The Hound of the Baskervilles

Sie Charles Baskerville is found dead with a look of pure terror in his face, is it possible thay his death was the result of seeing a monstrous hound?

For me this is still far and away the best production of The Hound of The Baskervilles, possibly because I still to this day see Jeremy Brett as the great detective, but that apart this adaptation has so much going for it. It has a fine mix of drama, suspense and even humour.

Sir Henry Baskerville is perfectly portrayed by Kristoffer Tabori, he's definitely a likeable sort of chap, without coming across as wet, it's his naivety that makes you care for him.

The production values are spot on, the sets and costumes are absolutely terrific, but the main star attraction has to be the location work, which is perfect. Grimpen Mire is an exquisite place, but as deadly as it is beautiful.

The lengthy absence of Holmes, means a greater role for Watson, and Hardwicke does a fantastic job, such an underrated performance throughout the series. Brett as always, is brilliant, he brings the character of Holmes to life. The supporting cast of James Faulkner, Ronald Pickup etc are all terrific.

Alistair Duncan is a hoot as Dr Mortimer, love his interactions with Holmes, that scene with the skull is great.

As for the hound itself, perhaps the less said, the better, they were guilty of showing it for too long, and lighting it too heavily. The final attack scene though does work, the build up and tension are well created.

Overall, it's a fantastic version, but I'm still waiting for someone to make the perfect adaptation of it, in this day and age, I don't see it coming, so this remains top of the pile.

9/10.

Jeremy Brett is as ever perfect as Holmes, so it's a shame he's not in it as much as I'd like. Edward Hardwick as Watson is his usual reliable self and manages to hold the viewer's attention. Some great scenes and first class acting aside, the production is a little slow. This will not bother anyone who has watched the Granada productions of Holmes stories before, but should be pointed out that this is a faithful retelling of Conan Doyles' original and not a fast paced, inaccurate Hollywood version. Overall the feature length episodes have never been as entertaining as the shorter series episodes, but this is still far more enjoyable than any other adaptation.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles' has always been my favourite Sherlock Holmes adventures. I have seen at least three movies (this one, one with Basil Rathbone as Holmes and one with Peter Cushing as the great detective) I must admit that this is the best. None of them were based exactly on the book. The only thing I can suggest is that since this is a TV series, it could be made a bit longer with more than one episode.

This was the only feature length entry in the Granada Holmes series that I hadn't seen, but finally caught up with it - compared to the others it isn't one of the best, mainly because the bulk of the film has Holmes absent or as a shadowy presence, a disembodied voice. I'm not knocking the performance of Edward Hardwicke as Watson, who is as good as ever, as the good doctor is sent to the wilds of Dartmoor with the quicksands and the ghostly howls, to protect the American heir to the Baskerville fortune.

When Jeremy Brett as Holmes is in this, he is superb (that first scene with Watson, and following with Mortimer; the scene in the hut; and - as so often in this series - an ambivalent attitude to the lady in distress). There was no finer interpreter of Holmes and this film, around halfway into the series, gives him a number of scenes to put across that tortured, mischevious genius.

As a completist, I'm glad to see this at last. It has the look and feel of the other episodes (the camerawork was always superb with its plethora of odd angles, reflections, and close-ups) and is perhaps the best version of 'The Hound'. Perhaps it is just simply below Conan Doyle's best, and viewers expect more than the material can give.

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" is not my favorite Sherlock Holmes film: There are problems with the hound no matter how it is portrayed, and the violence in the film is disturbing. "The Hound" has perhaps suffered from overexposure; it is by all odds the most famous of the Sherlock Holmes tales. It lacks the substance of other full-length Holmes films, such as "The Sign of Four" and "The Master Blackmailer." And it lacks the horror of "The Last Vampire," which Conan Doyle wrote as a tribute to his friend Bram Stoker, the celebrated author of "Dracula."

The acting in the Sherlock Holmes films is consistently good. For me as for many other people, Jeremy Brett was the quintessential Holmes. It is a pity he is no longer around to play the part, and an even greater pity that the Holmes films are being remade in what promises to be a greatly inferior version.