Hero
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Post by Hero on Jan 15, 2008 16:47:35 GMT
Anybody else here enjoy Agetha Christie's Poirot?
Aside from Jonathan Creek I enjoy a good murder mystery. Poirot is certainly different from the usual things I watch.
As far as I know The Poirot TV series is still being made but not as regular as before. The DVD sets are pretty expensive but George and me like the investment.
===KEN
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jan 15, 2008 19:54:40 GMT
David Suchet is good, but I often find the supporting cast rather weak and the stories too drawn out.
Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes is the best in my book.
Martin
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Post by legios on Jan 15, 2008 20:36:54 GMT
David Suchet is good, but I often find the supporting cast rather weak and the stories too drawn out. Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes is the best in my book. Martin I'd agree that most of the "Poirot" stories don't quite stand up to their running time. They would work better if they trimmed the running time a little in favour of a slightly stronger pace. Suchet is far and away the strongest actor in their regular ensemble, and often outclasses the guest cast by a considerable distance, and this can sometimes let the series down. They can sometimes be enjoyable but I do find them a bit sluggish. My sister introduced me to the Brett "Sherlock Homes" (she's the real "Holmes" mavern in our family, I in comparison just dabble). One of the things I like in that particular version is that Brett is generally partnered with one of the best screen Watsons, in the shape of Edmund Hardwicke. Hardwicke brings a nice portrayal to the part - he helps to paint Watson as being far from a foolish or unintelligent man, which makes Holmes all the more impressive for being so much his intellectual superior. (My sister seems to be doing a lot of reintroducing me to historical screen detectives. Poirot, Holmes and now she has loaned me the complete run of the "Cadfael" adaptations on DVD. The latter can be a bit variable but often have quite strong casts - one had Derek Jacobi and Julian Glover sharing scenes, which was a rare treat). Karl |
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jan 15, 2008 21:27:47 GMT
Mrs A is a big fan. Has them all on DVD.
How do you compare the shorter one hour ones to the longer ones ?
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 15, 2008 23:00:03 GMT
I will admit to enjoying an episode of Poirot from time to time when the mood strikes. Mostly for Suchet's performance.
Only seen a handful of Brett's Holmes episodes. They seemed good and I would like to see the full run sometime.
Never seen Cadfael.
-Ralph
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jan 16, 2008 18:39:32 GMT
My folks have got the full Brett Holmes run in a box set. They adhere very closely to Conan Doyle's stories. The atmosphere is well done, the Watsons are both good (Hardwicke only took over after the Moriarty showdown), but the top selling point is Brett himself. Just perfect.
Re: Poirot, I can't watch the extended ones (those longer than one hour). They just drag too much. Not Suchet's fault.
The detective show with the greatest disparity between the quality of the lead performance and the crapness of the story and supporting cast has to be Columbo. They are all too long also. Just cut out the scenes that don't have Peter Falk in them, that's what I say! (Switching on 15 minutes late usually helps in that regard.)
Martin
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2008 20:42:54 GMT
Not particulary into detective shows as a whole but there are a few odd ones I have enjoyed watching over the years. I've watched one or two Sherlock Holmes episodes and the same goes with Poirot and I enjoyed them but wouldn't make a special effort to watch them. Its just a shame that Jeremy Brett passed away a few years ago as I believe he was the best actor to ever play Sherlock Holmes and he could have gone on to make many more episodes if he had lived.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jan 16, 2008 21:26:27 GMT
Mrs A can't watch Cadfael as they deviate from the books too much.
I'm a big Morse fan. Love em - both media. Though the TV of Remorseful Day is a travesty. If you only ever read one Morse book read that one. The TV looses reams of plot in it's adaptation and has Morse peg it very differently.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Jan 16, 2008 21:27:32 GMT
I hope Ken doesn't mind but I've modded the thread title to reflect broadened discussion within.
