Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Collection [DVD]

I have been a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast for decades and have watched dozens of related films and TV series. However, having only viewed a few episodes starring Jeremy Brett many years ago, I decided to buy this 1984 Sherlock Holmes ‘Complete Collection’. The series is set in 19th century Victorian and Edwardian Britain (1880 to 1914). As a qualified historian, I was particularly thrilled at the meticulous attention to details. The lifestyle and culture of the upper class (wealthy), middle class (educated professionals), and working class (the poor) was superbly characterised. The quaint ‘clippety-clop’ of horse-drawn Hansom cabs resonating over cobblestone streets, the bustling open-air street and flower markets, and the silent dense fog descending like a creeping phantom generate the quintessential Victorian environment. Jeremy Brett’s performance as Sherlock Holmes is positively exceptional. I believe he captures the physical, behavioural, and emotional traits of the character as depicted in Arthur Conan Doyle’s books. Brett breathes new life into Holmes; his screen presence is truly captivating! Dr Watson is played by David Burke (1984 to 1985) and Edward Hardwicke (1986 to 1994). They skilfully portray Watson as an intelligent, dignified, brave and loyal friend, as well as a capable medical doctor. The bumbling, dim-witted caricature of former years is no more! This set of DVDs is in its original standard definition 480i and 4:3 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital sound. I have viewed all 41 episodes (16 discs) on a 100-inch projector screen and found the quality to be satisfactory. If this screen size experienced no pixelated, blurry images, then it will most certainly be of a higher quality on TVs 65-inch and less. I consider this 1984 Sherlock Holmes TV series the gold standard of Sherlock Holmes adaptations and I do highly recommend it.

...with this splendid re-release of the classic ITV/Granada television series. I can only agree with the other reviewers that these are the definitive interpretations on TV or film of the Conan A Doyle canon of Sherlock Holmes. Nothing else really touches this, with absolutely faultless acting in all roles, whether large or small. Frankly, to compare these films with the Basil Rathbone movies is ludicrous, they are not even on the same planet (and they are anyway mostly not from Doyle's writings). Of course, the grand acting price goes to Jeremy Brett. He acts, he breaths, yes he IS Sherlock Holmes, and I pity all poor actors who will in the future try to better his performance. However, the rest of the actors also deserve high praise. Both David Burke, as a younger and more vigorous Watson, and Edward Hardwicke who portrays a more mature and solid Watson make stellar performances. They are also helped by intelligent scripts that casts Watson as a valid partner to Holmes (in fact, in some instances it may even be a bit overdone, after all Watson almost never in the short stories or novels take any part in the actual solution of the problems). You will also delight in many other superb performances and have fun recognizing many actors from the British acting elite in larger or smaller roles. As for the technical quality, this is as good as you can possibly expect from transfers of TV-shows that are up to a quarter of a century old. The new transfers have an excellent both picture and sound quality. I have been watching these DVD's on a fairly state of the art 46 inch flat screen TV set and I have no complaints whatsoever of the sharpness of the images. The sound, albeit in mono (although a few of the last episodes are actually in Dolby stereo sound) is also very good. For us non-English viewers it is also very good to have the subtitles. To bad only that you can't get them without that hard-of-hearing feature. But the fun doesn't stop there. You can also keep a lookout for all those small references to other films and work of arts. A few samples: In the episode "The Resident Patient" the beginning is copied from the opening scene of Ingmar Bergman's masterpiece "Wild Strawberries" were Isaac Borg in a nightmare dream sees himself in a coffin. In the "The Hound of the Baskervilles" there is a scene with Holmes disappearing in a cloud of smoke and fog in a railway station which is very similar to the final scene in the Leslie Howard film "Pimpernel Smith". In the episode " "The Musgrave Ritual" the ending scene is modeled from the famous pre-Raphaelite painting "Ophelia" by John Everett Millais. In the episode "The Golden Pince-Nez" there is a shot of the female protagonist, the wife of Prof. Coram, showing her in a melee with Tsarist troops with her glasses cracked. This is an obvious quotation from the famous Odessa stairs scene in Sergei Eisenstein's classic movie "The Battleship Potemkin". So, a very highly recommended viewing then. Do try to obtain a copy of this release, even if it seems to be out of print at the moment. Hopefully it will come back again.

