These Granada Holmes deals are hit and miss because of the way the creative teams were assigned. This is one of the bad ones, beyond remarking.
There are two mildly interesting things about the episode.
One is the continuing oscillation between supernatural forces and the mechanical logic of life that was popular in Victorian England. These forces pull extremes, even today. This version of the story plays that down. From the very first you know we are dealing with a powdered drug. From the very first you know who did it and why.
The other interesting thing is a continuing issue in film. How do you deal with distortions of reality, like dreams and hallucinations? There seems to be a sort of hack vocabulary for this that TeeVee imposes: some wavy images, threatening situations, blood from skin, short, confusing exposures, jittery camera.
Its done here in the clumsiest of ways. Five years later a more maddened Brett would be in "The Last Vampyre" that was equally bad as a Holmes, but much better in the hallucination department.
Oh and accompanying music that seems to come from only one source. This, my friends is why there will never be a decent Holmes produced for TeeVee. Whenever these choices have to be made, the TeeVee vocabulary is just too hackneyed and ordinary.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
There are two mildly interesting things about the episode.
One is the continuing oscillation between supernatural forces and the mechanical logic of life that was popular in Victorian England. These forces pull extremes, even today. This version of the story plays that down. From the very first you know we are dealing with a powdered drug. From the very first you know who did it and why.
The other interesting thing is a continuing issue in film. How do you deal with distortions of reality, like dreams and hallucinations? There seems to be a sort of hack vocabulary for this that TeeVee imposes: some wavy images, threatening situations, blood from skin, short, confusing exposures, jittery camera.
Its done here in the clumsiest of ways. Five years later a more maddened Brett would be in "The Last Vampyre" that was equally bad as a Holmes, but much better in the hallucination department.
Oh and accompanying music that seems to come from only one source. This, my friends is why there will never be a decent Holmes produced for TeeVee. Whenever these choices have to be made, the TeeVee vocabulary is just too hackneyed and ordinary.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.