vivdunstan

Nearing the end of Memoirs and on to this tale of a stolen secret treaty ... ( spoilers )

Enjoying my Patreon membership of Time Team, and the bonus content we get to see as a result. They’re digging at Sutton Hoo again right now, and we’re currently watching a patron-only video with Stewart Ainsworth exploring and musing over the landscape.

Going into quite a significant story, that I'd forgotten much of! ( spoilers )

No spoilers from me on this one. Just to say I thought it was another really strong Doctor Who episode tonight. Which had a fantastic idea at the very heart of it, as well as a refreshingly different setting. Great season so far. Just a few more to go sadly!

Loved Doctor Who tonight. Easy 10/10 for me.

( very mild spoiler discussion )

Excavating deep into our DVD collection - it feels like a combination of vertical and horizontal archaeological stratigraphy! - clearing out 30-ish year old VHS tapes (yes really!) and in the process rediscovering some DVD things I forgot we had. Like American Gothic, the short-lived 1995 gothic/horror/fantasy series, that aired in the UK on Channel 4. Well that will be fun to rewatch!

Recently I reread "The Musgrave Ritual" story in the Sherlock Holmes canon. I blogged my thoughts then. In a nutshell it's one of my favourite all time Sherlock Holmes stories, revolving around an old riddle and a treasure hunt. I mentioned in that blog that I planned to rewatch the Jeremy Brett version, and newly watch the Basil Rathbone film version. I've done that now, so will jot down some brief thoughts. Note there are some spoilers in here, though light.

Firstly I rewatched the Jeremy Brett TV version from 1986. This takes some liberties with the plot, which in the original story involved a young Holmes on his own in the past, but here was changed to Holmes and Watson going together to a countryside manor for Holmes to recuperate. There are lots of little elements even early on retained and reworked from the original story, such as Holmes having a big box full of old case papers that tantalise Watson. The TV version puts the story of the manor's butler firmly in the forefront, and we see this back story play out early on. James Hazeldine as butler Brunton is extremely effective, and carries his scenes very well. A few small changes are made to the treasure hunt itself, but the story is otherwise largely faithful. And those changes that are made are effective for transferring it to a TV episode. Good stuff.



The Basil Rathbone 1943 movie version is a much looser retelling, but charming in its own way. Here Watson - during WW2 Britain - is working in a Northumberland convalescence home for servicemen suffering from shell shock. And a series of murders lead him to call in Holmes for help. In this version of the story there are three members of the Musgrave family to meet, not one as in the original story, plus a characterful group of wounded servicemen, who are superbly written and acted. The butler Brunton is retained, though here with a wife. And there's another medic, and also the American airman that Sally Musgrave is in love with. The ritual is totally reworked, not really recognisable from Conan Doyle's original. Rather than a hunt around the physical grounds of the manor, this ritual leads to a giant chess game in the house, with the inhabitants playing the chess pieces as Holmes shouts out moves. Ultimately the secret treasure is uncovered and there is a satisfying ending. But it doesn't feel much like the original story. But, as I said, I like it. The direction is dynamic, with sometimes amazing special effects for 1943. The cast of British and American actors generally do a great job, with only a few dodgy accents (London-born Dennis Hoey as Lestrade has a surprisingly poor accent). The film is a little over an hour long, but full of incident and interest, and kept my attention throughout.



So two fun but different retellings of this Arthur Conan Doyle story. My favourite is the Jeremy Brett version, which is more faithful, and also features my all-time favourite Holmes and Watson pairing of actors. But the Basil Rathbone version is a delight in its own way. There's also a 1912 short silent film version of the story, that can be viewed on the story's Wikipedia page.

Putting this into ( spoiler space )

On to the next audio, and it's another one where Benny's off to another planet, to investigate a curious archaeological thing. In this case she's asked to look for the remains of a local warlord who's key to the local religion.

On plus after the recent run there were no scenes of torture. In fact it's a rather light audio, albeit with some scary scenes. The monks that Benny encounters are a curious bunch, and there turns out to be a reason for that. And what she discovers in the wreckage of a spaceship is not exactly what they expected ...

The best bit about the audio is Benny's quasi companion Keri, an old friend of hers, an almost mouse-like alien, who is there to record Benny's discoveries and broadcast them to viewers across space, using highly amusing roaming cameras. Keri is full of character, and very well played by guest star Jane Goddard (incidentally the wife of TV episode "Dalek"'s writer Rob Shearman). And their rapport, which does evolve too, is a delight to listen to.

So a rather light audio, not outstanding, but entertaining enough. And hey, no signs of torture.

The next audio looks like an important one. Looking forward to that.

Up to episode 38 out of 39 in my Daredevil rewatch prior to Daredevil Born Again launching on Wednesday. An extremely accelerated rewatch, with much skimming within individual episodes. But getting all the key beats. Nearly ready!