Wonderful to watch again great quality

Cumberbatch and Downey jr can't hold a candle to Jeremy Brett. Brett is Sherlock Holmes to me, he is by far the best actor to ever portray him and I liked both his Watson's though I grew more fond of Hardwicke because he stuck around and had a great friendship with Jeremy IRL. Only story I wasn't a fan of was the rushed version of The Hound of the Baskervilles which I still think the Basil Rathbone version is the best adaptation, other than that fantastic series. Just a shame Brett passed before the whole canon was completed but he gave it his all and he should be commended for it.

5 star review based on the price as I bought it for a friend who had seen it new in the shops at 4 times the price or more. Not something I'd watch myself but my friend was really pleased with it.

Well, this will seem blasphemy to the almost unanimous praise of other reviewers, but what is critique without a little open-eyed balance? The films are clean and bright, much better than the old VHS sets, and compactly encased, a blessing for those of us who build libraries still. The episodes are set three or four to a disc, making viewing a lttle easier - at least one only has to sit through the childish "copying movies is stealing!" segment at the beginning of every disc - if only one could erase the garbage ! - but at least there are no previews and sales pitches for other DVDs, and the editing is relatively well done - commercial breaks are not apparent. As a rabid lover of things Poirot, Foyle, Frost, Allen, Marple and Gently, I must say I find the camp over-acting by Jeremy Brett a tad difficult to bear at some points. But the series seems intended as a send-up ayway, and is good for more than a few laughs along the way. These are not suspenseful stories - the solutions are more than a little often far-fetched and completely obscure. Can one really call credulous the supposed use of a poisonous snake trained to come when called after climbing down a braided bell-pull to attack a sleeping victim? One is reminded of "The Perils of Pauline" when watching another episode where Holmes/Watson rush to the rescue of a damsel as she is forced to endure the ignominy of being married under duress to a crazed South African red-head by a drunken and defrocked priest on an open altar. Still, there is lots of fun to be had in watching the series, and the per-episode price is quite a bargain, so belly up to the bar and have a swig of this frothy brew, preferably with a glass of a favorite chaser at hand to soften the hard edges of cynicsm. Just don't try to drink while the action is on-screen, as it could well spatter the carpet when you burst out in a guffaw at some acerbic line or ridiculous pose of one of the protagonists. **** (formerly ***) Having now viewed the entire series, I've become more enamoured of Brett's portrayal - perhaps it's the extra girth of his waistline or the more evident tracks of lines on the face that makes him more robust in the role, Yet - he still manages to flail about on a blanket like a beached amorous porpoise plucking clues from mud or gravel where no mere mortal thought to look ... and amuses us well with his tidbits of knowledge purloined from abstruse sources. I heartily recommend the investment of treasure (not a lot, truth be told) and time - amusement and bemusement vie for supremacy, while laughter fills the room as our intrepid hero divines yet another solution that we mere mortals might never achieve. Infinitely better than Cable News or the American Hyperactive Hokum. You won't be disappointed, promise!

