“There is a tremendous delicacy in preserving Holmes in other people's imaginations because there are a million different ways of seeing him. You try not to interfere with anybody's image.”-Jeremy Brett

"Women throughout the world identify with what's going on and see me as Holmes. It's all very flattering and frightening at times. I just have to realize I'm in the fantasy business, but I do feel responsible and I get very concerned about the power this character wields."-Jeremy Brett

"So, all these things you can get from Doyle, and when other actors who play Holmes and just pop on the deerstalker, and his cape and the pipe and walk straight through it, puff...puff...puff--and get on with the next thing--that's probably the safer way to train -- but it's not exactly being true to Doyle. It's just an image, like a cliché, which is not real."-Jeremy Brett on Holmes only wearing the deerstalker in the country and the different pipes he used depending on his mood

"The last time we finished filming together, I went down to the same train and waved goodbye to him. That was absolutely devastating. I don't know how I got back to the hotel. I thought 'What are we going to do now?' I was so proud of him for going back to his son. There would be more happy marriages if fathers went back to their children. His son was only two at the time."-Jeremy Brett on David Burke

Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty, played by Eric Porter, in “The Final Problem.” Porter’s Moriarty was the closest to how he was described in the original stories. With him you can tell just how menacing and evil he is just by looking at him. However, this doesn’t take anything away from Andrew Scott, whose take is radically different but equally excellent.

Glad you love them. There is more to come!  

Considering the two year hiatus that Holmes had, it made sense that Watson would be older and have a different outlook. Edward Hardwicke was an equal if not superior successor to David Burke in the role. Being both earnest and genuine. While Burke showed the former army vet side of Watson well, Hardwicke more captured the medical doctor aspect of the character. Regardless of who you prefer the transition was certainly smooth.


 

Last edited by BrettHolmes (August 1, 2014 4:22 pm)

“Edward is even more remarkable. I'll give you an example. You can publish it or not, it makes no difference to me. When I came out of the asylum, the person who collected me was Edward Hardwicke. He took me to an Italian restaurant. I had a pasta and a glass of red wine. He then drove me back to my home where we sat and had a cup of tea. It was Edward Hardwicke. He is one of the loveliest people, and I suppose he is the best friend that any man has ever had....in life. Which is after all how Doyle describes Watson.”- Jeremy Brett


 

“The biggest compliment I had paid to me was, on several occasions, I was called "David". People said, "David, can you move that way?" and I thought, "Well, there aren't too many ripples here if they think I'm David Burke." I really don't know how I differed from David, I mean we *were* different. Subsequently I've read, people said I seem to be an older, graver Watson. That always worried me a bit because I thought - what I *did* feel very strongly about playing Watson with Holmes is that two people who work together in those circumstances have to have a lot of humor, there has to be a lot of laughter. I consciously remember thinking every time there was an opportunity to bring out that sense of humor between the two people, the fact that you could smile about certain things that Holmes would say, or laugh at things that he would say, seemed to me very important. It seems to me people who work together in a rather difficult job tend to laugh a lot.”- Edward Hardwicke

"I've done 33 Sherlock Holmes stories and bits of them are all right. But the definitive Sherlock Holmes is really in everyone's head. No actor can fit into that category because every reader has his own ideal."- Jeremy Brett