Still studying Mr Holmes!

Sketch of 'Sherlock Holmes' as portrayed by Sidney Paget.

I have spent most of Sunday writing up my comparisons between the original Sherlock Holmes and the one portrayed in the film I saw yesterday. The more I wrote, the more I realised that the character hadn't changed at all , it was the portrayal of him, his character, that was different. Instead of being an upright citizen, upper class and considered a gentleman, he had been portrayed more recently still as someone with a brilliant mind, but of some dubious character.

Holmes occasionally used addictive drugs when lacking stimulation in cases, and is a regular user of of morphine, but is strongly opposed to using opium. All three were legal in the late 19th century, and this comes over particularly in this latest film, whereas in earlier films and books these is just a hint of this.

Conan Doyle, Holmes creator, said that the character of Holmes was inspired by Doctor Joseph Bell, for whom he had worked for a while as a clerk in Edinburgh infirmary. Bell, like Holmes was noted for drawing large conclusions from the smallest observations. I sincerely hope I can get my Detective to do the same as Holmes, because I have only 1500 words to tell a tale of murder, then describe the characters and victim, while explaining how the detective and side kick pull their clues together. I think I might need a little help from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!

* I cannot seem to get Blogger to recognise the parpgraph spacing this week. Sometimes it happens like that - so apologies!