Good music, movies and television from the past—“classics” in the overused terminology of nowadays—keeps getting packaged and repackaged again. One new example of top-drawer older material reassembled is the “Great Detectives Anthology.” The 12-DVD set samples from British TV renditions of three deathless detectives—Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.
All three have been visualized in many ways since they first appeared on the page. This set chooses selections from the best Poirots and Marples ever, the 1980s-‘90s productions staring David Suchet and Joan Hickson, plus the Peter Cushing interpretation of Holmes.
Cushing is the odd man out. His 1960s-era series represents British television back when budgets were pinched, production values simple and finely nuanced acting (as well as estimable literary sources) carried the day. A better match for this collection would be Jeremy Brett’s Holmes series from the ‘80s-‘90s, whose finely detailed, Merchant Ivory-level of period detailing was every inch as rich as the Suchet Poirot and Hickson Miss Marple programs.
All of these episodes are available in other packages, and many fans will already own them in complete collections. But for someone looking for a cross-section of solid sleuthing, where brains trump brawn every time, the “Great Detectives Anthology” offers many hours of pleasurable escape into a world where crime wears a civilized façade.
