Peter Haining - The Television Sherlock Holmes

[dem bones]

Peter Haining - The Television Sherlock Holmes (W. H. Allen, 1986)

Jeremy Brett - Foreword

SHERLOCK HOLMES AT ONE HUNDRED: The Centenary of the Master of Detectives
SHERLOCK ON TELEVISION: The World's Longest-Running Series
A CHRONOLOGY OF HOLMES ON TV
THE ADVENTURE OF THE CASTLEFIELD TRIUMPH: The Making of the Granada Series
THE BAKER STREET FILE
THE STATELY HOLMES
A CASE OF IDENTITY: The Coincidental Story of Two Bretts
A BAKER STREET DAY WITH SHERLOCK HOLMES: In Conversation with the Great Detective
THE CHANGING OF A FIXED POINT: The Men Who Transformed Doctor Watson's Image
THOUGHTS ON SEEING THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES AT THE CINEMA
THE MYSTERY OF WATSON'S DOG: An Old Controversy Reopened
THE FALL OF MORIARTY:

David Burke - Afterword I:
Edward Hardwicke - Afterword II

APPENDIX: The Plots & Credits for The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

Acknowledgements.

Blurb:
The first ever account of Sherlock Holmes on television, illustrated with unique material from many historic productions including photographs from Granada Television's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and containing a Foreword by Granada's Sherlock Holmes, Jeremy Brett, and Afterwords by their two Dr Watsons, David Burke and Edward Hardwicke

Haining invariably presented good vfm, but there are occasions when you can tell his heart is really in it and we find him near the very top of his game with this (altogether now) lavishly illustrated celebration. The lions share is devoted to Granada's sporadically macabre The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett as the violin-torturing sleuth, which is currently seeing heavy rotation on ITV3.

[cauldronbrewer]

I have fond memories of watching Brett's Holmes with my mother. The series inspired me to read all of the original Doyle stories.

[andydecker]

For all the "re-imaginings" and "re-inventions", give me Brett any day. Simply wonderful.

[dem bones]

It's another series I never caught first time around, but am now thoroughly engrossed in. One particularly grim episode - I didn't catch the title and, not having read much of Conan-Doyle outside of his horror and supernatural tales, have no idea which adventure it's derived from - climaxed in the death of two young lovers beneath a layer of ice? The one slight disappointment - hardly Haining's fault - is that the book ends on episode 20, The Six Napoleans, so we don't get the dirt on crowd-pleasers The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1988), The Adventure of the Devil's Foot (1988) or The Last Vampyre, which had to wait until Brett & Hardwicke returned for The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes in 1993

Peter Haining - Ancient Mysteries (Hutchinson Australia/ Sidgewick & Jackson, 1977)

Acknowledgements
Introduction
I. THE HOLLOW EARTH
Extract from The Hollow Earth by Dr Raymond Bernard
II LOST WORLDS
Extract from The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
III WHO DISCOVERED AMERICA?
Extract from St Brendan's account of his voyage to America
IV. THE STONE COMPUTERS
Extract from Beyond Stonehenge by Gerald S. Hawkins
V. SUBMERGED CONTINENTS
Extract from Plato's Timaeus
VI. PHANTOM ISLANDS
Extract from the log of the Atrevida kept by Captain J. de Bustamente, January 1794
VII. THE SECOND RACE
Extract from The Shining Pyramid by Arthur Machen
VIII. ABOMINABLE CREATURES
Extract from Abominable Snowman: Legend Come to Life, by Ivan T. Sanderson
IX. MONSTERS OF THE DEEP
Extract from The Story of the Loch Ness Monster by Tim Dinsdale
X. VISITORS FROM OUTER SPACE?
Extract from `I Believe in Extra-Terrestrial Beings' by Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding

Notes
Select Bibliography
Index

Picked up another of Peter's non-fiction titles on Sunday (am kind of addicted), evidently a companion volume to his The Ancient Mysteries Reader anthology (Gollancz, 1975, Sphere [2. Volumes] 1978), and again very judicious in its use of illustrated material. My main gripe with his The Dracula Centenary Book was an over-reliance on film stills we've seen over and over, but more thought went into this one and the chapter on the Loch Ness Monster is a particular joy. Especially welcome is the reproduction of an attractive London Illustrated News feature from January 1934 depicting the monster's public appearances to date. We also get to meet Mr. Frank Searle, "who has spent 20, 000 hours watching the Loch and claims 24 sightings."

