Some days back I reviewed The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Volume One, which contains three movie-length episodes produced towards the end of the run of the great Granada television series.
There are five volumes in all of the Granada television series in this collection from Universal. The series' were produced from 1984 to 1994, and were compulsive viewing from beginning to end.
However, Universal has, in its own special but unexplained wisdom, decided to delete the first dozen episodes from its series of five box-sets.
Instead, its DVD series begins (well, sort of begins) with the 13th and final episode of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and then continues with all the episodes from The Return of Sherlock Holmes and the final Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
I say 'sort of begins' because Universal has decided to issue the series almost totally in reverse order.
To watch the series chronologically, you must begin with the third disc of the fifth box set, which contains the final episode of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Final Problem. This is the classic tale where Sherlock Holmes tracks down and finally confronts the greatest villain of Europe, Professor Moriarty, in a duel which sees both combatants plunge to their death down an icy Swiss waterfall.
This third disc's second episode is The Empty House, the story Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's irate fans forced him to write, some years after The Final Problem. Holmes miraculously returns from his watery grave, as alive and as astute as ever. The only noticeable thing is that in the intervening years Watson has changed - from actor David Burke to Edward Hardwicke, who plays Watson throughout the rest of the television series.
After Disc 3, we must then skip to Disc 1 of this set, if we are to preserve proper series order. This contains the episodes The Musgrave Ritual and The Abbey Grange - both rattling good yarns. The Musgrave Ritual is notable for introduction of the five percent solution - Holmes's resort to an injection of cocaine to relieve terminal boredom. Brett plays the cocaine-fevered, almost hysterically affected Holmes to perfection.
Disc 2 continues with some of the set's strongest episodes, The Priory School and The Second Stain. The latter, when the Great Consulting Detective's help is called on by no less than Britain's Prime Minister, is thought by many to be the finest in the entire series.
That's set five. Extraordinarily confusing chronologically, thanks to Universal's strange packaging. And if someone is unwise enough to first buy and view box set two and follow with sets three, four and five, they'll be finding a prematurely aged Holmes, who seems to grow younger and more agile with each passing episode.
Here, for some guidance, is a list of episodes for all the sets, with an indication of where they fit in the entire series of Granada's Sherlock Holmes.
Remember, viewing should start with disc 2 of box set number five.
The three-disc set five has:
Disc 3:
The Final Problem (final of 13 episodes spread over two seasons, in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Empty House (episode one, season three).
Disc 1:
The Musgrave Ritual (episode three of series three, The Return of Sherlock Holmes).
The Abbey Grange (episode two of season three, Return)
Disc 2:
The Priory School (episode six of season three, 'Return')
The Second Stain (episode four of season three, Return).
The three-disc set four has:
Disc 3
The Man with the Twisted Lip (episode five, season three, Return)
The Six Napoleons (episode seven, season three, Return).
Disc 2
The Devil's Foot (episode three, season four, Return)
Silver Blaze (episode four, season three, Return)
Disc 1
Wisteria Lodge (episode five, season four, Return)
The Bruce Partington Plan (episode six, season four, Return)
The three-disc set three has:
Disc 3:
The Problem of Thor Bridge (episode one, season five, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes)
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax (episode two, season five, The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes)
Disc 2:
Shoscombe Old Place (episode three, season five, Case-book)
The Boscome Valley Mystery (episode four, season five, Case-book).
Disc 1:
The Illustrious Client (episode five, season five, Case-book)
The Creeping Man (episode six, season five, Case-book).
The three-disc set two has:
Disc 3:
The Three Gales (episode one, season seven, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes)
The Dying Detective (episode two, season seven, Memoirs).
Disc 2:
The Golden Pince-nez (episode three, season seven, Memoirs)
The Red Circle (episode four, season seven, Memoirs).
Disc 1:
The Mazarin Stone (episode five, season seven, Memoirs)
The Cardboard Box (episode six, season seven, Memoirs).
The two-disc set one has:
Disc 1:
The Hound of the Baskervilles (episode seven, season four, Return.
Disc 2:
The Master Blackmailer (episodes one and two, season six)
The Last Vampyre (episodes three and four, season six).
Missing are the first 12 episodes (seasons one and two) of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Also missing is The Sign of the Four (episodes one and two of season four) and The Eligible Bachelor (episodes five and six of season six). All these missing episodes are available
in Region 1.
Also missing is the story of the Giant Rat of Sumatra. Perhaps Universal thought the world was not yet ready for that tale?
