The release features a Dolby Stereo track that is working well and is without major problems. It may not please the purists but ultimately not every DVD release can look like a million bucks if the source elements are on the brink of complete deterioration. I'd rather be able to see these episodes in this severely limited quality than not at all. A&E must have asked themselves whether it should release material of this quality, and I am glad they decided to go for it. While for an ordinary DVD presentation this would be entirely unacceptable, in this case, I feel it is the nature of the beast. Colors are muted and the overall contrast is fairly weak. There is signal noise in the image as well as an incredible amount of ghosting, giving the image a very soft and washed out look and particularly motion is visible blurry. One can only speculate where the elements for this presentation come from – as I mentioned in my opening, most of the show has actually been lost – so it is not surprising to see that the presentation is full of discoloration and defects. ![]() Starting the with problem that this PAL-produced show had to be transferred to NTSC, resulting in some minor artifacts, the biggest problem is that the image has deteriorated quite dramatically. In terms of the presentation quality, sadly the show hasn't fared very well. Instead of having the shallow field of depth associated with movies typically, this series has a definitive TV look throughout. Sets are limited but manage to produce the desired effects, though the most striking thing about the series is probably its overall look. ![]() The production is decent, particularly for a television production of the era. Cushing manages to capture that aloof attitude very well, that untouchable sense of superiority that infiltrates Holmes' every move and line. I have been re-reading the stories only recently and was struck just how cold and detached a character Holmes is oftentimes in these mysteries. That is a personal preference however and should not be considered a detriment to Cushing's acute portrayal of Holmes. Cushing makes for a good Sherlock Holmes, though in my mind Basil Rathbone will forever remain the penultimate Holmes. This BBC series tried as best as they could to stay true to the original short stories by Doyle, thus presenting us with very faithful interpretations.
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