David Stuart Davies - Bending the Willow

David Stuart Davies

BENDING THE

WILLOW

Jeremy Brett

as Sherlock Holmes

with a Foreword by Edward Hardwicke

and

a Reminiscence by David Burke

Calabash Press

Ashcroft, British Columbia

2010

Foreword

IN OCTORBER 1993, during the filming of the last series of Sherlock Holmes, an article appeared in The Independent headed 'UnderratedThe Case of Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes'. Amongst other things in his tribute, Kevin Jackson wrote:

Everything heJeremy Brettdoes can ultimately be justified by chapter , and line from Conan Doyle's stories but he has taken liberties with the myth so confidently that he has, over the last decade, taken possession of it and displaced the literary Holmes. For me that is the hallmark of great acting: to illuminate a text in a way that the author could not have visualised.

I believe that Kevin Jackson was correct: Jeremy never received the recognition his achievement deserved. David Stuart Davies's book will, I hope, help to put that right. It is a fine account of the making of the Granada series, and of a complex and much loved actor developing a performance which for many is the definitive Sherlock Holmes. Jeremy's determination to 'get it right', his courage, and his humour are all here, together with the problems his illness created for him, and the effect it had on all of us connected with the series.

Bending the Willow is a wonderful tribute to Jeremy, a very clear and understandable explanation of his illness, and a full, fair portrait of the man. It really does let you see the complexity of his life and his sheer guts and determination.

My association with Jeremy Brett and Sherlock Holmes covers an eight year period. I owe them and Dr Watson a great deal. It was a fascinating timenot always easy, but never dull. More often than not it was most exciting and tremendous fun. You could never forget that you were working with a very special actor, and a very good friend. In spite of his manic depression, Jeremy somehow trained himself to think positively. His determination to get Jeremy Paul's play, The Secret of Sherlock Holmes, put on in London is proof of that. On his black days he would merely say, 'I am a reluctant hero today'.

The exploration of every aspect of Conan Doyle's creation is caught on these pages, and David's impressive knowledge of the stories gives his book an underlining strength.

I would like to pay tribute to the two producers of the series, Michael Cox and June Wyndham Davies, who made all this possible. It is easy to forget when we push the 'on' button of our TV sets the tremendous work that is involved in preparing and presenting just one hour of television drama. It requires great skill and imagination to create the opportunity and conditions that will allow an actor to give such a memorable performance as Jeremy's, to support and encourage during the darker times, and finally to protect the whole enterprise from the accountants who tend to regard period drama as an unnecessary extravagance.

David Stuart Davies's book is a splendid tribute to them and, of course, Jeremy.

EDWARD HARDWICKE

Normandy, France

June 1996

Remembering Jeremy

I'm sorry that Jeremy is no longer with us. I miss his generous mad-cap spirit and blessed eccentricity. Who else would entertain a lady friend to lunch in the BBC canteen with lighted candles mounted on a branched candelabra, set on a lace tablecloth over a formica-topped table? (All these props brought and set up by Jeremy himself.) He celebrated life on every suitable and unsuitable occasion. I remember with embarrassment a birthday when he insisted on serenading me in full voice in the dining room of a staid Lancashire hotel. He was unabashed at the reactions of the solid berghers around him. Alas, I was never able to match his unflinching chutzpah....

... Or his infections conviviality. He had the ability to be everyone's friend. But it did not come carelessly: he worked at it. He knew not just each individual of I he many film crews we worked with, but was genuinely interested in their families and their hobbies. He took snaps of them, and posted them up on a special board. He valued their many and varied skills, and told them so. People respond to that kind of warmth, and respond in kind. It was a happy time for all of us.

Above all, Jeremy was bent on doing justice to the Conan Doyle stories. He was passionate in his determination to be faithful to the originals. He was abetted in I his by our producer, Michael Cox, who had the foresight to see that the world-wide confraternity of Sherlock Holmes lovers would not forgive us if we compromised. The reward is that to this day the Granada series is sold and resold the world over and enjoyed and respected. I suppose one day, somewhere, someone will want to have a go at making a fresh seriesand good luck to them! They will be hard put to find a better Holmes than Jeremy.

However, it came at a cost to his private life. For ten years or so Jeremy lived a hotel life in Manchester. I enjoy the occasional stay in a hotelbut ten years! I suppose it meant that he didn't have to worry about the usual domestic chores: a blessing when he had to get up each day at the crack of dawn to make sure he knew his lines for the day. My workload was minute compared to his. Holmes never slops talking. The public rarely thinks about the effort of memory requirednor should theybut I know it can take hours. I believe the workload eventually cost him his health, physical and mental. When he died he was suffering from a variety of ailments. It would have been difficult for him to work, not least because he would have been impossible to insure. And he had, with the help of Granada TV and Ted Hardwicke, completed his major opus. A Jeremy unable to work in the morning would have been unthinkable. Some kindly spirit up there saw as much, and took him off to celebrate with the angels.

DAVID BURKE

2009

Preface

IN THE WORLD OF FILM, TELEVISION, and theatre there are rare moments when there is a magical yoking together of star to vehicle: a combination which enriches each element and, ultimately, elevates and illuminates both. Without doubt this happened in the early nineteen-eighties when Granada Television in Britain gave producer Michael Cox the opportunity to set up a Sherlock Holmes series and to offer the leading part to Jeremy Brett. Brett became not only the Sherlock Holmes of this generation but also, to many, the definitive impersonator of Arthur Conan Doyle's immortal sleuth. Brett became the man Conan Doyle had createdparticularly in the early episodes of the series, before ill health dogged him and hampered his performancebreathing fresh and vigorous life into literature's favourite detective.

Jeremy Brett's sudden death in September 1995 robbed the acting world of one of its incandescent lights, and the world of Sherlock Holmes of one of its finestdebatably its greatestinterpreters of that complex creature who dwelt at 22IB Baker Street. Brett was a performer who touched many people's lives, and even those who never met him felt a numbing loss at his passing. His own personal charisma, allied to the vibrant chemistry of Holmes, created a special magic which will remain potent for many years.

During the course of the Granada series I had the good fortune to meet and become friendly with Jeremy Brett and Michael Cox, the producer whose idea I he Holmes project was. In many conversations with them, and other individuals involved in the series, I was able to put together an intriguing picture, fragmented bill detailed, of how the series worked and how Jeremy Brett contributed to its success.

The title of this book is a phrase Jeremy Brett used in a discussion with me when analysing his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. He said that in trying to fathom the intricacies of the character, he had occasionally found himself 'bending the willow somewhat, but never breaking it'. I believe this act of 'bending the willow', giving a fresh and dangerous edge to his performance while attempting to remain true to Conan Doyle's conception of Sherlock Holmes, added greatly to the success of the series: it was undeniably instrumental in Jeremy Brett's eventually being regarded as the definitive Sherlock Holmes.