[andydecker]

Jan 9, 2013 12:25:41 GMT dem bones said:

The Last Vampire

Wasn't this 90 minutes and the director went a bit overboard with gothic imagery?

I had some of the eps taped on video, but I really have to buy this on DVD some day.

[dem bones]

Jan 9, 2013 21:50:17 GMT andydecker said:

Wasn't this 90 minutes and the director went a bit overboard with gothic imagery?

That's the one, Andy. A very loose, vaguely Hammer-ish adaptation of The Adventure Of The Sussex Vampire with Jeremy Brett at the top of his game. Such a pity the episode was shot long after publication of Haining's book, as I'd like to have had his take on it.

Anyone tried Anthony Horowitz's recent Holmes novel, the first to be endorsed by the Conan-Doyle estate? Found a copy in the Spitalfields Crypt Charity Shop during the run-up to Christmas, haven't felt inclined to bump it up the pile yet. It's Horowitz so certainly worth reading, but no thanks to the blurb which does its best to make it sound mundane.

Anthony Horowitz - The House Of Silk (Orion, 2011)

Blurb:
THE GAME'S AFOOT ...
It is November 1890 and London is gripped by a merciless winter. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are enjoying tea by the fire when an agitated gentleman arrives unannounced at 221B Baker Street. He begs Holmes for help, telling the unnerving story of a scar-faced man with piercing eyes who has stalked him in recent weeks.

Intrigued, Holmes and Watson find themselves swiftly drawn into a series of puzzling and sinister events, stretching from the gas-lit streets of London to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston and the mysterious 'House of Silk' .. .

[Shrink Proof]

Jeremy Brett simply WAS Holmes. If I read any of the stories it's the image of him that comes into my mind. The price Brett paid for his art in terms of his health, both physical (cardiac problems) and mental (bipolar disorder), was a heavy one. As detailed in this Wikipedia page - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Brett .

[andydecker]

Jan 25, 2013 0:31:51 GMT dem bones said:

Anyone tried Anthony Horowitz's recent Holmes novel, the first to be endorsed by the Conan-Doyle estate?

No, I still haven't bought it, just like the the new Herbert. Holmes really has become a cottage industry which I see with mixed feelings.

[glodfinger]

Jan 9, 2013 12:25:41 GMT dem bones said:

It's another series I never caught first time around, but am now thoroughly engrossed in. One particularly grim episode - I didn't catch the title and, not having read much of Conan-Doyle outside of his horror and supernatural tales, have no idea which adventure it's derived from - climaxed in the death of two young lovers beneath a layer of ice? The one slight disappointment - hardly Haining's fault - is that the book ends on episode 20, The Six Napoleans, so we don't get the dirt on crowd-pleasers The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1988), The Adventure of the Devil's Foot (1988) or The Last Vampyre, which had to wait until Brett & Hardwicke returned for The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes in 1993

The one with the young lovers beneath the ice is THE CARDBOARD BOX which is particularly grim. It's about a woman who receives a box in the post which turns out to contain two severed human ears. One of the wackiest episodes was the later offering THE CREEPING MAN which is major league weird, and touches on horror/sci-fi.

The Haining book is great, and I have that hardback copy. It was sporadically updated and reprinted, so it's quite possible that the updates included Hound and Devil's Foot. I don't think that they changed much else in the book, so it depends how much you want the extra bits.

Whilst the series was still on, I went to see the Granada Studio tours. They allowed you to walk around the Baker Street set, which was a rather peculiar experience. It was like being able to walk into your televison set!

[dem bones]

Thank you very much for the additional info, glodfinger. At time of writing, both The Creeping Man (which I'm not sure I've seen) and The Cardboard Box are easily found online, so a Sherlock Holmes mini-fest later in the week. Will keep an eye out for any later editions of Haining's celebration of the series, as, for me, his plot summaries are a highlight of what is a very likeable book.

