Serial posting!
Mar. 26th, 2009 07:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elabyI listened to two different BBC radio Sherlock Holmes stories today, and I've noticed something about these - the canonically worst stories make the best radio plays XD I think it's because Bert Coules reworks the stories and writes his own dialogue, which is always wonderful.
Like this XD
I listened to "The Creeping Man," which I thought was weird when I read it but not awful. The Granada episode was certainly bizarre enough, and I've read some criticism that puts it up there with the really dubious stories. But there were such BRILLIANTand slashy dialogue in the BBC radio version! Like this, when Holmes was saying that one can learn a lot about a person and their family by observing their dog.
Holmes: "In addition to a thriving medical practice and an ever-watchful wife, does a loveable family dog play a part in your new domestic arrangments?"
Watson: "A dog? No."
Holmes: "But if I were to study Dr. Watson's dog, what might I learn?"
Watson: "I think, Holmes, even you would learn little from a hypothetical dog."
Holmes: "Might I witness it whining at you, tail thumping impatiently, begging to be taken out on adventures? Hm? Yes, only when you and the mutt were alone together, of course."
Subtle, Holmes. Very subtle. *cracks up*
There was also an extremely veiled Victorian conversation about sex, which was delightful. And Holmes asking a woman in her twenties (purely in the interests of the case, of course) to tell him "the sort of secrets that, er, ah, you would tell a young lady friend of yours" was priceless.
And then I listened to "The Mazarin Stone," which was one of the stories I definitely didn't like. But the BBC version was pretty marvelous. Especially since it included Clive Merrison doing various Holmes-character-voices XD In particular, there was the return of rude plumber Billy Escott from "Charles Augustus Milverton."
Holmes, in character as some disreputable person or other, informing on himself, as it were: "There's Billy Escott, the plumber. He's got a tongue that could melt your ears off, he has."
Yeah, we know XD We've heard him talk about his toolbox.
And Mrs. Hudson is fantastic. Since Watson is on vacation with Bert Coules's post-Mary wife Jean, Mrs. Hudson acts as Holmes's sounding board, and she gives him the clue that solves the case. It's wonderful. And this was interesting: when Watson came by to make Holmes eat something, Mrs. Hudson worried that his wife would be waiting for him at home. Watson says, quite sharply, "Mrs. Watson has had my undivided attention for the past two weeks. I think I'm entitled to at least one day on my own."
Oh. Okay o_o *secretly pleased* And then, at the end, Holmes and Watson have this delightful exchange:
H: "Do you have to rush off back to hearth and home?"
W: "I told Jean to expect me when she saw me."
H: "I'm glad to hear you're still master under your own roof."
W: "You have a most peculiar idea of what marriage is all about. Why do you ask, anyway?"
H: "Because I find myself in urgent need of your assistance."
W: "You do?"
H: "Oh yes."
W: "Well, then. I suppose I'm yours to command, as usual."
H: "Excellent."
And only related because I was transcribing these when it happened, have any of you ever had olifactory (smell) hallucinations? I do sometimes. And today, I smelled leaf mold at work. Not, like, anything that could have possibly been in my hermetically sealed building. Not even like digging-in-the-garden smell. Specific decaying earth. It was weird, and familiar. Hm.
Like this XD
I listened to "The Creeping Man," which I thought was weird when I read it but not awful. The Granada episode was certainly bizarre enough, and I've read some criticism that puts it up there with the really dubious stories. But there were such BRILLIANT
Holmes: "In addition to a thriving medical practice and an ever-watchful wife, does a loveable family dog play a part in your new domestic arrangments?"
Watson: "A dog? No."
Holmes: "But if I were to study Dr. Watson's dog, what might I learn?"
Watson: "I think, Holmes, even you would learn little from a hypothetical dog."
Holmes: "Might I witness it whining at you, tail thumping impatiently, begging to be taken out on adventures? Hm? Yes, only when you and the mutt were alone together, of course."
Subtle, Holmes. Very subtle. *cracks up*
There was also an extremely veiled Victorian conversation about sex, which was delightful. And Holmes asking a woman in her twenties (purely in the interests of the case, of course) to tell him "the sort of secrets that, er, ah, you would tell a young lady friend of yours" was priceless.
And then I listened to "The Mazarin Stone," which was one of the stories I definitely didn't like. But the BBC version was pretty marvelous. Especially since it included Clive Merrison doing various Holmes-character-voices XD In particular, there was the return of rude plumber Billy Escott from "Charles Augustus Milverton."
Holmes, in character as some disreputable person or other, informing on himself, as it were: "There's Billy Escott, the plumber. He's got a tongue that could melt your ears off, he has."
Yeah, we know XD We've heard him talk about his toolbox.
And Mrs. Hudson is fantastic. Since Watson is on vacation with Bert Coules's post-Mary wife Jean, Mrs. Hudson acts as Holmes's sounding board, and she gives him the clue that solves the case. It's wonderful. And this was interesting: when Watson came by to make Holmes eat something, Mrs. Hudson worried that his wife would be waiting for him at home. Watson says, quite sharply, "Mrs. Watson has had my undivided attention for the past two weeks. I think I'm entitled to at least one day on my own."
Oh. Okay o_o *secretly pleased* And then, at the end, Holmes and Watson have this delightful exchange:
H: "Do you have to rush off back to hearth and home?"
W: "I told Jean to expect me when she saw me."
H: "I'm glad to hear you're still master under your own roof."
W: "You have a most peculiar idea of what marriage is all about. Why do you ask, anyway?"
H: "Because I find myself in urgent need of your assistance."
W: "You do?"
H: "Oh yes."
W: "Well, then. I suppose I'm yours to command, as usual."
H: "Excellent."
And only related because I was transcribing these when it happened, have any of you ever had olifactory (smell) hallucinations? I do sometimes. And today, I smelled leaf mold at work. Not, like, anything that could have possibly been in my hermetically sealed building. Not even like digging-in-the-garden smell. Specific decaying earth. It was weird, and familiar. Hm.
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-28 12:15 am (UTC)They TOTALLY are. There's no denying it XD
I could go into all the Victorian post Darwin anxiety but I won't bore you with that now.
Ahaha, that never even occurred to me! Duh! That's hilarious. The crazily dubious science is incongruous, too, because the earlier stories are so rooted in reality.
Granda's version wasn't too bad, even though Granada episodes in general were rather rubbish by that point.
Erg, I know, and that makes me sad. I don't remember much about the episode except the Professor jumping around in a tree, and I don't think it dawned on me until I saw that (having read the story some time before) that they were actually trying to say he was turning into a monkey. Not sure how I missed that O_o
Is it wrong that if I knew Clive Merrison I would totally make him do that voice a lot just to amuse me?
No way, Escott is brilliant XD I love the way he talks.
I'm glad somebody else is disturbed by the olifactory hallucinations too!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-28 07:38 am (UTC)Scientific minds like Doyle (although he was a little crazy as well) who subsribed to Darwin's theories became quite afraid that if man could rise above the animal, there was nothing to stop him falling back again. Many Victorian stories have this theme, so at the time I suppose it wasn't so wacky. I'm such a literature bore
Re Granada though, with the Creeping Man we do get the unexpected pleasure of seeing Lestrade! Yay!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-28 10:44 pm (UTC)Seeing Lestrade always makes things better :)