Bending The Willow: Jeremy Brett As Sherlock Holmes by David Stuart Davies

Published – Out Now

Price- £7.69 ebook (don’t look at the other format prices you’ll gasp

Jeremy Brett's portrayal of the great detective Sherlock Holmes has been hailed as the best ever. BENDING THE WILLOW is an in-depth look at the actor who said that he wanted his interpretation of Holmes to bend the willow, but not break it. He succeeded brilliantly in bringing the character to life, all the time battling his own personal demon: the manic depression that haunted him for many years.

BENDING THE WILLOW is the definitive study of the man and the making of the Granada (and PBS) TV series.

If Doctor Who is who I credit for getting me into reading SF&F then it is Sherlock Holmes that got me into reading crime and thrillers. My first adult book was an illustrated The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes with the original Sydney Paget illustrations and that was prompted by me becoming a huge fan of the ITV version played by Jeremy Brett. These days we have lots more actors stretching the definition of the role from Jonny Lee Miller to Robert Downey Jnr but Brett is for many the defining role in the late 20th century. In David Stuart Davies’ Bending the Willow – Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes we get an informative examination of the show’s creation and later seasons and the impact this had on an actor previously know for the stage and who was soon fighting his own battle against inner demons.

Davies gives us context that in the early 1980s Holmes tales had either been very loosely adapted movie adaptations or very short BBC dramas. The shadow of Basil Rathbone’s 1940s movies was still around but in the early 1980s Holmes tales were about to fall ou of copyright and ITV were given the idea of doing a set of 13 tales (spread over two series) and Jeremy Brett at the time known for acting in the theatre (and had recently played Doctor Watson) was given the role without even an audition! Brett conscious of the way others had played Holmes as a either a machine or hectoring bully went back to the original novels and found a more nuanced character capable of humour, rage, affection and more. He wanted to ‘bend the willow’ of the character without breaking people’s perception of him. Davies explores how this portrayal evolves and looks closely at each episode for key moments providing background and interviews he did with the cast and crew at the time.

If you’ve ever seen Brett’s performances, then this is a fascinating short read. The context of how this expensive for the time show which even had it’s own Baker Street set is made very clear and it is illuminating to see how quickly this became a huge hit. You get the passion of Brett to get this character right and he was not afraid to push the limits of director’s and writers’ patience to get dialogue and actions from Holmes into the story. You get the feeling this was very much a labour of love for all. Davies gets to talk about Brett’s pet project to get a play about Holmes exploring his psychology up and running and we get to see how he wanted to try different things every night (sometimes to his friend’s Edward Hardwicke’s bemusement). Brett comes across as a really interesting actor finding this tone and approach as he goes along and having to avoid his temptation to play it too large (we nearly had a Holmes with a false nose). The book is not a biography, but you do get odd snippets of his life that may have made his portrayal more three dimensional than the past. Breet came from a stern disapproving military father and that disdain for the military seeps into some stories

But as time passes the studios cut budgets and the main stories had all been shown and it starts in Davies view an inevitable decline. More painfully this period coincided with Brett’s wife dying and a return of his manic depression caused by being bipolar. Being the lead character is such an exhausting role was already heard but this part of the book is sombre as we see Brett’s health rapidly decline. On the one hand very touching that the cast and crew were all supportive of hi even when his behaviour towards themselves could be painful, but you also start to sense a man trapped in the role. Towards the end in one episode Brett was having to be on oxygen between takes and the quality of the stories he himself acknowledged where no longer at their best. It’s a bittersweet ending as Brett regains his mental health but his physical health never recovers and he died still relatively young dreaming of other Holmes projects that would never happen.

Those looking for a biography of the actor won’t find an in depth look at all of his career here but this looks at an era were he became a household name and an exploration of how the show was designed to be different (and set up future incarnations too). Not afraid to throw punches at the later episodes it feels very much a fan commentary (and many originally appeared in fanzines) but lots of interesting points and observations get made. Worth a look!