[dem bones]

Simon Goodenough - A Study In Scarlet (Webb & Bower, 1983)

Jacket design by Leslie Dominey

Blurb:
An American visitor is found murdered in mysterious circumstances in a London house. A woman's' wedding ring, cigar ash, the monogram on a handkerchief, and a message written in blood are all among the clues that lead Holmes to a second blood-besplattered body in a hotel bedroom where a box of poisoned pills enable him to put his finger on the murderer and reveal a desperate plot of love and revenge that has its roots in Salt Lake City.

Handle the evidence yourself, read the diaries, telegrams, and newspaper reports as they were collected by Dr. Watson. Match your powers of deduction against those of the great Sherlock Holmes.

Charity shops are an indifferent hunting ground these days but every once in a while, something will defy their ruthless "destroy all paperbacks published pre-2010" policy and its our job to be on hand when it happens. This bulky dossier purports to be a facsimile copy of that compiled by Dr. John Watson in relation to the first Sherlock Holmes investigation undertaken shortly after the pair took up residence in Baker Street. It's the full novel interspersed with letters, journal entries, press cuttings, staged photographs (a particular joy), Watson's military papers, Holmes' calling card - there's even a little gold ring sealed inside the back flap. For added authenticity, designer Malcolm Crouch deploys a variety of paper formats, some of them super-flimsy and browned with "age." Holmes provides the occasional handwritten amendment in the margin. As if this weren't enough ephemera to be getting on with, a bonus sticker on the inside cover advises "This W H Smith/ Doubleday Book Club edition was slightly damaged in transit and is now being sold at a special discount price."

[dem bones]

Peter Haining (ed) - The Sherlock Holmes Scrapbook (Treasure Press, 1986: originally NEL, 1973)

Contents include:

Peter Cushing - Foreword
Peter Haining - Introduction
Peter Haining - Sherlock Holmes: A Short Biography

Frank Swinnerton - Sherlock Holmes: World Figure (John O'London, Feb. 19 1954)
J. S. Coltart - The Mary Facets Of Dr. Watson (Fortnightly Review, May 1 1931)
William Vaughan - Villains: Professor Moriarty (The Captain, 1902)
Arthur Conan Doyle - Some Personalia About Sherlock Holmes (The Strand, Dec. 1917)
Lady Conan Doyle - Conan Doyle Was Sherlock Holmes (Pearsons, Dec. 1934)
Edmund Pearson - Holmes Among The Illustrators (Bookman, Aug. 1932)
Desmond MacCarthy - The World Of Books: Sherlockismus! (Sunday Times, Oct. 30 1932)
S. C. Roberts - The Love Story Of The Great Detective (Radio Times, Dec. 26 1952)
Evoe - Tears, Idle Tears (Punch, April 22 1942)
John Montgomery - Eille Norwood: There Goes The Master (Leader, Aug. 23 1947)
E. V. Knox - The Passing Of Sherlock Holmes (The Strand, Dec. 1948)
Ronald. A. Knox - The Apocryphal Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure Of The First Class Carriage (The Strand, Feb. 1947)
Baker Street Reflections (Justice Of The Peace & Local Govt. Review, Sept 1 1951)
Peter Evans - The Mystery Of Baskerville (Daily Express, March 16 1954)
Christopher Morley - The Baker Street Irregulars of New York (Sunday Times, Jan 28 1950)
Anthony Howlett & Michael Pointer - The Great Detective On Stage & Screen (John O'London, Feb. 19 1954)
Peter Chambers - The Women In Sherlock's Life (Daily Express, March 19 1965)
By The Reichenbach Falls (The Times, Aug. 31 1956)

"With the wealth of material at his disposal it might be thought that Mr. Haining's task has been an easy one; all he had to do was dip in with both hands, as it were, and scatter his findings haphazardly upon the following pages. But like all things well done, the loving care he has taken in selection and connotation gives little indication of the enormous amount of research and hard work that has gone into this collection ..."