THE LATE JEREMY BRETT POTRAYED SHERLOCK HOLMES BRILLIANTLY AND ACCURATELY. HE WAS AIDED BY BOTH ACTORS, NAMELY DAVID BURKE IN THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES AND, LATER, BY EDWARD HARDWICKE FOR THE CHARACTER OF DOCTOR JOHN WATSON. ALTHOUGH IT CANNOT BE DENIED THAT BOTH ACTORS POTRAYED THE CHARACTER OF JOHN WATSON BRILLIANTLY, EDWARD HARDWICKE GAVE THE PORTRAYAL MORE AUTHENTICITY BUT SLIGHTLY LACKING IN WARMTH WHICH DAVID BURKE HAD. EVEN SOMETIMES DAVID BURKE 'S WARMTH IN DOCTOR WATSON APPEALED TO ME AS I WATCHED HIM PERFORM:- IT HAD THE YOUTHFULNESS OF THE CHARACTER WHICH EDWARD HARDWICKE'S PERFORMANCE LACKED. THE COMPLETE SERIES WAS CONSIDERED WELL DIGITALLY MASTERED EVEN THOUGH IT IS IN DVD AND VERY ENTERTAINING TO WATCH. ALTHOUGH IT IS PERFECTLY SUFFICIENT ENOUGH TO VIEW THE SERIES WITH A DVD PLAYER WITH A HIGH SPEED HDMI CABLE HOOKED UP TO AN LED TV, A BLU RAY PLAYER WOULD GIVE A MUCH BETTER RESOLUTION. THUS, I VIEW THIS DVD SERIES WITH THE SONY BDP S 4100 AND 32 INCH SONY EX 710 LED TV. THE PICTURE PRODUCED WAS SLIGHTLY SMOOTHER AND SHARPER IN RESOLUTION AT 50P/1080. I ALSO VIEW THE DVD SERIES WITH MY SONY DVD HP728, WHICH I HAVE IN MY POSSESSION, AND I FIND THAT, AS IMPRESSIVE THE RESOLUTION MAY BE, IT LACKS SOME ADDED SMOOTHNESS THAT THE BLU RAY PLAYER HAS WITH THE DVD. THE DEPICTION OF THE SERIES RANGED FROM FAIR TO THE CLOSEST ADAPTATION OF SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE'S CANON. UNFORTUNATELY, THE SEQUENCE OF THE SERIES WAS NOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH WHAT WAS LAID DOWN BY THE LATE AUTHOR. AS SOME REVIEWERS MAY HAVE SAID, SOME "RETURN SERIES TITLES " APPEARED IN " THE ADVENTURES SERIES " IN ITS OWN CLUSTER OF ARRANGEMENT. DESPITE THIS, IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT SOME OF THE SHERLOCK HOLMES'S DIALOGUE AND OTHER CHARACTERS ' DIALOGUE IS TAKEN OUTRIGHT FROM THE DOYLE'S ORIGINAL BOOK. HOWEVER, SOME TV SERIES ADAPTATION LOOKED MUCH BETTER DONE THAN THE CANON ITSELF, ELSE THE TITLE ON FILM WOULD HAVE APPEARED STOICALLY UNIMPRESSIVE AND PERHAPS SHORTER. FOR EXAMPLE, IN "THE LAST VAMPYRE", ADAPTED FROM "THE SUSSEX VAMPIRE" OF THE CONAN DOYLE'S ORIGINAL CANON, THE TITLE IN THE TV SERIES IS GIVEN ALMOST A COMPLETELY NEW DIMENSION AND LONGER TREATMENT WHERE A DUBIOUS CHARACTER STOCKTON IS ADDED TO IT AND THE REST OF THE SUPPORTING CHARACTERS COME TO LIFE TO MAKE IT EVEN MORE INTERESTING. IN "THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES", SHERLOCK HOLMES AND WATSON ARE TO WAIT FOR THE ARRIVAL OF SIR HENRY BASKERVILLE AND DOCTOR MORTIMER IN THE ROOM AT 221B BAKER STREET IN THE MORNING, BUT IN THE TV SERIES THIS SCENE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO A BREAKFAST SCENE AT NORTHUMBERLAND HOTEL. SIMILARLY, THE ROLE OF LESTRADE IN "THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES" IS TAKEN OVER BY DOCTOR MORTIMER WHILE BOTH SHERLOCK HOLMES AND WATSON LIE IN WAIT TO NAB STAPLETON IN THE TV SERIES. ANOTHER INTERESTING YET UNEXPECTED TURN OF EVENTS WOULD BE IN THE CASE OF "THOR BRIDGE", IN THE ORIGINAL DOYLE'S CANON, MR.GIBSON THE GOLD KING IS SUPPOSED TO COME BACK TO SHERLOCK HOLMES AFTER SHERLOCK HOLMES HAS DISMISSED HIM FOR REFUSING TO TELL HIM THE TRUTH RELATING TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MISS DUNBAR AND HIM, BUT IN THE TV SERIES THIS HAS BEEN CHANGED TO THE SCENE WHERE SHERLOCK HOLMES IS SITTING IN HIS ROOM WAITING FOR MR.GIBSON'S RETURN ANXIOUSLY AND PERHAPS TOO CONFIDENTLY, BUT TO NO AVAIL. IN THE END, AS SEEN IN THE TV SERIES SHERLOCK HOLMES, THROUGH WATSON'S INGENUITY, HAS TO USE GIBSON'S LETTER TO SECURE AN APPOINTMENT WITH MISS DUNBAR IN THE PRISON THROUGH GIBSON'S LAWYER. THERE WAS ONE DISAPPOINTING FACT:- NOT ALL TITLES, ESPECIALLY "A STUDY IN SCARLET ", APPEARED ON THE TV SERIES. FURTHERMORE HAD JEREMY BRETT NOT BEEN SO ILL, I SUPPOSE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE HOW HE WOULD HAVE GONE ON TO ENACT ANOTHER TWO TITLES FOR THE TV SERIES, NAMELY "THE THREE STUDENTS" AND "THE MISSING THREE -QUARTER". DESPITE THIS, THE SERIES WAS MOST ENTERTAINING TO WATCH AND JEREMY BRETT WAS SO EXCELLENT ON HIS POTRAYAL OF SHERLOCK HOLMES THAT NONE OF THE TITLES BORED ME ENTIRELY. ALL SUPPORTING ACTORS WERE CAST BRILLIANTLY IN THEIR ROLES :- CHARLES GRAY( MYCROFT HOLMES) , ROSALIND WILLIAMS( MRS. HUDSON), COLIN JEAVONS( LESTRADE) AND ERIC POTTER (MORIARTY) ARE AMONG THOSE WHO GAVE SUPERB PERFORMANCES IN THEIR RESPECTIVE ROLES. DESPITE HAVING A COMPLETE COLLECTION SERIES OF THIS TITLE IN DVD AS WELL AS IN BOOK BY THE LATE AUTHOR HIMSELF, I FIND THAT I SHALL NEVER BE SATISFIED IF MY COLLECTION WOULD NOT BE ENTIRELY COMPLETE WITHOUT THE COMPLETE SERIES OF THE BLU RAY SET, WHERE -APART FROM THE TWO VERTICAL BLACK BARS- THE QUALITY OF THE REMASTERED TITLE IS EVEN VERY MUCH BETTER. I URGE ALL SHERLOCK HOLMES FANS TO ACQUIRE BOTH THE DVD SERIES AND THE BLU RAY SERIES OF THE TITLE :- IT IS MOST ENJOYABLY INTERESTING!!! YOU SHALL NEVER REGRET THIS. THE LATE JEREMY BRETT IS REALLY SHERLOCK HOLMES!!

