Some excerpts from a lovely interview with Jeremy Brett were making the rounds on Twitter recently. (The full interview was published in the Fall 1985 issue of The Armchair Detective.) In the article, Brett talks a bit about how he and David Burke approached character development, especially for Doctor Watson:
We asked ourselves, “Who’d stay with Holmes? Well, Watson does. But therefore why does he stay?” All right, he’s fascinated with deduction – he still has never recovered [from the surprise at] Holmes’s knowing he had just come back from Afghanistan – but there’s more than that.
Holmes was obviously not an easy person to live with, what with the indoor shooting practice and the chemical experiments and the impromptu violin practice at all hours. Yet, Watson stays.
I think that what I found in what I call the under-bedding of the part is that somehow Watson sees this man’s need. First of all, Holmes falls apart when he’s not working. […] So he’s obviously a problem child as well as a brilliant friend. Watson sees that. Watson sees that Holmes can’t say “Thank you”; he can’t say “Good night,” can’t say “Help.”
Best friendship in human history, Holmes and Watson. They balance each other. They need each other.
If Watson suddenly decided to go and live, let’s say, in Madagascar, Holmes would be dead inside of six weeks. And that’s what we chose to play.
Selena Buttons went in search of the original magazine issue to read the full interview, but, while the local used bookshop had several issues of The Armchair Detective from the mid-90s and even more from the late-70s, they did not have this particular one from 1985.
What do you think of the way the Granada series portrayed the relationship between Holmes and Watson? Do you have a favorite moment?
But what Holmes does occasionally is rather sweet little things like in “A Scandal in Bohemia” he tells Watson, “You see, I did remember you were coming; here are your cigars.” And it’s the little things that mean a lot. I tried to show how much Holmes does actually need Watson without actually saying it.
This week, let’s talk about chronology. What are your favorite sources for establishing the chronology that is sometimes a bit muddled in the Good Doctor’s writing? Have you tried to write your own chronology of the stories? Why is Watson sometimes so clear about dates, other times very vague, and occasionally downright perplexing?
May 18, 1900: Heidegger’s body was discovered on lower Gil Moor (PRIO) May 18, 1900: Rueben Hayes was arrested in Chesterfield for murdering Heidegger (PRIO)
I have read the comments about the posting of May 5th, and to answer where I gathered my information from, here is the information.
I used the book, A DAY-BY-DAY CHRONOLOGY OF MR SHERLOCK HOLMES, according to Zeisler and Christ, compiled and edited by William S Dorn, BSI (“The Newgate Calendar”), and a member of Dr Watson’s Neglected Patients, the local Scion Society in Denver, Colorado, to which Bill and I have belonged for many years. I do not own a copy of either Zeisler’s or Christ’s Chronologies. I am a poor but devoted Watsonian and look forward to any information that any one would care to share about this or any of the other postings in Tid Bits.
“Destiny”, “Roxie”, “Willow”, and “Pippin” report that copies of the new issue of the Watsonian, “The Doctor and the Duellist” and “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Blank Page” have arrived at their respective addresses.
All of our publications ship from New Jersey via media mail, so I expect to have to wait a few days more out here on the West coast. If you are expecting any of the print publications and do not receive them in the next two weeks, please email Selena Buttons.
May 6, 1891: An account of Holmes’s death appeared in Journal de Geneve (FINA) May 6, 1902: Holmes and Watson took the train to Shoscombe Old Place (SHOS)
With less than 90 days until the August 1 kick-off, teams are gearing up for the 4th Annual John H. Watson Society Canonical Treasure Hunt. We invite you to join in the fun!
As you know, last year teams from the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy and France earned honors in the competition, along with three amazing individual competitors who braved the difficulty alone. These quiz masters have set a high-bar for this year’s competition. Are you up to the challenge?
In keeping with JHWS tradition, this 4th Treasure Hunt will be a difficult 100-question quiz designed to challenge your knowledge of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John Watson, and their greater world. Individual competitors and teams (up to five members) are invited to compete. The competition is open from August 1 through September 1, 2016. As always, the first participant(s) in each category to submit the most correct answers will receive a small, unique and distinctive award from the JHWS. Enjoyment of international bragging rights is a plus and encouraged.
A list of the rules for the competition, along with a list of recommended resources for competitors, can be found on the treasure hunt page. Please send any questions about the treasure hunt to me at treasurehunt@johnhwatsonsociety.com. I will respond to your questions as quickly as possible. As our Buttons, Don Libey, said: “The goal of the Treasure Hunt is to bring together Watsonians, Sherlockians, and Holmesians on a global, collegial basis to further the scholarship and enjoyment of our mutual interest in all things 1895.”
Please share the word about the 2016 Treasure Hunt. Participation grows each year—we look forward to 2016 being our biggest year yet.
“The Great Falls of the Reichenbach” (Turner, 1804)
… upon the afternoon of the 4th we set off together with the intention of crossing the hills and spending the night at the hamlet of Rosenlaui. We had strict injunctions, however, on no account to pass the falls of Reichenbach, which are about half-way up the hill, without making a small detour to see them.
It is, indeed, a fearful place. The torrent, swollen by the melting snow, plunges into a tremendous abyss, from which the spray rolls up like the smoke from a burning house. The shaft into which the river hurls itself is an immense chasm, lined by glistening, coal-black rock, and narrowing into a creaming, boiling pit of incalculable depth, which brims over and shoots the stream onward over its jagged lip. The long sweep of green water roaring for ever down, and the thick flickering curtain of spray hissing for ever upwards, turn a man giddy with their constant whirl and clamour. [FINA]
Plaque marking the location of the final struggle between Holmes and Moriarty, placed by the Bimetallic Question of Montreal and the Reichenbach Irregulars of Switzerland
The fourth of May is a date well known to Sherlockians and Watsonians the world over. On this day, 125 years ago, Holmes and Moriarty fought a final, apparently fatal struggle at the edge of the Reichenbach Falls. What really happened there has been the subject of a number of essays and pastiches over the years.
Today, there are a number of memorial sites one can visit in and around Meiringen. A life-size statue of Holmes, sculpted by John Doubleday, was unveiled by the Sherlock Holmes Society of London in 1988. Nearby, a Sherlock Holmes Museum opened in 1991.
Also in 1991, in honour of the centennial, the Bimetallic Question of Montreal and the Reichenbach Irregulars of Switzerland erected a commemorative plaque near the Falls. There are a few other plaques to be found in the area, including one noting the location of the “Englischer Hof” (otherwise known as the Hotel Rössli, Meiringen).
May 4, 1847: John Ferrier and Lucy were rescued by the Mormons (STUD) May 4, 1882: Ad for Mary Morstan’s address appeared in the Times (SIGN) May 4, 1891: Moriarty died in a plunge over Reichenbach falls (FINA)
