The Game Is Afoot: For all things Sherlockian

[Jim Kelly]

In the case of Murder by Decree, the imdb credits list another book Steven Knight book in the writing credit, the Ripper File. So at least this film made in 1979 did acknowledge the author's work/research for the screenplay.

FROM HELL has a very extensive section of footnotes for the whole story. After reading the main story, I was even happier to read through all those notes. It's one of the reasons I think of it so highly as a documentary comic book. Alan Moore wasn't trying to pass off his story as some kind of work of his own genius, sans any other sources for his research.

The reason so many stories about Jack the Ripper are so similar (if they're any good) is because they're all based on the same evidence of the crimes.

[foxley]

^^^thats a shame. On paper that would seem a bit of a dream team collaboration.

It's still worth a watch, mostly for Lee, but it could have been so much more.

[Riv86672]

good deal. He -does- look great in that pic...!

[Iron Maiden]

oops....never mind

[DrNewGod]

What is the best adaptation (outside of Doyles's original) that dealt with Holmes' addiction?

Aside from Towering Arrogance, morphine addiction was the sole weaknesses Doyle allowed his great detective. Other than Doyle, who did it best?

[Riv86672]

What is the best adaptation (outside of Doyles's original) that dealt with Holmes' addiction?

Aside from Towering Arrogance, morphine addiction was the sole weaknesses Doyle allowed his great detective. Other than Doyle, who did it best?

The Elementary series was built around Holmes being a recovering addict. Watson started as his sober companion, he was regularly shown attending meetings, being sponsored and then sponsoring, relapsing was addressed, his addiction tied into his past w. Moriarty and had to do w. him leaving London for New York.

[foxley]

What is the best adaptation (outside of Doyles's original) that dealt with Holmes' addiction?

Aside from Towering Arrogance, morphine addiction was the sole weaknesses Doyle allowed his great detective. Other than Doyle, who did it best?

My first thought was The Seven-Per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer, which is centred around Holmes addiction. But I have a dislike of authors who are writing Holmes pastiches declaring any of Doyle's stories non-canonical. Sorry, but if can't work your story round Doyle's canon, don't write it. Or write it, but don't make it a Holmes.

But that aside, it is a well written book, and if you're looking for works dealing with Sherlock's addiction, you could certainly do worse.

[Darkspellmaster]

By the way, speaking of updated and gender-flipped Holmes, I recently binged the whole first season of MISS SHERLOCK and really dug it.



I'd rate it as better than ELEMENTARY buy not quite as good as the first season of the BBC SHERLOCK.

There's also S (HER) LOCK, with a female Holmes and a trans Watson.

https://v.kickstarter.com/1606842769...-h264_high.mp4

That's the Kickstarter promo but they actually made two... the Dancing Men and (I think) the Resident Patient.

I haven't seen the Miss Sherlock yet, but I heard it was well done and she kept true to the character of Holmes.

What is the best adaptation (outside of Doyles's original) that dealt with Holmes' addiction?

Aside from Towering Arrogance, morphine addiction was the sole weaknesses Doyle allowed his great detective. Other than Doyle, who did it best?

I thought Elementary did it well.

Just a thought has anyone read the Thief Holmes and Watson pairing that Sir Arthur's brother-in-law wrote?

Also is it just me or do people never think outside of the box when it comes to adapting the females in Sherlock's life. Like in every adaptation you always see Irene, but what about a Character like Violet from the Copper Beaches where she actually was able to solve the case herself and Holmes was actually impressed with her and helped her get a full time job at a school.

Also curious, does anyone have a favorite Animated Holmes show? Right now there's Kabukicho Holmes, where it's Holmes in modern era in the Kabukicho district in Japan, and they have him being into Rakugan to do the explaining of how he figured things out. There's also the decidedly darker Moriarty which has Holmes and Watson as being the antagonists in a way to the character of Moriarty and his two friends who also are solving cases, but end up allowing for revenge to happen.

