. Surprising actually that he and Ricky Gervais haven't been cast as Holmes and Watson--or have they?

It would have to be a comedy, but Will Farrell and John C. Reilly put the final nail in that coffin.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Colin Firth. I think he'd absolutely kill it as Holmes.

[Riv86672]

Thinking about this, I considered who is a tall British actor--and immediately thought of Stephen Merchant. Surprising actually that he and Ricky Gervais haven't been cast as Holmes and Watson--or have they?

It would have to be a comedy, but Will Farrell and John C. Reilly put the final nail in that coffin.

Wow, that would be great casting for a comedic take on Holmes (and Watson)!

But yeah, it’ll be many years before Holmes & Watson is forgotten.

[foxley]

Wow, that would be great casting for a comedic take on Holmes (and Watson)!

But yeah, it’ll be many years before Holmes & Watson is forgotten.

Sherlock Holmes parody is a tricky business, and tends to work better on paper than celluloid.

Off the top of my head, only Without a Clue stands out as live action Holmes comedy that it really funny, and it had an extremely clever premise behind, plus the talents of Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine whom Farrell and Reilly most assuredly are not.

It is probably no coincidence that prior to Holmes and Watson, the worst Holmes film was generally regarded as being the 1978 version of The Hound of the Baskervilles with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, which currently has 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

[Riv86672]

Me personally, I don’t mind parody.
Holmes and Watson wasn’t a parody, so much as a butchering.

[foxley]

Just watched the 1993 TV movie 1994 Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns. It's a fun little film where Sherlock Holmes placed himself in suspended animation in a mansion outside of San Francisco in 1899 after falling into a deep ennui following his defeat of Moriarty. In 1993, an earthquake (and the unintentional interference of a well-meaning doctor) wakes him up seven years earlier than intended. Holmes teams up with the doctor Amy Winslow to track down Moriarty's relative who is now a leading figure in the San Francisco, and solve a bizarre series of murders.

This was pilot for a series that never got picked up, which is a shame as it is a lot of fun. By the end of it, a supporting cast has been established, with Winslow as the new Watson, Det. Griffin as the new Lestrade, Zapper and his gang as the new Irregulars, and Mrs Hudson as the new, well, Mrs Hudson. The chemistry between Holmes and Winslow is excellent, and the writers had definitely done the research, and Holmes demonstrates his skill in baritsu and single-stick (and Holmes' actor Anthony Higgins shows proper single-stick form while fighting).

And there is neat running gag that could have worked well. Several times Holmes does he is survey of a person and launches into a series of deductions about the person. He gets most of it right, but get several details comically wrong because he doesn't have the modern context for them, such as assuming that Winslow takes cocaine when it is actually artificial sweetener for her iced tea, or that Griffin's nickname is Noodles because it is printed on a cup on his desk, when it is just the cup of noodles he had for lunch.

Of course, it doesn't fit with canon, as Homes went into suspended animation in 1899, whereas canonical Holmes is active up to the eve of WWI, but it is fun nonetheless.

[achilles]

Here's a question, did Conan Doyle ever give Holmes a death date or cause after reviving him in the wake of his "death" in the falls? Also, the final, or one of the final original Holmes stories is told by Holmes with Watson not present. I don't recall, did Holmes say exactly what happened with Watson? And was his death ever referenced in the originals?

[foxley]

Doyle never gives a death date for Holmes or Watson, or a cause of death of for either of them. They are both last seen in in "His Last Bow", which is set in 1914. The last story told by Holmes without Watson is "The Lion's Mane" which takes place in 1909.

[achilles]

Doyle never gives a death date for Holmes or Watson, or a cause of death of for either of them. They are both last seen in in "His Last Bow", which is set in 1914. The last story told by Holmes without Watson is "The Lion's Mane" which takes place in 1909.

Ah, probably for the best. Timeless heroes who never really die.

[Greg Hatcher]

Just watched the 1993 TV movie 1994 Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns. It's a fun little film where Sherlock Holmes placed himself in suspended animation in a mansion outside of San Francisco in 1899 after falling into a deep ennui following his defeat of Moriarty. In 1993, an earthquake (and the unintentional interference of a well-meaning doctor) wakes him up seven years earlier than intended. Holmes teams up with the doctor Amy Winslow to track down Moriarty's relative who is now a leading figure in the San Francisco, and solve a bizarre series of murders.