The complete set of the Granada Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett as the Great Detective. Brett gives a mesmerizing, tightly controlled and at the same time delightfully quirky and eccentric performance as Holmes. The razorsharp features, the cat-like quickness and elegance, the autoritarian voice, the piercing eyes; this man was born to play Holmes. A truly rare coming together of actor and part (dame Jean Conan Doyle herself wrote to Mr. Brett "you are the Holmes of my childhood", which he rightly regarded as the ultimate accolade). Also, Holmes on the page, as observed by Watson, is a very clever but otherwise rather hollow character. You don't get to know much about his emotional life. On screen this would come across as robotic and 1-dimensional. Brett was the only actor who understood from the start that he needed to give Holmes an inner life to make the transition from page to screen work. His Holmes is introvert and cold like the original, but subtle flashes in Brett's eyes and face reveal a barely contained passion and emotion beneath the icy mask. Brett made Holmes a fully rounded character and, in doing so, gave a once in a lifetime performance. David Burke makes a dashing and delightfully clever Watson, with an upbeat demeanour and appetite to match Holmes' introvert asceticism. This "Boswell" deeply cares for Holmes; their friendship is clearly apparent in numerous subtle quips and gestures. Burke's youthful, energetic Watson is seamlessly followed by Edward Hardwicke's slightly older and graver but still very likable Watson from series 3 onwards. The transition is perfectly timed -following the three year gap after the Reichenbach Falls- and therefore feels completely natural. The rest of the acting is also top-notch, with Colin Jeavons and Charles Gray making a convincingly smug Lestrade and wonderfully Holmsian Mycroft. Sadly, during the final series Brett's rapidly declining health (by then he suffered from full-blown manic depression as well as a rapidly worsening heart condition) clearly began to affect his performance. In addition, drastic cuts in production costs meant that the final episodes, from The Last Vampyre onwards (Master Blackmailer still is a fairly decent episode in my opinion) are but faint echoes of the earlier series. I believe Granada should have pulled the plug at this point to preserve a very high-standard body of work. Unfortunately, someone with little insight or integrity decided to squeeze the format -as well as the by now clearly struggling Mr. Brett- completely dry. I strongly recommend leaving those final few episodes for what they are, as they are in no way representative of the brilliance that came before. Over two decades later this wonderful series still firmly holds its own, thanks to great acting and minute attention to detail in the period sets and costumes. Don't forget to pay attention to the background, where numerous well-dressed extra's, beautiful antiques and lush country estates, combined with fully operational Victorian machinery, draw you into that fascinating age on the threshold of the modern 20th century. How this series never won any BAFTA awards is beyond me. This dvd transfer also has the most clear picture and sound quality I have yet seen for this series. A definite must have for fans of detective series, costume drama or simply bloody good televison! Go on, treat yourself and buy one!

