Douglas Wilmer as Holmes

http://www.librarything.com/topic/136220
This entertaining thread about Gothic films - mostly a dialogue between alaudacorax and housefulofpaper - contains the welcome news in post #199 that the BFI has just released a DVD set of the BBC series featuring Douglas Wilmer as Sherlock. Some regard him as the best screen Holmes and he was given a cameo role in the BBCs recent Sherlock series.

http://shop.bfi.org.uk/sherlock-holmes.html#.VOb2Ny6RFe1

I have just put in an order but the BFI has emailed me to say that it is out-of-stock :-(

Is that the same issue as this one:

http://www.librarything.com/work/12842874/edit/88030910

I can't tell. I got it three years ago from Amazon Canada. IIRC, some material is missing (one or two whole stories, even?) It would be great if they managed to restore them.

Wilmer, like Ron Howard, belongs to the more grounded and mostly good-humoured Sherlocks. He shared his Watson with Peter Cushing. Oh--didn't mean to create a connection between those sentences... :)

>2 LolaWalser: The link I have given is for a 4 DVD set so it looks as if your gaps will be filled. I'll let you know when it eventually arrives ;-)

Yes, please, I'd be very curious on two points: what kind of restoration did they manage (actual film footage or photo stills or cartoon reconstruction?) and did they clean up the image and audio further? (Some eps are in better shape than other, but overall it was perfectly watchable.)

Most of the new material seem to be extras.

>4 LolaWalser: The set arrived today - didn't have to wait long. I have put some details here: http://www.librarything.com/work/15941312/edit/117844322
There are 13 episodes although two, The Abbey Grange and The Bruce-Partington Plans are incomplete: the missing portions have been reconstructed with audio material. Also included are a 2012 interview with Wilmer, an alternative Spanish audio of The Speckled Band), an alternative title sequence for The Illustrious Client and audio commentaries by Wilmer and others on five of the episodes. Total running time is 650 minutes.

The description of the restoration, mostly from 16mm film taken during the original TV series, seems likely to be the same as for your set. I'll have more to say when I have watched a few.

Thanks. My set runs to 550 minutes and lacks any material from "The Abbey Grange" and "The Bruce-Partington plans".

I'd love to hear Wilmer's commentary so I expect I'll be getting the new issue at some point. (Good thing the old one was so cheap...)