TO CATCH A KILLER. 'SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE SILK STOCKING'

Holmes (Rupert Everett) and Watson (Ian Hart) tread the mean streets of early 20th Century London in SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE SILK STOCKING. Images: BBC.

A sexually sadistic serial killer with a taste for strangling young female victims with expensive silk stockings is lurking within the fog stricken streets of well-to-do Belgravia society, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary crime fighting hero with the most incredible deductive prowess, Sherlock Holmes, is reunited with his old and ever loyal friend Doctor John Watson, penetrating the cloud of fear and it’s blood streaked cobbled streets to investigate and bring to justice the cruelly vicious and diabolically killer at large, in the BBC’s ambitious and lavish-looking original feature-length production from 2004: SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE SILK STOCKING.

Bearing a sullen and laconic face, brimming with broody intent, and groomed to the best GQ male model standards in his Victorian England garb, with not a deerstalker or pipe in sight, popular actor/writer Rupert Everett may at first have been considered an unusual and unexpected choice for the part (the actor himself had turned down the BBC’s previous offer in playing the immortal character during an ultimately unsuccessful re-telling of the classic Hound of the Baskervilles-the main role of Holmes then played by Australian actor Richard Roxburgh), and he’s certainly not quite the commanding and dominant figure we were used to seeing as personified by the beloved Jeremy Brett, but Everett’s sometimes coldly clinical but no less determined spirit soon proves a worthy addition to the roster of actors to have inhabited the role over the years, and makes his sadly one-off story portrayal uniquely his own. First seen as a miserable and lonely figure smoking opium in some squalid den of vice, in order to ease his boredom and lack of criminal enterprise to fight and satiate through his mental agility (a common problem for the character in his entire literary and filmic life), Holmes downright egocentric, elitist posture and nature, both in real life as an actor/person and heightened in this particular interpretation of the Baker Street legend, make him a natural inside the story’s overall setting: the London elite of the early twentieth century, with the detective’s intuition and mental prowess soon back in action against a truly despicable foe.

Trailer: Sherlock Holmes Silk Stocking.mp4 - YouTube

Ian Hart as the sterling, slightly sneery and troubled brow Watson retains the dignity and bravery that Edward Hardwicke brought to the role for so many years on ITV, and works well opposite Everett’s Holmes. Here, Watson is an older, slightly wiser character, about to become happily married to the love of his life, American psychologist Mrs. Vandeleur, played by Helen McCrory, who equally impresses Holmes with her abilities and talented professional interests in the kind of sexual deviancy that the killer has been showing towards his victims.

Rupert Everett brings a darker and even more isolationist bearing to Holmes.

Alan Cubitt’s script develops the kind of dark side of London and building sexual overtones beyond anything Conan Doyle did in the books, but also generally keeps to the creator’s writing spirit, whilst director Simon Cellan Jones brings flair and atmosphere, and selects a strong supporting cast including film star-to-be Michael Fassbender and MIDSOMER MURDER”s Neil Dudgeon as Homes faithful id not always fully competent policing comrade, Lestrade.

There are attempts to freshen up and re-imagine certain aspects of the Sherlock Holmes legend, too- his aforementioned use of drugs is once more importantly shown- most of which work in the story’s favour. Holmes even seems to play the violin a little better these days!

More enjoyed at the time internationally than in the home grown UK, SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE SILK STOCKING, indeed a UK/US co-production, may not be a major footnote in the TV career of the super sleuth, but its certainly an enjoyable and interesting one well worth catching if you’ve never seen it before...

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE SILK STOCKING is available on BBC DVD. It can also be seen on the UK"s VIRGIN MEDIA ON-DEMAND service.

"THE GAME'S AFOOT!": "THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES"

The world of legendary detective Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) and Dr. Watson (David Burke), as seen in the classic 1984 series: THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. Images: ITV.

As Robert Downey Jr's playing of Sherlock Holmes returns to movie cinemas with a once more cheerful, brazenly amok quality around Baker Street: guns blazing, punches throwing and fighting crime with the kind of steam punk quirky technology that wouldn't be out of place on CSI, and whilst British thesp' (or "luvvie") Benedict Cumberbatch returns to the BBC in January 2012 to play a more cerebral and instinctive modern-day version of the character for Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss's "re-imagining" of the character (a series and lead performance from Cumberbatch apparently much loved by Steven Spielberg- though I think a lot of the compliment is fond lip service to his friend Moffat, who worked with the director on the script for TINTIN), let's not forget at this time of year the greatest and most respectful interpretation yet of the original classic character, so enduringly created by the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and played with relish, charm and gusto by Jeremy Brett for over ten years from 1984: THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES, a series beautifully crafted by the dedicated writers and producers of GRANADA TV in the the UK, working closely at the time with the Conan Doyle estate.

A superb and iconic performance from Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes.

