Sherlock Holmes Collection [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Cushing first played the great detective in the Hammer film, Hound of The Baskervilles in the late 1950's. He then reprised the role a decade later in the series contained in this DVD. Cushing then played the role one further time in the TV movie The Masks of Death in the mid 1980's.

The only previous release from the 1960's series was a limited release of The Hound of The Baskervilles a few years ago. The other stories contained in this release have not been rebroadcast in the UK since their original transmission, which gives them a considerable rarity.

It has to be said that the production leaves something to be desired. Cushing was always unhappy that each story was recorded at too fast a pace, leaving little time to correct errors. This is apparent in the transmitted stories, with fluffed lines and jerky camerawork.

If you are prepared to tolerate this, then there is much to appreciate. Peter Cushing gives a wonderful performance, ably assisted by Nigel Stock, who falls somewhere between the amiable buffoon of Nigel Bruce and the subtler David Burke and Edward Hardwicke.

The five stories contained on this boxset are The Hound of The Baskervilles, The Sign of Four, The Blue Carbuncle, A Study In Scarlet and The Boscombe Valley Mystery. Hound has a running time of 100 minutes whilst the others run for 50 minutes.

An essential purchase for fans of Holmes, Cushing or classic British television.

It's too bad so many episodes of this fine series were lost (including, apparently, the episode that has an appearance by Edward Hardwicke). But the surviving episodes are worth watching for the casual Holmesan and mandatory for the Holmes obsessives. It is shot in videotape in the studio and on film outside the studio, but some of the best British television ever was done the same way, such as "The Pallisers" and "Lillie." At its worst, "Sherlock Holmes" looks no more stagey than "I, Claudius".

Peter Cushing was too diverse an actor (and too well known, especially in the States) to be identified with Holmes the way Brett was. Holmes is just another in his wide array of performances. But he is a good, if not definitive, Holmes and the series holds up as well as anything else made during its period. Because it was set in the Victorian era it avoids the garish 1960's decor that tempted other contemporary shows, even those as good as "The Prisoner", and putting them in a time capsule. It may not surpass the first few Brett series, but this box set of dvds can sit proudly beside the Brett Holmes on the shelf with its chin up.