There may even be some truth in Mr. Cushing's generous endorsement, although it's Mr. Haining's apparent scatter-gun approach to these books appeals to me - the less orderly they look, the better. Hence The Dracula Scrapbook remains my all-time favourite, while The Frankenstein File is maybe too conventional in presentation. The Sherlock Holmes Scrapbook falls somewhere between the two, with an abundance of articles, letters to newspapers, mad ads for booze, fags, and Crawford's cream crackers, and plenty gorgeous illustrative material.

[dem bones]

Peter Haining (ed.) - A Sherlock Holmes Compendium (Warner, 1994: originally W. H. Allen, 1980).

Cover photo: Granada Television

Peter Haining - Introduction

Bram Stoker - The Man Who Wrote Dracula Meets The Man Who Wrote Holmes
S. C. Roberts - The Cult Of Sherlock Holmes
Macdonald Hastings - Conan Doyle Hated Sherlock Holmes
A. Conan Doyle - A Sherlock Holmes Competition
Anonymous - Forerunners Of Sherlock Holmes
Winifred Paget - The Artist Who Made Holmes Real
John Bennett Shaw - "I Play The Game For The Game's Own Sake"
Rolald Knox - Studies In Literature Of Sherlock Holmes
Dorothy Rowe Shaw - A Sherlock Holmes Crossword Puzzle
Key To The Story Titles
A Times Leader
The Problem Of Baker's Street (The Times)
Ellery Husted - The Case Of The Baker Street Plans
Gavin Brend - The English Haunts Of Sherlock Holmes
A Tour Through Holmesian London
Michael C. Kaser - Sherlock Holmes on The Continent
Franklin D. Roosevelt - Sherlock Holmes Was An American!
John Bennett Shaw - Sherlock Holmes And American Presidents
J. Alan Rannie - The Railway Journeys Of Mr. Sherlock Holmes
Bernard Darwin - The Great Holmes Joke
Cunnin Toil - The Adventures Of Picklock Holes
Peter Todd - The Bound Of The Haskervilles
J. M. Barrie - The Adventure Of The Two Collaborators
Peter Haining - The Rivals Of Sherlock Holmes
Maurice Baring - From The Diary Of Sherlock Holmes
Basil Rathbone - An Encounter In Central Park
J. Randolph Cox - Mycroft Holmes: Private Detective
John Bennett Shaw - "You Know My Methods, Apply Them!"
P. G. Wodehouse - From A Detective's Notebook
John Gardner - The Head of The Family
William E. Dunning - The Colonel Moran Quiz
William Leonard - Re: Vampires
J. P. W. Mallalieu - Shady Mr. Holmes
Cryptic Crossword
Sir Robert Mark - A View Of Sherlock Holmes From New Scotland Yard
The $64, 000 Questions NBC Television
Walter Breen - Sherlock Holmes's Horoscope
Evoe - Sherlock Holmes In Space
Holmes Beyond The Grave The Baltimore Sun
Anthony Burgess - The Immortal Crusader
Peter Haining - The Television Super-Sleuth

"Surely My Deductions Are Simplicity Itself ..." Answers to quizzes, etc.
Acknowledgements

Blurb:
The cult of Sherlock Holmes is based on the series of short stories and four novels which make up the complete adventures of the Great Detective, and now fuels a world-wide network of enthusiasts and aficionados who endlessly read, study and debate the facts of his life and cases.
Originally published to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the man who created this remarkable saga, the Sherlock Holmes Compendium has now been fully revised by Peter Haining to include a wealth of new material. Bringing together some of the best articles, essays and illustrations concerning the Holmes legend since he made his debut in 1887. The Compendium boasts among its contributors such luminaries as J. M. barry, P. G. Wodehouse and Anthony Burgess, as well as the actor who personified Holmes on the cinema screen, Basil Rathbone.
With new essays including an exploration of the character's representation on television, the Sherlock Holmes Compendium also contains a generous helping of puzzles and quizzes to test your knowledge, and remains essential reading for any fan of 221b Baker Street's most famous resident.