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jan 16, 2008 21:52:19 GMT
I loved Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes and would agree he was probably the best to ever play the role. Though I do love the old Basil Rathbone films as well.
Andy
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jan 16, 2008 21:55:13 GMT
The detective show with the greatest disparity between the quality of the lead performance and the crapness of the story and supporting cast has to be Columbo. They are all too long also. Just cut out the scenes that don't have Peter Falk in them, that's what I say! (Switching on 15 minutes late usually helps in that regard.) Martin I wouldn't say that Columbo necessarily had a bad supporting cast. I'd agree the late 80's early 90's series were pretty pants but the older series generally had a fairly good supporting cast, even if the stories were not always up to par. Andy |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jan 17, 2008 8:01:01 GMT
I loved Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes and would agree he was probably the best to ever play the role. Though I do love the old Basil Rathbone films as well. Ach! But Basil Rathbone did many made-up strange stories set in the wrong era (WWII). Nigel Bruce was a funny Watson, and the Churchill moments at the end were amusing, but I can't take that Holmes seriously. Brett had integrity and stuck to the Conan Doyle canon, both in spirit and largely in letter. He managed to film most of Doyle's Holmes stories before he died. Sorry, Ken, for messing up your Poirot thread!  Martin |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Jan 17, 2008 10:49:57 GMT
Yeah I'm not so fond of the WWII stuff but I liked Rathbone's performances.
Andy
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on May 26, 2008 18:24:15 GMT
A master detective at work:
Martin
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Hero
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Post by Hero on Jan 11, 2009 23:37:07 GMT
I just finished up watching the Poirot 20th Anniversary weekend and ITV3 ended it amusingly by screening Sherlock Holmes (The Eligable Bachelor) straight after the last Poirot show of the marathon.
Peter Cushing Holmes adventures are going quite cheaply on DVD whereas the Jeremy Brett outings are still quite pricey. Since ITV3 are showing the JB Holmes stuff too, my Sky+ will be maxed out. Now I need the time to watch it all.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2009 17:28:54 GMT
I was wondering if anybody here is interested in any of the detective TV shows from yesteryear. I'm not exactly a fan of the modern day shows but I do find the classics somewhat interesting. At the moment I'm finding the classic 80's show Dempsey & Makepeace a worthy watch at night times and was wondering if there are any other shows that people could recommend to me.
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Post by blueshift on Sept 5, 2009 17:31:27 GMT
For me, it is all about Columbo
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 5, 2009 17:39:52 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2009 17:49:46 GMT
I knew there was another detective show thread around somewhere as I can remember reading it but I couldn't find it.
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Post by Philip Ayres on Sept 5, 2009 21:25:06 GMT
Which detective's first on screen line was "Get Your Trousers On, YOU'RE NICKED !"
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 6, 2009 6:49:06 GMT
Which detective's first on screen line was "Get Your Trousers On, YOU'RE NICKED !" Miss Marple? Martin |
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Post by dyrl on Sept 6, 2009 7:37:03 GMT
At the risk of being savaged, I must point out the obvious to Zubdog, and not so obvious to others - namely the greatest classic detective show of all time... although technically it's certainly a bit newer than Columbo and other classics (but hey... if Transformers can recycle the term Classics and first put it on original G1 toys and then on the Henkei/Univers/classic line then...) Anyways - obviously the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya! Not least because the star protagonist herself proclaims that she is the "Chief Detective," and not least because of the two part "Closed Circle" mystery, but the entire show is very inspired by the dective/mystery genre amongst other things and is one "ongoing case" of trying to figure out just who Haruhi Suzumiya is while making sure she doesn't blow up the universe in the process of her fun and games. Also, the a-symetrical structure of the show lends it an air of mystery and suspence that would be perfect for any truly good dective show. The only other thing I can thing of is way-way-way back classics... but I like this kind of stuff: Namely the adventures of Phillip Marlow as chronnicled by Raymond Chandler, who, if I'm not mistaken also chronicled