Sherlock Holmes (Severin)

[Admonisher]

With the stand-alone Blu-ray release of Sherlock Holmes (a.k.a. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, the 1968 BBC series featuring Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock) imminent, I thought I would post a few thoughts on the release.



My presumption is that this disc will be identical to that included as part of Severin's Cushing Curiosities boxed set. You can go back and read some of the previous discussion on the thread for that release ... but in a nutshell, I concur that both the video and audio on this release have been compromised in some unfortunate ways.

Severin's Blu-ray is a 23.976fps 1080p upconversion from the show's native 576i 25fps. I compared the video directly to the PAL DVDs released by the BBC in 2004, and the DVDs look significantly better to my eye. The Blu-rays are deinterlaced, but they suffer from intensified video noise (the "grain" is chunkier and more distracting in motion) and there is some noticeable color banding. Comparing the candle flame under the opening title credits of "A Study in Scarlet," for example, the Blu-ray has multiple layers of bands surrounding the flame that are quite obvious. One can detect a bit of this if one views the DVDs frame-by-frame, but it is not nearly so apparent in motion. I saw no real improvement in resolution or color on the Blu-ray, leaving the DVDs as a generally smoother and more pleasant watch.

Compounding matters, the conversion to 23.976fps 1080p has resulted in numerous dropped frames and a 4% slower playback speed. The audio has not been pitch-corrected, so everything is slightly lower in pitch than how it was originally recorded. The PAL DVDs are correct in this regard.

At the end of the day, this is was never a particularly good-looking show. It was made on the cheap and it shows. The main reason to watch is the generally well-written adaptations and the joy (especially if you are a devotee) of watching Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock perform these iconic roles. On that level, you may find that the Blu-ray release suffices for your purposes. Nonetheless, if you insist on optimum video and audio and can view R2 PAL DVDs, I'd say your best bet is to acquire the 2024 BBC releases: three discs that were released individually and also collected into a boxed set. They are not hard to find or very pricey.

(As a footnote, I also have the 2009 A&E DVD set. This suffers from NTSC slowdown, but overall video quality is on par with the PAL set despite the small downtick in vertical resolution.)

Having said all this, I do still recommend the Severin Blu-ray to die-hard fans for one important reason: the supplements. All episodes feature informative audio commentaries, and it's nice that Severin has included a BBC Countdown Clock option. The David Stuart Davies interview with Cushing is not available on any prior release of this series that I am aware of. And the missing episode clips (most of which do not feature Cushing, alas) were previously only available on a bonus DVD that accompanied an obscure book. (That disc also includes a rare Dutch television special featuring Cushing that is not present on the Severin Blu-ray, so it's still worth tracking down for the super-fans.)

My takeaway: a flawed release, but worth owning for fans who will enjoy the supplemental content or have no way to view Region 2 DVDs ... especially if you can get it at a good sale price.

[Richard--W]

Originally Posted by Admonisher

With the stand-alone Blu-ray release of Sherlock Holmes (a.k.a. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, the 1968 BBC series featuring Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock) imminent, I thought I would post a few thoughts on the release.



My presumption is that this disc will be identical to that included as part of Severin's Cushing Curiosities boxed set. You can go back and read some of the previous discussion on the thread for that release ... but in a nutshell, I concur that both the video and audio on this release have been compromised in some unfortunate ways.

Severin's Blu-ray is a 23.976fps 1080p upconversion from the show's native 576i 25fps. I compared the video directly to the PAL DVDs released by the BBC in 2004, and the DVDs look significantly better to my eye. The Blu-rays are deinterlaced, but they suffer from intensified video noise (the "grain" is chunkier and more distracting in motion) and there is some noticeable color banding. Comparing the candle flame under the opening title credits of "A Study in Scarlet," for example, the Blu-ray has multiple layers of bands surrounding the flame that are quite obvious. One can detect a bit of this if one views the DVDs frame-by-frame, but it is not nearly so apparent in motion. I saw no real improvement in resolution or color on the Blu-ray, leaving the DVDs as a generally smoother and more pleasant watch.

Compounding matters, the conversion to 23.976fps 1080p has resulted in numerous dropped frames and a 4% slower playback speed. The audio has not been pitch-corrected, so everything is slightly lower in pitch than how it was originally recorded. The PAL DVDs are correct in this regard.

At the end of the day, this is was never a particularly good-looking show. It was made on the cheap and it shows. The main reason to watch is the generally well-written adaptations and the joy (especially if you are a devotee) of watching Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock perform these iconic roles. On that level, you may find that the Blu-ray release suffices for your purposes. Nonetheless, if you insist on optimum video and audio and can view R2 PAL DVDs, I'd say your best bet is to acquire the 2024 BBC releases: three discs that were released individually and also collected into a boxed set. They are not hard to find or very pricey.

(As a footnote, I also have the 2009 A&E DVD set. This suffers from NTSC slowdown, but overall video quality is on par with the PAL set despite the small downtick in vertical resolution.)

Having said all this, I do still recommend the Severin Blu-ray to die-hard fans for one important reason: the supplements. All episodes feature informative audio commentaries, and it's nice that Severin has included a BBC Countdown Clock option. The David Stuart Davies interview with Cushing is not available on any prior release of this series that I am aware of. And the missing episode clips (most of which do not feature Cushing, alas) were previously only available on a bonus DVD that accompanied an obscure book. (That disc also includes a rare Dutch television special featuring Cushing that is not present on the Severin Blu-ray, so it's still worth tracking down for the super-fans.)

My takeaway: a flawed release, but worth owning for fans who will enjoy the supplemental content or have no way to view Region 2 DVDs ... especially if you can get it at a good sale price.

I will post this review in the Sherlock Holmes on blu-ray thread.


Sherlock Holmes on blu-ray