❉ An essential addition to the Holmes scholar’s library..
It has been nearly thirty-five years since Jeremy Brett’s intense and brilliant interpretation of Sherlock Holmes first cocked his brow through our screens, presenting us with the definitive incarnation of the Great Detective. But, other than one 1999 volume by producer Michael Cox, what fans have lacked has been an in-depth, comprehensive and authoritative guide to the series and its making. Thanks to Keith Frankel, however, the gap has finally been filled.
Exhaustively researched, comprehensively written and crammed with illuminating interview extracts from cast and crew, this book gives the fullest account of Granada’s masterwork from its rocky beginnings, through its popular and critical heights culminating in the triumphant adaptation of The Sign of Four, to the troubled and goodwill-lacking final series.
Jeremy Brett was famously concerned that his link to Holmes would become inextricable in the public eye, but no account of his time in the role can ignore the turbulence of his life at the time. Dogged by loneliness, sadness and crises of confidence over his ability, Brett even considered leaving the series after the completion of The Final Problem. Regularly clashing with scriptwriters over fidelity to Conan Doyle’s work and coming to view the character as a millstone, it is a tragedy that an interpretation that brought such joy to fans caused such pain to its star.
This book is an essential addition to the Holmes scholar’s library.
❉ ‘Granada’s Greatest Detective: A Guide To The Classic Sherlock Holmes Television Series’ by Keith Frankel, is out now in paperback, published by Fantom Books, RRP £12.99.
I have to get this!