Return of Sherlock Holmes (Brett): Anyone else been enjoying this set? (1 Viewer)

[David Illingworth II]

I know we have a couple of devotees who appreciate the brilliance of Jeremy Brett's Holmes, and this set is the best presentation done so far by MPI Home Video. I was completely surprised when I got it in the mail to see that there are actual special features, including a brand-new 20 minute interview with Edward Hardwicke (Watson) and commentary by the director and others for the Priory School episode, which is also a pretty good episode.
Of course, the video presentation continues to be very poor, which is disappointing because some of the episodes in the Feature Film Collection were not bad, and the Return of Sherlock Holmes episodes are more recent than some previous releases. Yet the image is soft, dreary, with no shadow detail, noisy ... all the usual problems.
Still, this is a great series that I am delighted to finally watch at home.
Just wanted to get the word out to my fellow fans of this series.

 

[JamesCS]

I am thoroughly enjoying the series. I bought each episode one disc at a time as apposed to buying the boxed sets. Did I miss any extras by collecting the series this way?

 

[DouglasBr]

I was going to ask the same thing about my buying the set instead of individual titles!

I'm forcing my family to watch these SLOWLY, so we can savor them for a while. If my teenagers had their way, we'd watch all 11 episodes in about, oh, 3 nights.

I wonder when the "Casebook" and "Memoirs" will be released (the latter featuring less and less of the very sickly Jeremy Brett). I will be glad to have the rest (excepting a couple of the movie-length ones -- not worth the expense or shelf space, imho).

 

[MikeDeVincenzo]

The episodes contained in "The Return" catch Brett at the very peak of his run as Holmes, IMHO.

His performance in "The Devil's Foot" is spectacular.

I actually watched this series in its original run on PBS -- with Vincent Price hosting! -- as a young kid (7, 8, 9 years old), and I love them now just as much as I did then.

 

[DouglasBr]

I think I managed to see all of them in their original run, and I taped them on my Beta VCR at the time (I think my sister-in-law still has the tapes, complete with Vincent Price intros and outros). It took a little getting used to not having a "host" (as on "Mystery") when I first watched the "Adventures" on DVD, but I'm certainly used to it by now.

Actually, I think the original season of "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" was the very first thing I ever taped on a VCR. Man, those recordings looked awful, even compared to the worst of these transfers. I guess that's why I'm almost indifferent to any problems with the DVDs; they're just so much better than anything else I've seen of the series (except for some of the awful soundtracks on "Adventures" -- wish they could fixed that!).

 

[David Illingworth II]

To James, I don't know if the individual discs have the same feature. On the set, the first disc containing the Empty House has an interview with Edward Harwicke, and the disc containing the Priory School has commentary from the director and others (no cast).
Do your individual discs have these?
Two other questions: How are the Casebook episodes, from those of you who remember?
And, can anyone tell me how to reply directly to someone's post, how to quote it?

 

[DouglasBr]

How are the Casebook episodes, from those of you who remember?

I recall thinking Brett *looked* worse and *sounded* worse than normal (first inklings that his health was going downhill), but the episodes are still first rate imho. I especially liked "The Problem of Thor Bridge" and "The Illustrious Client", but scanning the list of episodes I don't see any I remember as being a disappointment.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

I can't wait for Musgrave Ritual. One of my favorite stories/cases.