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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 (1984ā€“1985)[]

The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986ā€“1988)[]

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1991ā€“1993)[]

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1994)[]

Cast and Characters[]

Main cast[]

Recurring characters[]

Guest characters[]

Major locations[]

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 VarĆØse Sarabande in the United States. All editions include the same track listing, with a total of 19 tracks (see below, click "Show" to view). [1] [2]

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. [3]

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 VarĆØse 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.). [4]

Media[]

Images[]

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")

References[]

External links[]

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