Famous screen-actor VINCENT PRICE (he of THRILLER fame to you mere youngsters) regarded BASIL RATHBONE and JEREMY BRETT as joint-equal in their portrayal of BAKER STREET's celebrated Victorian detective, SHERLOCK HOLMES. To him, they were both simply too good to choose between them. True, Brett's TV series benefited from being set in the proper period that author SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE had written about, whereas, apart from two instances, Rathbone's films had been updated to the then-present day for wartime audiences, but the performance of both actors transcended the times in which their respective productions were set.
When The ADVENTURES Of SHERLOCK HOLMES first appeared on ITV back in 1984, I was instantly an ardent and appreciative viewer of the GRANADA programme. For the first time since NIGEL STOCK back in the 1960s, DOCTOR WATSON was played straight and not for laughs - unlike NIGEL BRUCE's fumbling, bumbling (though endearing) performance in the Rathbone pictures. I remember being much impressed when, in one particular Granada episode, Holmes and Watson exchanged a knowing and amused glance over a would-be client's manner as he related the details of what perplexed him. It immediately made the characters seem more human and believable, and conveyed the rapport between the pair far more effectively than mere dialogue would've done.
DAVID BURKE made an excellent Watson opposite Brett's Holmes, and was much lauded at the time for his more serious portrayal of the character. At first I was somewhat disappointed when he decided not to reprise his role in the next series, The RETURN Of SHERLOCK HOLMES, though EDWARD HARDWICK wasn't long in establishing himself in the part.
The strange thing is, watching Burke's performance nowadays whenever the show is repeated, I'm struck by something that neither I nor anyone else picked up on at the time - namely, that there is actually a discernible hint of the buffoon about his Watson that was completely absent in Hardwicke's characterization. (Although, admittedly, had he never assumed the role, this aspect of his predecessor's portrayal may well have remained less obvious.) Curious that, despite being celebrated for having essayed Watson closer to how Sir Arthur originally envisaged him, he's actually somewhere betwixt Bruce's and Hardwicke's interpretations - leaning more towards the latter of course, as Hardwicke continued in the direction that Burke had embarked on.
However, just as Rathbone and Brett are regarded equally as the epitome of Holmes in the estimation of many viewers, so too are Burke and Hardwicke considered to be the finest examples of Dr John Watson - Holmes' friend, colleague, companion and biographer. Those Granada programmes are going to be a tough act to follow.
A DVD boxed set of The COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES is available from HMV and other good music & movie stores.