Baron Gruner – The villain I want to see
It was recently revealed that BBC’s Sherlock was going to
dust down Charles Augustus Milverton (albeit a slightly renamed version) to be
Sherlock’s nemesis in series three. This was widely expected and hoped for and
while I am not unhappy about this I would have preferred to see Baron Gruner
make an appearance.
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| Anthony Valentine as Baron Gruner |
I cannot explain my fondness (if that’s the right word) for
Gruner although a lot of it rests with the excellent portrayal by Anthony
Valentine (of Raffles fame) in the Granada series. Peter Wyngarde also gave a
good performance as Gruner opposite Douglas Wilmer's Holmes in the 1960s but I
found his portrayal to be more of the barely concealed psycho variety whereas
Valentine’s Gruner was much more subtle and, in my opinion, sinister.
If he were to feature in the BBC series in the future it
would be interesting to have him sink his, proverbial, fangs into Molly. Molly
could become the Kitty Winter of the story which would give Sherlock a greater
level of personal investment in the confrontation with Gruner.
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| Peter Wyngarde as Gruner |
As for who would take the role of Violet de Merville…..we
could speculate about that one.
Then, of course, we could look at who could play Gruner. I
think Richard E. Grant would make an excellent Gruner if you bear in mind his
performance as Stapleton in the 2002 BBC version of The Hound of the
Baskervilles. Then again his portrayal could possibly end up being closer to
Wyngarde than Valentine.
My current idea, and I admit, it is a bit "out there", would
be to have David Tennant play Gruner. His “ladies man” credentials are firmly
established courtesy of Casanova and I think he would be an excellent Gruner.
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| The next Gruner? |
Please, Messrs Gatiss and Moffat – make it happen.
Pleeeeeeaaasssssse!
Written by Alistair Duncan
Perhaps they'll pick him up for the fourth series.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed.
DeleteBy the time the forth series happens (2016 or 2017, given the trajectories of Cumberbatch and Freeman's careers--it's just head-spinning to contemplate) there maybe some other sexy-bad-boy-with-gravitas actor out there unthought of to bring his snake-oil charm as Gruner. I very much like your idea of having him setting his sights on Molly, making it personal for Sherlock and the audience.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm pleased it's not just me that thinks it's an idea with some merit. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
Delete