This was pilot for a series that never got picked up, which is a shame as it is a lot of fun. By the end of it, a supporting cast has been established, with Winslow as the new Watson, Det. Griffin as the new Lestrade, Zapper and his gang as the new Irregulars, and Mrs Hudson as the new, well, Mrs Hudson. The chemistry between Holmes and Winslow is excellent, and the writers had definitely done the research, and Holmes demonstrates his skill in baritsu and single-stick (and Holmes' actor Anthony Higgins shows proper single-stick form while fighting).

And there is neat running gag that could have worked well. Several times Holmes does he is survey of a person and launches into a series of deductions about the person. He gets most of it right, but get several details comically wrong because he doesn't have the modern context for them, such as assuming that Winslow takes cocaine when it is actually artificial sweetener for her iced tea, or that Griffin's nickname is Noodles because it is printed on a cup on his desk, when it is just the cup of noodles he had for lunch.

Of course, it doesn't fit with canon, as Homes went into suspended animation in 1899, whereas canonical Holmes is active up to the eve of WWI, but it is fun nonetheless.

Found it on YouTube! It's a rare treat to come across something Sherlockian on film I've never heard of at all.

And that led to this one and this one, so that's our evening sorted.

[seismic-2]

Ah, thank you for citing the name of that TV movie, which I had been trying to remember but couldn't. In fact, I remember exactly nothing at all about this movie except for the incident in which Holmes and his female companion (whose name I also didn't remember) board an airplane. It was another one of those instances you mentioned in which a man who is out of his time in the present makes a perfectly reasonable assumption about the "omnibus" that is to take them to their destination, and of course it is totally wrong. It's weird that after 27 years that single joke has stuck in my mind when absolutely nothing else about that broadcast has, including its title, its actors, and the entire premise and plot.

[foxley]

Ah, thank you for citing the name of that TV movie, which I had been trying to remember but couldn't. In fact, I remember exactly nothing at all about this movie except for the incident in which Holmes and his female companion (whose name I also didn't remember) board an airplane. It was another one of those instances you mentioned in which a man who is out of his time in the present makes a perfectly reasonable assumption about the "omnibus" that is to take them to their destination, and of course it is totally wrong. It's weird that after 27 years that single joke has stuck in my mind when absolutely nothing else about that broadcast has, including its title, its actors, and the entire premise and plot.

That scene isn't in 1994 Baker Street. You might be thinking of The Return of Sherlock Holmes, a 1978 TV movie with a very similar premise, but quite different plot.

[seismic-2]

That scene isn't in 1994 Baker Street. You might be thinking of The Return of Sherlock Holmes, a 1978 TV movie with a very similar premise, but quite different plot.

Thanks! That's something of a relief - if the movie is in fact something that is 43 years old rather than 27. maybe I can convince myself that it's OK for me to remember nothing about it. Anyway, sometime I'll go back and watch both of these films to see what I missed, since I generally enjoy "hero trying to cope with being in the wrong era" sci-fi and fantasy films.

Speaking of which, a movie that I do remember is Time after Time (1979), in which H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) had constructed an actual working time machine (prior to writing the novel about it), and it is stolen by one of his friends (David Warner), a prominent surgeon who turns out to be Jack the Ripper and who uses it to flee the police by escaping to the future. An automechanism returns the machine to Wells' home, and Wells uses it to travel to the future in pursuit of his friend. Eventually he gets tangled up in new crimes that the Ripper has committed in 1979 San Francisco, and Wells is questioned by SFPD detectives about who he is and why he is involved. Wells replies, "As a matter of fact, I'm also a detective. I was sent from London on the trail of Stevenson, traveling incognito. My name... [since "H.G. Wells" is a famous name in 1979, he quickly tries to think of one he assumes would be meaningless then] is Sherlock Holmes."

Not coincidentally, that movie was directed by Nicholas Meyer (who also wrote the screenplay), 3 years after he wrote the screenplay for his novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. and one of the San Francisco cops is "Inspector Gregson", as a callback to one of the Scotland Yard detectives from the canon.

[Greg Hatcher]

Just watched 1994 Baker Street and really enjoyed it. Something worth noting is that it was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, creator of V and the Bionic Woman. Now I'm really amazed I never knew about it. Been following Mr. Johnson's career since the bionic years.

[foxley]

Just watched 1994 Baker Street and really enjoyed it. Something worth noting is that it was written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, creator of V and the Bionic Woman. Now I'm really amazed I never knew about it. Been following Mr. Johnson's career since the bionic years.

Glad to have introduced the Maestro to something new. And glad you liked it. I think it's a shame it never went to series.