Jeremy Brett is the definitive Sherlock Holmes, for me, so the television show is always worth watching, and owning. Don't get me wrong, I like the Cumberbatch/Freeman version as well, with it's modern twist (at least seasons 1, 2 ... the writers lost the plot a bit in season 3, 4) ... but the Jeremy Brett version is the Victorian classic version, and about as close to the Arthur Conan Doyle books as it is possible to get. So, in terms of the story, if you are a Sherlock Holmes fan and you haven't seen Jeremy Brett versions, they are absolutely worth it! I wanted a good quality version, as I had previously had the old green cover Granada DVDs from a long time ago which had some quality issues. This set is great and the blurays are a definite improvement! Do keep in mind that it is a version code that is not compatible with USA/Canada DVD players unless you have a region-free player. The seller reached out to me before he charged/shipped the item to make sure that I was aware of that and to check whether I still wanted the item which was MUCH appreciated! I did want it, and was aware, but I can see how many people might not notice that detail in the description, and so checking before shipping was a really helpful and genuine thing for this seller to do! The item showed up in excellent condition as well. The inserts are beautiful. It is the complete series (The Adventures, The Return, The Casebook, The Memoires, and the Feature Film collection which is combined with a few of these seasons on the disks), it is all there. I was specifically looking for this remastered UK version with PAL coding but you do need to make sure that your bluray player will be able to play this. If it does, this is great picture quality and definitely worth having!

This is a must-have set for anyone who is a fan of Sherlock Holmes

Enfin je peux regarder la meilleure série sur Sherlock Holmes. Et joué par le meilleur représentant Jérémy Brett. Belle qualité des images.

