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Special Features
- Includes all 13 episodes: 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
- Photo gallery
- Paget's Drawings Part III
- Information about the Sherlock and Brett Societies
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| The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Season 1 |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes marked the beginning of the long-running series. Highlights of these 13 episodes include "A Scandal in Bohemia," which introduces Irene Adler (Gayle Hunnicutt), whom Holmes uncharacteristically describes as having "a face a man might die for"; the chilling locked-room mystery "The Speckled Band"; the introduction of Sherlock's brother Mycroft (Charles Gray) in "The Greek Interpreter"; and "The Final Problem," in which Holmes confronts his arch-enemy Professor Moriarty (Eric Porter) at Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. The five-disc boxed set is a great bargain compared to previous VHS releases, although bonus features are limited to English subtitles and galleries of Sidney Paget's famous illustrations. The series would continue on Granada with The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes as well as the stand-alone treatments of The Sign of Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles. --David Horiuchi
Product Description
Customer Reviews
Holmes wasn't the only character that was played so perfectly, the role of John Watson is also played quite well by David Burke throughout the "Adventures" section of the Holmes series. In the later sections ("Return", "Casebook", "Memoirs" and all the longer stand-alone movie-episodes) Edward Hardwicke took over as Watson. I am not sure why Hardwicke took over, but I must say of the two I do prefer Hardwicke's Watson over Burke's. In any case, for this "Adventures" DVD set, it is Burke's Watson that you will see, and he does do an admirable job that in no way detracts from the spirit of Watson.
In one other area this entire series excells--the care taken with each and every episode. The people behind this series must have truly loved Doyle's Holmes. Every scene is done perfectly, from the idea of the locations to the photography to the scenery. The "mood" is set, and with Brett and Burke prowling the city and countryside, the stories of Sherlock Holmes come to life here like never before (and because of Brett's death, never again). If you love Holmes, you MUST see these!
... Read more ›The "Adventures" DVD box is a four-part plastic affair and not simply 5 DVD cases that slip into a large cardboard box. The six-page booklet simply lists "chapter selections" and bonus materials. Disappointingly, the booklet lacks the brief plot summaries and episode pictures on the back covers of the individually sold volumes. Volume 1 is a two-sided disk with 4 episodes and corrects the defect of the original volume 1 where Side A was B and Side B was A. The warbling sound on "The dancing men" is inherent with the source material. Volumes 2-5 are one-sided disks (with 3 episodes on volume 5) that bear a curious design in the 3:00 position that looks like a surface defect but isn't. Picture quality is very good, especially considering that the series was filmed in 16mm.
It took MPI one and a half years to release these first 13 episodes. This is only about 28.2% of the total series (not counting two short episodes).... Read more ›
This DVD has the first 13 episodes, some of the finest stories extracted from the entire Holmes volumes. They are:
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
As is usual with DVD's you get extras, like info on Holmsian societies and photos.
Brett was SO right as Holmes. Even his little movements, that quick turn were right out of Doyle's descriptions. The scenes have that murky, foggy English air, the sets are exquisite. I am captivated every time I watch these and I don't think any set of written stories has been better translated to the small screen. In fact, stories I didn't particularly like are better in this series, such as The Solitary Cyclist, which I never did appreciate in print. The first 13 epsisodes are the best of the best Holmes tales, at least, they have most of my favorites.
I wish I could be as enthusiastic about MPI's treatment of the series on disc. The extras are all fine, but Disc One has some distressingly bad sound quality, and the video transfer quality on all the discs is uniformly poor. It makes one wish very strongly that A&E had gotten the DVD rights, as their treatment of such classics as MONTY PYTHON and THE AVENGERS is top-notch. It is the quality control problems on these discs that keep me from awarding the full five stars.
That having been said: for the Sherlock Holmes fan, this series is worth having on disc whatever the shortcomings.
The casting of Jeremy Brett was brilliant; he is so perfect as Holmes- Brett's movments, voice, and... Read more
actors played the parts.