Can we add Basil of Baker Street as part of the whole Holmes thing, since the movie and the books are pretty much Sherlock but with mice.

And has anyone seen the serial Holmes, it's not with Basil, the actor is someone different but there's a very portly Watson who seems a bit weird.

Also what's kind of cool is that Holmes is one of the few fictional western detectives that I can think of that tends to get heavily adapted into otome games (Dating visual novels for girls), he's been in several where he ends up being apparently the end goal of the game.

[achilles]

My first thought was The Seven-Per-Cent Solution by Nicholas Meyer, which is centred around Holmes addiction. But I have a dislike of authors who are writing Holmes pastiches declaring any of Doyle's stories non-canonical. Sorry, but if can't work your story round Doyle's canon, don't write it. Or write it, but don't make it a Holmes.

But that aside, it is a well written book, and if you're looking for works dealing with Sherlock's addiction, you could certainly do worse.

You know, I tried to watch the movie...but it was about the only Holmes thing I was unable to get into. Or enjoy on any level. I don't know why, I just didn't like it.

[Greg Hatcher]

What is the best adaptation (outside of Doyles's original) that dealt with Holmes' addiction?

Aside from Towering Arrogance, morphine addiction was the sole weaknesses Doyle allowed his great detective. Other than Doyle, who did it best?

This is my pick for the best book about Holmes and his drug habit. Not a pastiche but a rigorous analysis of what Doyle actually wrote.




Also, this is terribly self-serving, but I myself wrote one about Holmes doing a sort of rehab in the latest Consulting Detective. Excerpt at the bottom of this column.

[Jim Kelly]

Is THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES the most adapted of the Conan Doyle stories?

I can't say as I like it that much. I'd seen it adapted so many times that when I finally got around to reading the novella, I was not that interested in it--and I got through it by listening to Stephen Frye narrate it.

As a Holmes story it doesn't have a lot of him in it. Watson carries the novella for a large chunk of the middle. The really good Sherlock bits are near the beginning and the end. So when it's adapted, it deprives the viewer of great Sherlock scenes and doesn't show the detective in his element.

And the Conan Doyle novellas all feel padded--as if the author threw in a bunch of stuff just to make them long enough to qualify as novellas. Whereas, the short stories are very enjoyable because they get in and get out with great economy.

[Iron Maiden]

I feel like none of the film adaptations handled the scenes with the Hound in a frightening enough way. I didn't mind that Watson does take center stage here. My childhood experience with him was the Nigel Bruce characterization as a kind of bumbling elderly fellow. He didn't start out that way but that's eventually what he did for the bulk of the series. It does have its charm but I like Edward Hardwicke the best.

An original story in the Rathbone/Bruce series that does handle the idea of an otherworldly menace better was The Scarlet Claw. It's my favorite of their series.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Yeah, just about EVERYONE who donned the deerstalker did a version of Hound. Rathbone did it, Cushing did it, Brett did it, Tom Baker (Doctor #4) did it, even Cumberbatch did a version. I’ve listened to a radio version, and I’m sure other actors have done so as well.

[seismic-2]

And surely the most wretched version is this spoof, directed by Paul Morrisey (yes, the frequent Andy Warhol collaborator):

[foxley]

And surely the most wretched version is this spoof, directed by Paul Morrisey (yes, the frequent Andy Warhol collaborator):

Ah, yes, the only serious contender to challenge Holmes and Watson as the worst Sherlock Holmes film of all time.

On the subject of the Hound, I do recall finding the sequences with the hound on the moor in the Tom Baker version quite scary, but that might have been to do with the age I was when I saw it.

I had the advantage of first encountering the story as a dramatic reading on the radio. It certainly made sure I was up and at the breakfast table every morning in time to hear the next installment. And then I think I read the novel before I saw any of the film versions (although I might have seen the Baker version first. The older I get the fuzzier my memory becomes, especially for the order of events).