An actor known and popular to audiences in both the UK and the US, Brett's enthusiasm for the series and the iconic role could be seen right from the start, and he'd soon prove the perfect choice to play the intriguing and definitely energy consuming part. Alongside him would be another talented character actor, David Burke, who would give the previous bumbling character of Dr. John Watson, often seen in prior films and TV as a bumbling comedy character, a well deserved overhaul, layering the part with credibility in his companion role alongside Holmes and making him both amiable and experienced, as well as possessing a fine and warm sense of humour and a lively enthusiasm for the criminal investigations alongside Holmes, which that the sleuth would be both enjoying and annoyed by in equal measure. Like their book counter-parts, they would be a fine pairing.

Here's KOOL TV's look back at the most popular episodes from those first two seasons...

Holmes with one of his greatest intellectual adversaries, Irene Adler (Gayle Hunnicutt) in A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA.

A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA: (Opening episode) Holmes is contacted by a masked man of nobility to save a Royal House from ruin at the hands of an elegant and talented woman, Irene Adler (a memorable performance from Gayle Hunnicutt). Soon enough, Holmes realises just what a formidable and adaptive opponent he has come up against. 


SCANDAL is a sterling first episode that beautifully sets the tone for the series and introduces one of Holmes greatest intellectual and most mysterious of adversaries, whom he would later refer to as "The Woman".

Next in danger? Holmes and Watson confer with Helen Stoner (Rosalind Ayres) in The Speckled Band.

THE SPECKLED BAND: Holmes and Watson travel to an off-beat country estate to investigate the bizarre incident of a young girl who died from within a locked and seemingly impregnable room. From his determinations, the Baker Street detective soon finds himself up against the sadistic and brutal wiles of Dr Grimsby Roylott (an overpowering and impressive performance from Jeremy Kemp), in one of Conan Doyle's best and most memorable tales, brought to life with eerie atmosphere and dread by director John Bruce.

Violet Smith (Barbara Wilshere) is not yet aware of The Solitary Cyclist. 

THE SOLITARY CYCLIST: Holmes and Watson are called in to investigate the distress of a young cyclist who is being stalked by a mysterious figure on a local road. What follows from the investigation is a creepy and disturbing revelation as to the identity of the "stalker" as well as his menacing plans for the girl.


THE DANCING MEN: The young wife of a Norwich squire is plagued with strange drawings of dancing men. As the illustration markers intensify, driving the girl almost to the brink of emotional damage, Holmes discovers that they are a secret code that must be cracked with all speed if he is to prevent a specially orchestrated murder.

A business relationship turns to terror for Dr. Trevelyan (Nicholas Clay) and Blessington (Patrick Newell) in The Resident Patient.

THE RESIDENT PATIENT: A bright and successful medical student, working under the auspices and enterprise of Mister Blessington (Patrick Newell), soon discovers that his employer is acting both irrationally and showing mysterious concerns and dread by the visitors coming and going from his surgery. As Holmes is brought in to investigate, a tangled web of danger and murder is soon imparted...

A strange case leads to the gravest of dangers for Holmes and Watson in The Red-Headed League.

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: Holmes look into a pawnbroker conned into working for a shady business enterprise: The Red-Headed League, turns from a somewhat genial and quirky investigation into a dramatic and dangerous battle of wits against his looming adversary-his opposite in the world of criminal enterprise- Professor Moriarty (as played with brooding menace and pure evil by the superb Eric Porter). A great script from series format developer John Hawkesworth, alongside capable direction from John Bruce, add to the episodes impeccable cast performances.

Holmes and Watson travel to Switzerland in The Final Problem.

THE FINAL PROBLEM: Having survived several assassination attempts in London and Paris, Holmes, joined by Watson, flees to the beautiful mountain scenery of Switzerland as he sets in motion a plan to defeat Moriarty once and for all. But the master of crime has escaped Holmes ingenuity and followed him to his secret hideaway, where the ultimate destiny of a final hand to hand conflict awaits for the pair at the legendary Reichenbach Falls.

The Final End? Sherlock Holmes fights Professor Moriarty (Eric Porter) at the Reichenbach Falls.

THE FINAL PROBLEM, with its almost surreal final sequence showing Holmes and Moriarty hurtling to their deaths over the falls, would bring the second series of THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES to a stunning and satisfying end. Just as Conan Doyle had originally planned this adventure to be the finale tale for Holmes serialised career back in 1893, it was also a period of uncertainty for GRANADA, too, as to whether there would be any more filmed SHERLOCK HOLMES series made, due to the shows high production costs of the time. Fortunately, in both universes, the popular and persuasive power of the readers/audiences ultimately changed Holmes final fate, and a return to crime-fighting for the adventurer was soon on the horizon...

All episodes of the Jeremy Brett SHERLOCK HOLMES series are available on DVD from ITV STUDIOS.

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.