Ich möchte hiermit auch meinen Senf zu der Sherlock Holmes Bluray-Box geben. Die Serie wurde zwischen den Jahren 1984 und 1994 produziert und enthält diverse Erzählungen als auch Romane aus Doyles Kanon. Herausragend ist, dass sich die Produktion nicht allzu viele Freiheiten nimmt, und sich (meistens) sehr nahe an die Vorlage hält. Das viktorianische England ist sehr schön nachgezeichnet und die Rollen hervorragend besetzt - vor allem Jeremy Brett als Sherlock Holmes. Es ist eine Freude zu sehen, wie dieser Mann mit seiner Rolle verschmolzen ist. Dr. John Watson wurde gleich von 2 Schauspielern verkörpert - David Burke und Edward Hardwicke. Dies fällt aber - besonders in der deutschen Fassung - kaum auf, da mit der Zweitbesetzung ein ebenbürtiger Ersatz gefunden wurde. Hardwicke wirkt zwar etwas älter und gesetzter als Burke, da aber zwischen dem Wechsel ein Zeitraum von 3 Jahren stattfindet - und er (vorerst) sogar die gleiche deutsche Synchronstimme hat, wurde hier der perfekte Doppelgänger gewählt. Zu Bild und Ton: Es wurde hier in einer Rezension bemängelt, dass die Bluray keine Aufwertung zur DVD-Fassung darstellt. Diesen Eindruck hatte ich zuerst auch - ich habe aber keine Vergleichsmöglichkeit, da ich die DVDs nicht besitze. Allerdings macht die Bildqualität ab Staffel 2 einen deutlichen Sprung, ab dann ist das Bild auf einem schönen HD-Niveau. Ich würde also definitiv die Bluray-Fassung bevorzugen. Das kann ich uneingeschränkt empfehlen, ich habe die Serie auf einem großen 75-Zoll TV geschaut. Zu bemängeln gibt es eigentlich nur die deutsche Vertonung. Leider wechsen die Synchronsprecher sehr oft, besonders bei Sherlock Holmes. Watson hat in der DDR-Synchro der regulären Folgen aber durchweg die gleiche Stimme, und selbst im 1. Langfilm. Ab Staffel 5 wurden die restlichen Folgen nachträglich synchronisiert, man erkennt es deutlich daran, dass viele bekannte deutsche Stimmen bis in kleine Nebenrollen besetzt wurden. Aber ärgerlicherweise wurde wohl Staffel 4 im Zuge dieser Vertonung vergessen, hier liegt keine deutsche Tonspur vor. Dies betrifft allerdings nur 4 Folgen. In den Filmen wechseln die Stimmen dann allerdings auch leider immer wieder. Ich kann dennoch der Serie aufgrund dieses Mankos keine schlechtere Bewertung geben. Es würde der detailverliebten Inszenierung und der Leistung von Jeremy Brett nicht gerecht werden. Daher 5 Sterne von mir, auch wenn der letzte Stern nicht ganz so hell funkelt.

Da grande appassionato dello scrittore Arthur Conan Doyle e del suo più celebre personaggio, Sherlock Holmes, non potevo lasciarmi sfuggire questa cofanetto completo di tutti gli episodi della serie interpretata magistralmente dall'attore britannico Jeremy Brett. Gli episodi sono numerati da 1 a 16 e sono suddivisi in due custodie, da 1 a 8 nella prima custodia e da 9 a 16 nella seconda custodia. Il cofanetto è stato ben realizzato ed è arrivato nuovo e intatto, senza alcun segno sulle custodie. L'ho acquistato venduto e spedito da Amazon in questa versione con audio disponibile solo in inglese e sottotitoli disponibili a loro volta soltanto in inglese. Esiste anche una versione in DVD con doppiaggio in italiano che si può trovare anche qui su Amazon, tuttavia costa quasi il quadruplo e di conseguenza ho deciso di acquistare questa versione originale. Nel complesso mi sento di consigliare questa versione, naturalmente può rappresentare anche un momento di allenamento o di apprendimento della pronuncia e dei vocaboli in lingua inglese. La qualità dell'audio di questa versione restaurata è ottima al pari della qualità delle immagini, nonostante si tratti di un DVD. L'unica versione in Blu-ray che ho trovato è destinata al mercato tedesco, quindi una volta deciso di acquistarlo la scelta del DVD in inglese era pressoché obbligatoria. Attualmente non è nemmeno in programma l'uscita di alcun Blu-ray in italiano. Su Amazon si può trovare anche un'altra versione in inglese di questo cofanetto, solitamente disponibile ad un prezzo inferiore e la differenza rispetto a questa è che in quella mancano i sottotitoli in inglese ed è disponibile solo l'audio originale. Spero di essere stato utile.