[Link] Nikki Nelson-Hicks on Sherlock Holmes

Hi, Nikki. Tell our readers about your love of Sherlock Holmes. When did it start? Why has it persisted? What about it grips you so tightly?

“My infatuation with Holmes began in the late ‘80s when I started watching the Granada Sherlock Holmes television series starring Jeremy Brett.  My only experience with Holmes before Brett was watching those horrible Rathbone movies. Granted, Rathbone was a fine Holmes but the movies were terrible! And that Watson…I wanted to strangle him. What an idiot.

“But Brett! Oh, that man! He brought depth and gravitas to the character that no one had done before him. With just the flick of his long hand, he could dismiss a King. With a smirk and a roll of his eye, you felt the depth of his disdain. And when Holmes became angry, you could see the seas boil in Brett’s eyes. He understood the character in a way other actors did not because Brett suffered from bi-polar disorder and knew, very personally, about what it was like to be riding a high as well as drowning in a low. He brought that into his performance and it capped the personality of Sherlock Holmes.

“Why has it persisted?  Because Sherlock Holmes is a badass. Many people think of him as only a stick thin, snooty English aristocratic asshole but he is so much more. He is the one man you want on your side when shit goes down. He is like a terrier, digging for the truth, and he won’t stop until the mystery is solved. He doesn’t let things like law and bureaucracy get in the way. If a little B&E is required, so be it. If he has to lie and trick people to get what he needs, oh well. And God help the fool that messes with anyone Holmes considers under his protection.  He is not beyond pulling strings to bring people down if they kill off a client (“The Five Pips”) or standing by while a victim renders some vigilante justice (“The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton” and “The Adventures of the Devil’s Foot”).

“Yeah, he can be a bastard but sometimes you need a bastard to get things done. Looking at my choice in literary heroes, I tend to run towards bastards. Huh.”

Read the full interview: http://agonyzer.com/?p=770