Sherlock Holmes (Granada)

Sherlock Holmes (Granada series)
Information
Created by	Michael Cox John Hawkesworh
Written by	John Hawkesworth Jeremy Paul Trevor Bowen et al
Starring	Jeremy Brett David Burke Edward Hardwicke
Series	Seven + 5 specials
Air date	24 April 1984 – 11 April 1994

Sherlock Holmes is a TV series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations produced by the British television company Granada Television, between 1984 and 1994.

The first two series bear the title The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes and subsequent series have the titles of the other short story collections by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was first broadcast on the ITV network in the UK, and starred Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes and David Burke as Dr John Watson. Burke appeared in the first Adventures series and then he was replaced by Edward Hardwicke, who played Watson for the remainder of the run.

Episodes

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984–1985)

• A Scandal in Bohemia
• The Dancing Men
• The Naval Treaty
• The Solitary Cyclist
• The Crooked Man
• The Speckled Band
• The Blue Carbuncle
• The Copper Beeches
• The Greek Interpreter
• The Norwood Builder
• The Resident Patient
• The Red-Headed League
• The Final Problem

The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986–1988)

• The Empty House
• The Abbey Grange
• The Second Stain
• The Musgrave Ritual
• The Man with the Twisted Lip
• The Priory School
• The Six Napoleons
• The Sign of Four (feature-length special)
• The Devil's Foot
• Silver Blaze
• Wisteria Lodge
• The Bruce Partington Plans
• The Hound of the Baskervilles (feature-length special)

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1991–1993)

• The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
• The Problem of Thor Bridge
• Shoscombe Old Place
• The Boscombe Valley Mystery
• The Illustrious Client
• The Creeping Man
• The Master Blackmailer (feature-length special)
• The Last Vampyre (feature-length special)
• The Eligible Bachelor (feature-length special)

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1994)

• The Three Gables
• The Dying Detective
• The Golden Pince-Nez
• The Red Circle
• The Mazarin Stone
• The Cardboard Box

Cast and Characters

Main cast

• Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes
• David Burke as Dr. John Watson (series 1 and 2)
• Edward Hardwicke as Dr. John Watson (series 3 and onward)
• Rosalie Williams as Mrs Hudson

Recurring characters

• Colin Jeavons as Inspector Lestrade
• Charles Gray as Mycroft Holmes
• Eric Porter as Professor James Moriarty
• Brian Miller and Denis Lill as Inspector Bradstreet
• Paul Williamson and Nigel Planer as Inspector Hopkins
• Tom Chadbon as Inspector Hawkins

Guest characters

• Gayle Hunnicutt as Irene Adler
• Wolf Kahler as Wilhelm von Ormstein, King of Bohemia
• Oliver Maguire as Inspector Gregson
• Patrick Allen as Colonel Sebastian Moran
• Freddie Jones as Inspector Baynes
• Jenny Seagrove as Mary Morstan
• Robert Hardy as Charles Augustus Milverton
• Peter Wyngarde as Langdale Pike
• Jonathan Hyde as Culverton Smith

Major locations

• Baker Street, London
  • 221B Baker Street
• Diogenes Club, London

Music

The entirety of the music for the series was composed by Patrick Gowers. Most of the music heard in the series is of a classical nature, though with a focus and emphasis on smaller-scale string quartet themes, rather than orchestral compositions. The primary leitmotif of the series, 221B Baker Street, is heard prominently throughout many episodes, particularly in the opening sequence of each. For individual episodes, Gowers composed a wide array of recurring incidental music or episode-specific themes. Some of the episode-specific themes make occassional, contextual use of musical instruments that are less usual for the series' late Victorian setting. The series' main theme occassionally appeared in one-off arrangements utilising these more exotic instruments.

In addition to Gowers composing, and playing some of the music himself, other major contributors to the music of the series were The Gabrieli String Quartet and the Wren Orchestra of London. Minor collaborations included Kenneth Sillito (violin), Leslie Pearson (piano) and the St. Paul's Cathedral Choir (London).

