Which Sherlock Holmes stories are crying out to be made?
Now I won’t pretend that my knowledge is flawless in this respect but there are Sherlock Holmes stories that have not been dramatised or have been dramatised badly.
Examples of poorly dramatised stories include The Mazarin Stone and The Three Garridebs. Granada went so far as to slam these two stories together with appalling results.
The problem of course is that many of the stories do not lend themselves to dramatisation. Cinema was in its infancy when Conan Doyle was penning the last of the Holmes stories and of course he was not writing them with future dramatisation in mind. Stories such as the two above and The Sussex Vampire require a certain amount of padding before they can provide the amount of viewing time the average audience expects.
In my opinion, one of the stories crying out to be made is Black Peter. Which ones do you favour?
Examples of poorly dramatised stories include The Mazarin Stone and The Three Garridebs. Granada went so far as to slam these two stories together with appalling results.
The problem of course is that many of the stories do not lend themselves to dramatisation. Cinema was in its infancy when Conan Doyle was penning the last of the Holmes stories and of course he was not writing them with future dramatisation in mind. Stories such as the two above and The Sussex Vampire require a certain amount of padding before they can provide the amount of viewing time the average audience expects.
Black Peter is an excellent choice. The only adaptation I have come across is from the BBC Radio series starring Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. I personally think these adaptations are some of the best ever made.
ReplyDeleteIf I remember rightly Granada's joint adaptation of The Three Garridebs/Mazarin Stone didn't feature Brett at all due to his health problems. This was a shame as The Three Garridebs really illustrates the bond between Holmes and Watson. Towards the end Holmes' facade slips a little and we see a rare display of emotion. Combining the two however probably improved the quality of the Mazarin Stone which I felt was probably the weakest of the canon. I read somewhere that Doyle was influenced by stage performances and theatrics when writing this story which is why Holmes changes places with his wax work from 'The Empty House' to fool two criminals… I know that doesn't make much sense but it isn’t any more credible once you’ve read the story!
James Hodder @radiohodder