This is, in my view, probably the best of an excellent series. Although the basic premise of the story, that the world's greatest consulting detective should, by complete chance, come into possession of a recently-stolen priceless gemstone, is rather far-fetched, that is the premise on which Conan Doyle based his story and so it is the burden under which the screenwriters, director, and cast have to labour. And labour they do, with magnificent results!
Jeremy Brett is at his most Holmesian, portraying the great man's idiosyncracies with remarkable effect. Aroused from sleep by Mrs Hudson, and clearly in a bad temper as a result, he stumbles into the living room in search of matches where Peterson, whose presence he has obviously forgotten in the several seconds since Mrs Hudson told him he was there, startles him. The expressions on Brett's face as Holmes goes from surprise to polite charm, whilst trying not to pass through visible annoyance on the way, are a delight. Although feeling (perhaps genuinely) that he should be polite to Peterson, whom he knows, he shows no such qualms when talking to Mr Henry Baker, whom he dismisses with an airy wave of his hand, leaving Watson to politely show him out. The interchange between Holmes and Watson when discussing the hat is among the best of the series, with David Burke as Watson at his most indulgently sceptical of his friend's deductions.
The supporting cast are especially impressive. Rosalind Knight creates a particularly loathsome Countess of Morcar. Her every whim pandered to by liveried flunkeys to the extent that she doesn't even have to open doors or carry parcels for herself, she still complains that "I do find preparing for Christmas quite an ordeal", and the aura of wealthy, privileged entitlement and contempt for the lower classes who serve her which she radiates is enough to make one wonder, just for a moment, whether communism might not be such a bad idea after all. Eric Allan brings a fine portrayal of Breckendridge, an honest poultry dealer provoked beyond endurance by repeated questions about a goose, whose anger is channelled first into the opportunity to take a sovereign off Holmes in the form of a bet which he knows from the outset he'll win, and then into chasing Ken Campbell's James Ryder off with a broom. (There's a slight plot hole at this point; the reason Holmes knew he could lure Breckendridge into giving him the information he wanted by means of an invented wager was because his whiskers and the copy of the "Sporting Life" in his pocket showed him to be a betting man. This is explained in the book, but although the character is indeed carrying a copy of the paper in his pocket it's not referred to, so the reason for the ploy of the bogus wager may be lost on some of the audience who haven't read the original). Frank Middlemass gives a very sympathetic performance as Henry Baker, a man of learning fallen on hard times, and the aforementioned Ken Campbell does a good job of the snivelling James Ryder, whose scheme for fabulous stolen wealth has come so spectacularly unravelled.
The whole series is excellent, to the extent that no-one else needs to bother trying to do Sherlock Holmes any more - Jeremy Brett's done it. The characterisations in this episode, and the interplay between them, make The Blue Carbuncle the best of the best.
Jeremy Brett is at his most Holmesian, portraying the great man's idiosyncracies with remarkable effect. Aroused from sleep by Mrs Hudson, and clearly in a bad temper as a result, he stumbles into the living room in search of matches where Peterson, whose presence he has obviously forgotten in the several seconds since Mrs Hudson told him he was there, startles him. The expressions on Brett's face as Holmes goes from surprise to polite charm, whilst trying not to pass through visible annoyance on the way, are a delight. Although feeling (perhaps genuinely) that he should be polite to Peterson, whom he knows, he shows no such qualms when talking to Mr Henry Baker, whom he dismisses with an airy wave of his hand, leaving Watson to politely show him out. The interchange between Holmes and Watson when discussing the hat is among the best of the series, with David Burke as Watson at his most indulgently sceptical of his friend's deductions.
The supporting cast are especially impressive. Rosalind Knight creates a particularly loathsome Countess of Morcar. Her every whim pandered to by liveried flunkeys to the extent that she doesn't even have to open doors or carry parcels for herself, she still complains that "I do find preparing for Christmas quite an ordeal", and the aura of wealthy, privileged entitlement and contempt for the lower classes who serve her which she radiates is enough to make one wonder, just for a moment, whether communism might not be such a bad idea after all. Eric Allan brings a fine portrayal of Breckendridge, an honest poultry dealer provoked beyond endurance by repeated questions about a goose, whose anger is channelled first into the opportunity to take a sovereign off Holmes in the form of a bet which he knows from the outset he'll win, and then into chasing Ken Campbell's James Ryder off with a broom. (There's a slight plot hole at this point; the reason Holmes knew he could lure Breckendridge into giving him the information he wanted by means of an invented wager was because his whiskers and the copy of the "Sporting Life" in his pocket showed him to be a betting man. This is explained in the book, but although the character is indeed carrying a copy of the paper in his pocket it's not referred to, so the reason for the ploy of the bogus wager may be lost on some of the audience who haven't read the original). Frank Middlemass gives a very sympathetic performance as Henry Baker, a man of learning fallen on hard times, and the aforementioned Ken Campbell does a good job of the snivelling James Ryder, whose scheme for fabulous stolen wealth has come so spectacularly unravelled.
The whole series is excellent, to the extent that no-one else needs to bother trying to do Sherlock Holmes any more - Jeremy Brett's done it. The characterisations in this episode, and the interplay between them, make The Blue Carbuncle the best of the best.