Published soundtrack

1987 saw the release of an official compilation soundtrack album, collecting various themes heard throughout the series up until that point. The soundtrack thus included music from episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Return of Sherlock Holmes and from the first feature-length episode of the series, The Sign of Four. Recording took place at Abbey Road Studios in London, 1987. The album was first released on vinyl (LP) and CD by TER in the United Kingdom, and on CD by Varèse Sarabande in the United States. All editions include the same track listing, with a total of 19 tracks (see below, click "Show" to view).

Sherlock Holmes (1987 TV soundtrack) track listing
No.	Title	Episode	Notes	Length
01.	221B Baker Street	all episodes (intro sequence)	with Kenneth Sillito (violin)	0:48
02.	Elsie Cubitt	The Dancing Men	with Neil Black (English horn)	3:56
03.	Libera Me	The Priory School	with the St. Paul's Cathedral Choir	4:13
04.	North By Ten And By Ten	The Musgrave Ritual		2:44
05.	Old Sherman's Dog Toby	The Sign of Four		1:25
06.	Sutton's Nightmare	The Resident Patient		3:35
07.	River Chase	The Sign of Four		5:54
08.	The Death of Sherlock Holmes	The Final Problem	with Kenneth Sillito (violin)	5:24
09.	Irene Adler	A Scandal in Bohemia	with Kenneth Sillito (violin)	4:46
10.	Holmes In Europe	The Final Problem		1:25
11.	John Hector McFarlane And His Mother	The Norwood Builder	with Leslie Pearson (piano)	2:01
12.	Setting Out	The Priory School		2:08
13.	Lucretia Venucci And Her Family	The Six Napoleons	with Kenneth Sillito (violin)	3:44
14.	Mr. Henry Baker's Christmas	The Blue Carbuncle	instrumental arrangement of God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (trad. carol)	2:10
15.	The Illustrious Lord Bellinger	The Second Stain		2:13
16.	On the Trail	The Second Stain		1:19
17.	Neville St. Clair's Nostagia	The Man with the Twisted Lip		2:14
18.	The Bar of Gold, Upper Swandam Lane	The Man with the Twisted Lip	mostly synth ambient	4:07
19.	Baker Street Reunion	The Empty House	with Kenneth Sillito (violin)	1:49

Since then, the soundtrack has been reissued several times by various publishers in the UK and US, mostly on CD (e.g. 1989 - Musical Heritage Society, US; 2000 - Jay Records, UK). No other official soundtrack for the series was published after 1987. However, some of the series' fans have created fan edits of music from the 1988-1994 episodes, as well as fan edits of the 1984-1987 episodes' themes that were missing from the soundtrack or were only published in abbreviated form.

Other appearances

A somewhat longer, medley version of Gowers' 221B Baker Street theme (ca 2:36) also appeared on the anthology album Sherlock Holmes: Classic Themes from 221B Baker Street, first published by Varèse Sarabande in June 1996. This was an album that featured music from various film and television adaptations of the Canon (other examples included Young Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes (1939 film series), The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, Without a Clue, etc.).

Media

Images

• Title card used for the 1984-1985 episodes
• Main cast credits in the opening titles (first two series)
• Title card used for the 1986-1988 episodes and specials
• Main cast credits in the opening titles (from third series onward)
• "Based on works by" credit in the opening titles
• "Developed by" credit at the end of the opening titles
• Title card used for the 1991-1993 episodes and specials
• Title card used for the 1994 episodes (the final series)

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Video

Intro sequence (with first and second series title card)

Excerpt about the series from the 2014 documentary How To Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces Of A Master Detective

1990 behind the scenes featurette (filming of "The Boscombe Valley Mystery")

External links

• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on the Internet Movie Database.
• The Return of Sherlock Holmes on the Internet Movie Database.
• The Sign of Four on the Internet Movie Database.
• The Hound of the Baskervilles on the Internet Movie Database.
• The The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes on the Internet Movie Database.
• The The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes on the Internet Movie Database.