Haining applies the scrapbook technique to an assortment of Holmesian articles, parodies, pastiches, crossword puzzles & Co.

Cunnin Toil (R. C. Lehmann) - The Adventures Of Picklock Holes: (Punch, 7 Oct. 1893). Glory-seeker Holes outrageously claims the credit for returning the Samovar diamond to the Emperor of Austria, thereby preserving the shaky peace in Europe. An innocent man goes to the gallows as a consequence.

Peter Todd (Frank Richards) - The Bound Of The Haskervilles: (Greyfriar Herald, 4. Dec. 1915). Hurlock Sholmes investigates the apparent suicide of Sir Huckaback who was seen jumping into the yawning chasm in the park on the Haskerville estate after his wife burnt the breakfast. Sholmes quickly establishes that the Baronet has a leap on him to rival that of Spring-heeled Jack, and soon locates the 'dead' man posing as a peasant in a neighbouring cottage.

William Leonard - Re: Vampires: (Baker Street Journal Christmas Annual, 1957). Are Professor Moriarty and Count Dracula one and the same Prince of darkness?

Basil Rathbone - An Encounter In Central Park: Did the cadaverous screen Holmes meet the real Dr. Watson on a park bench in New York? According to the editor, this was written in 1954. No publication details provided.

Evoe - Sherlock Holmes In Space: (Punch, 23 Nov. 1960). Holmes turns astronaut, foils a dastardly Soviet plot to reduce three quarters of the world's population to drooling imbecility.

J. P. W. Mallalieu - Shady Mr. Holmes: (Spectator, 21 Feb. 1953). Convincing evidence that Holmes was a racehorse-nobbling cricket and boxing fixer. Dr. Watson, far from playing for Blackheath, was merely a drunken rugby hooligan.

[dem bones]

Bram Stoker - The Man Who Wrote Dracula Meets The Man Who Wrote Holmes: (The Daily Chronicle, 14 Feb. 1908. originally New York World, 1907). Stoker interviews a reticent Conan-Doyle at his Surrey residence. I Like the sound of ACD's father's paintings. "His mind ran on strange moonlight effects, done with extraordinary skill in water colours; dancing witches, drowning seamen, death coaches on lonely moors at night, and goblins chasing children across churchyards."

Holmes Beyond The Grave: (Baltimore Sun, 1955?). On 7th July, 1955, the 25th Anniversary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Death, the Six Napoleons (Baker Street Irregulars, Baltimore Chapter) claim to have interviewed the author via a seance. He seems in fine fettle.

John Gardner - The Head of The Family: (The Telegraph colour magazine, 29 Nov. 1974). What kind of Criminal Empire might Professor Moriarty has presided over in the late Nineteenth century? A whistle-stop tour of East London's rookeries, specifically Bethnal Green, Whitechapel and Spitalfields, home to "such unlovely byways as Flower & Dean Street, and Dorset Street, at one time known as the most evil street in London."

Bernard Darwin - The Great Holmes Joke: (John O'London's Weekly, 19. Feb. 1954). The author has lost patience with amateur sleuths obsessively picking the bones from the stories until all the fun is drained from them. Pretty much echoes the sentiments of the correspondent quoted in S. C. Roberts The Cult Of Sherlock Holmes (same issue). "I see that you are President of the Sherlock Holmes Society!! I could hardly believe the evidence of my eyes when I read about it. Sherlock Holmes and Watson were fictitious characters invented by Conan Doyle. All there is about these two invented people is what Conan Doyle wrote. There is nothing more to it and very little at that!"

Franklin D. Roosevelt - Sherlock Holmes Was An American!. (A Baker Street Folio: Edited Letters of Franklin D. Roosevelt on the BSI, 1945). The non-existent case FDR builds to support his claim is hardly persuasive.

[dem bones]

Peter Haining (ed.) - A Sherlock Holmes Compendium (W. H. Allen, 1980).

First book find of 2019, from a stall in Spitalfields market. The W. H. Allen edition includes additional illustrations, lacks Bram Stoker's The Man Who Wrote Dracula Meets The Man Who Wrote Holmes, otherwise everything seems to be in order.