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sherlock60Let's talk telly in the discussion post for Granada's TV adaptation of The Priory School. If you haven't seen this episode yet, you can find it at YouTube and on DVD. Follow me behind the jump for my random thoughts and impressions. Please add your own in the comments!
Canon discussion for The Priory School is available in this week's canon discussion post.
- As presented here, the story is thankfully less disturbing than in text. More urgency by everyone involved helps everything make more sense, although it's still awkward in that Victorian way. Dr. Huxtable at dinner is satisfyingly aghast at the merriment of the people around him, although rather than scold everyone for having fun while a child is suffering, Huxtable complains that they're insulting his "great patron". *sigh* At least James gets what he deserves, and then some. And Holmes' double payment "king's ransom" isn't blood money for silence, but a bonus given out of intense gratitude. Everybody cares more about everything, and that makes a big difference, leading to an actually happy ending that's not creepy at all. Hooray!
- Mrs. Hudson makes a basket full of snacks for our boys on the train. I love her almost as much as Holmes does. <3
- Dr. Watson is a bit hit and miss here at his professional work. Dr. Huxtable comes in and promptly faints dead away on the floor, and Watson tells him he needs to keep quiet and still until he can have something to eat to recover his strength. Huxtable immediately starts jabbering away and standing all the way up instead. Watson just sort of lets it happen, walking away. Holmes is at least there to catch if Huxtable takes another all too likely light-headed tumble, I guess. On the hand, Watson does excellent work as a medical examiner with Heidegger's body, discovering several important clues. The doctor is good with the dead in this episode, but a bit less so with the living.
- Jeremy Brett makes his Holmes compassionate, which is necessary for this delicate case. There is fire in his eyes and anger in his accusations. You can feel the importance and weight of a child's life coming to bear upon him, which is not exactly the case in the canon text. It's good stuff. Also, JB makes me want to start smoking cigarettes just so I can look so sexy while I light them off a candle too. Yum.
Canon discussion for The Priory School is available in this week's canon discussion post.
- As presented here, the story is thankfully less disturbing than in text. More urgency by everyone involved helps everything make more sense, although it's still awkward in that Victorian way. Dr. Huxtable at dinner is satisfyingly aghast at the merriment of the people around him, although rather than scold everyone for having fun while a child is suffering, Huxtable complains that they're insulting his "great patron". *sigh* At least James gets what he deserves, and then some. And Holmes' double payment "king's ransom" isn't blood money for silence, but a bonus given out of intense gratitude. Everybody cares more about everything, and that makes a big difference, leading to an actually happy ending that's not creepy at all. Hooray!
- Mrs. Hudson makes a basket full of snacks for our boys on the train. I love her almost as much as Holmes does. <3
- Dr. Watson is a bit hit and miss here at his professional work. Dr. Huxtable comes in and promptly faints dead away on the floor, and Watson tells him he needs to keep quiet and still until he can have something to eat to recover his strength. Huxtable immediately starts jabbering away and standing all the way up instead. Watson just sort of lets it happen, walking away. Holmes is at least there to catch if Huxtable takes another all too likely light-headed tumble, I guess. On the hand, Watson does excellent work as a medical examiner with Heidegger's body, discovering several important clues. The doctor is good with the dead in this episode, but a bit less so with the living.
- Jeremy Brett makes his Holmes compassionate, which is necessary for this delicate case. There is fire in his eyes and anger in his accusations. You can feel the importance and weight of a child's life coming to bear upon him, which is not exactly the case in the canon text. It's good stuff. Also, JB makes me want to start smoking cigarettes just so I can look so sexy while I light them off a candle too. Yum.
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Sunday, 11 August 2013
Date: 2013-08-12 12:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-08-12 07:15 pm (UTC)JB can really ride, too - notice the easy way that he sits on his horse. He rides much better than poor Edward Hardwicke who get stuck awkwardly bumping along behind with a knapsack bobbing around on his back. Not only does JB ride well, he manages to do it while carrying a walking stick(!!) and I can't imagine that was easy. In fact, if you watch closely the scene when he dismounts off that little pony from the inn, he swings his leg dashingly over the horse's neck, gets the stick tangled up in the reins, manages to sort everything out by the time he hits the ground, and carries on without a blink. It's a tricky little mistake that could have ruined the shot and he deals with it with perfect composure. That's panache!
On the minus side, the geography of the countryside gets a bit muddled - exactly where was that tor? And the mine? and the scene where Arthur falls to his death was over-the-top melodramatic, but those are minor quibbles in an otherwise completely enjoyable episode.
Besides, smoking is sexy, if you discount the unfortunate side effects, (like death)and as a lifelong smoker, you're right, JB knew how to work a cigarette. Oh, yeah.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-16 12:21 am (UTC)It's interesting to see Holmes on a bicycle, on a horse. He's elegant everywhere, of course. Did you see the last Robert Downey Jr. Holmes movie? There's a scene where he won't/can't ride a horse. I found it agonizing. There's no way Sherlock Holmes would not be amazing riding a horse. And the horse would probably love being handled by such a master too. ;)