The Devil's Foot

The other comments for Devil's Foot are about how bad it is.I do not know anything about dramatization and technical details.What I know is, that for me this episode is about the great friendship between Holmes and Watson.You can see it in every episode, but generally the investigations are more important than friendship. In Devil's Foot the situation is reversed, the emphasis is on the Holmes-Watson relationship. Edward Hardwicke gives one of his best performances as the caring and worried, loyal doctor. Jeremy Brett portrays a very contemplative Holmes, who overcomes his cocaine addiction - it is symbolized by the scene where he buries his syringe on the coast.The filming location, Cornwall suits well the atmosphere of the story.I like this episode very much, it is one of the best from the Return series.

These Granada Holmes deals are hit and miss because of the way the creative teams were assigned. This is one of the bad ones, beyond remarking.

There are two mildly interesting things about the episode.

One is the continuing oscillation between supernatural forces and the mechanical logic of life that was popular in Victorian England. These forces pull extremes, even today. This version of the story plays that down. From the very first you know we are dealing with a powdered drug. From the very first you know who did it and why.

The other interesting thing is a continuing issue in film. How do you deal with distortions of reality, like dreams and hallucinations? There seems to be a sort of hack vocabulary for this that TeeVee imposes: some wavy images, threatening situations, blood from skin, short, confusing exposures, jittery camera.

Its done here in the clumsiest of ways. Five years later a more maddened Brett would be in "The Last Vampyre" that was equally bad as a Holmes, but much better in the hallucination department.

Oh and accompanying music that seems to come from only one source. This, my friends is why there will never be a decent Holmes produced for TeeVee. Whenever these choices have to be made, the TeeVee vocabulary is just too hackneyed and ordinary.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

Sherlock Holmes is convalescing in Cornwall (accompanied by Dr Watson, of course) when three members of the same family are struck down with the same affliction. Brenda Tregennis is dead and her brothers Owen and George insane, found in the same room in their house. A fourth sibling, Mortimer, was also present for part of the evening and had a long-running dispute with his three siblings.

A good episode of Sherlock Holmes, though not among the best. The initial perpetrator is fairly obvious and the title of the episode gives away, to a degree, the method.

Still, it's interesting enough and gets quite intriguing once Mortimer is found dead.

Memorable episode from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" volume in the Granada series as well as one of the better adaptations in the series overall. Holmes and Watson go to the Cornish coast to recuperate, only to face bizarre double murders. The story is unique and leads to an unexpected conclusion. One moment that really stands out in this adaptation is it's acid dream sequence when Holmes has to put himself under hallucination to find out the solution to the mystery. Also notable in the story is Holmes giving up his habit of cocaine. Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke give their best performances and the atmosphere, photography, production values, and music are superb. Definitely a must watch for fans.

I was surprised when Granada announced the second series of The Return of Sherlock Holmes. I did not expect to see it.

I remember the tabloid headlines at the time. Jeremy Brett had a mental breakdown after the death of his wife in 1985 and he was committed to a psychiatric hospital.

I later found out that not only was Brett sectioned, his physical health had suffered. Journalists would pretend to be doctors to try to gain access to his medical records or just get near him and ask if he had Aids. Brett was bisexual.

The producers of the show got Granada to move him to a private hospital and pay for it. With help from friends such as Edward Hardwicke, Brett did get better but the medication bloated him.

In The Devil's Foot, you see that Brett has put on weight and he has short hair. The story actually sees him going to Cornwall to convalesce.

However very soon he comes across the tragedy of the Tregennis family. Two brothers are driven mad, their sister dead. Holmes needs to find out what caused this horror.

Later the estranged brother Mortimer Tregennis is also found dead.

The episode makes good use of the Cornish coastline. It even sees Holmes go on a bad trip and we see a symbolic burial of a syringe, Holmes finally gives up his habit. I was not really convinced by part of the mystery but it was effectively portrayed on the screen.