the adventures of detective Sam Spade? In either case, Bogart's masterful renditions of underdog private dicks is top class stuff and I will always recomend it, even though these are movies rather than series, they are still the best there is: The Maltese Falcon The Big Sleep To Have and Have Not Hm... Some people - well...lots of people...really got into Agatha Christie if I recall correctly from my youth - but I think I was too young to get into it.... I did LOVE Dynasty though, which, although it really wasn't a detective show by a long shot, but rather a cheesy soap opera, had enough suspence and mystery in it to qualify for sub-par mysetry entertainment And... finally... again a big time long shot but... The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics by Eastman and Laird. There was a LOT of detective inspired plot in there... Pete |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2009 11:37:20 GMT
I don't count manga and anime as proper detective shows. My definition of a detective / cop show is one that is a live action show usually from either here in Britain or from America. Manga and anime are worth watching (well, some of them anyway depending on which type of the genre you like) but they just don't have the same feel as a live action detective show.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Sept 6, 2009 14:37:41 GMT
If we're talking about TV shows rather than literature, then I find the lead performance to be the most important element. After all, good stories are already there in detective literature waiting to be adapted, so there's no excuse for having a poor plot, but once you've chosen the story the lack of a genius to play the genius will make the whole endeavour fall flat.
And I consider Jeremy Brett's Holmes to be the best portrayal of the super-detective.
Jump to 4:00 in this clip and watch up to 8:45 (in particular the silent sequence beginning from 6:00) to see his depiction of the world's greatest sleuth in his element:
Who needs modern CSI techniques when you have this guy?
Martin
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Post by legios on Aug 12, 2010 19:59:06 GMT
My birthday present from my sister has been picked up from the post office today. I know what it is, she had to tell me to prevent me from buying it myself - the envelope contains a neatly and precisely wrapped boxed set of the Granada Sherlock Holmes adaptations. Sadly I cannot watch it yet, as honour demands that it be placed aside until the week after next when I can open it legitimately.
In the meantime I have stumbled across, on one of the BBC digital channels, the Swedish television series based on Henning Mankell's Wallander novels. Not the Kenneth Branagh adaptation that the BBC has done recently but a subtitle Swedish language series of TV specials. It makes for an interesting comparison with the books, which I have recently made a start on after running short of American and Detective fiction that I actually a)wish to read and b) can actually get my hands on.
The series does a good job of catching both the sense of the mundanity of some aspects of police work and the pensive sense of regret about the way Sweden has developed that the books seem to have. The casting is quite good as well - the lead is a credibly beaten down and weathered Kurt Wallander. Has an interesting feel to it - made for an interesting comparison with the much glossier Sherlock.
Karl
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Post by Philip Ayres on Nov 26, 2011 13:02:08 GMT
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Hero
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Post by Hero on Nov 26, 2011 13:49:42 GMT
Thank goodness for that. I was starting to doubt ITV would ever stick their thumb out and get things going.
I have also seen James Bond JNR. The cartoon wasn't that bad, but my worst memories are of the SNES game released around the time. Another THQ stinker IIRC.
===KEN
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Post by Stomski on Jan 3, 2012 16:49:56 GMT
Not to steer away from Sherlock, but...
Quincy FTW!
Also, for a more modern TV detective - Monk. I hadn't heard of this until mid 2010, but it ran for 8 series which is pretty impressive.
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Jan 3, 2012 17:41:10 GMT
Also, for a more modern TV detective - Monk. I hadn't heard of this until mid 2010, but it ran for 8 series which is pretty impressive. No doubt the inspiration for... MONKFISH! Martin |
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Hero
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Post by Hero on Jan 9, 2012 2:36:57 GMT
Missed Sherlock today  . Managed to watch a few Jonathan Creeks however. Will have to catch the Hounds of Baskerville through other means. ===KEN |
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. Managed to watch a few Jonathan Creeks however. Will have to catch the Hounds of Baskerville through other means.