GOODBYE, EDWARD HARDWICKE...

As the steadfast adventurer and likable hero Doctor John Watson: Edward Hardwicke in SHERLOCK HOLMES. Image: ITV/GRANADA.

The sad news has come in that the respected film, TV and stage actor Edward Hardwicke, son of the equally famous late actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke, has passed away at the age of 78. A man who brought great decency and humanity to the roles he played, I'll always remember him in his role of British Escape Officer Pat Grant (based on the real life hero Pat Reid) in the first series of the classic BBC series COLDITZ (currently in repeats on the UK's YESTERDAY channel) and for his definitive, in my mind, portrayal of the ever loyal Doctor John Watson in the lavish and superb GRANADA TV adaptations of the classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle SHERLOCK HOMES stories of the eighties and nineties, where Hardwicke acted alongside the equally definitive Jeremy Brett as the Baker Street sleuth. Watching their performances together on screen over numerous seasons and feature length tales they made it all look so effortless in roles which they had surely been born to inhabit. Making the part his own, Hardwicke injected Watson with a fine sense of good heartedness, intelligence, chivalry and bravery, plus a touch of mercurial humour. His portrayal of the enduring sidekick wasn't done in the vein of past film and TV interpretations, either- he may not have been as super intelligent as Holmes but Hardwicke's Watson was no buffoon, either (as past Watson's had been). Clearly knowing right from wrong, the character developed further than ever before by the series writers and the actor, and was now open and adaptive as a skilled doctor, with a prior career in the army and knowledge of firearms and fighting that clearly made him a good man to have alongside you in a fight...

A great clip from the classic episode: THE DYING DETECTIVE...YouTube - The Dying Detective - Sherlock Holmes Jeremy Brett Part 4 of 5

We also mustn't overlook any of the other fine work by Edward Hardwicke in his career, and recommend his performances in films like RICHARD III (opposite Sir Ian McKellan), the two ELIZABETH movies with Cate Blanchett and SHADOWLANDS with Anthony Hopkins, as well as other TV popular series including SOME MOTHERS DO 'AVE  'EM, THE SWEENEY, POIROT and, most recently, SHAMELESS.

Mister Hardwicke will be much missed by TV audiences around the world, and KOOL TV would like to pass on our condolences to his family and dearest friends.