Watching the Detectives

Detective and mystery fiction has been part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. I recently tallied my 45 published stories according to genre and found that I’ve had more mysteries published than any other type of story. While detective movies and literature have been very important to me, I’m pretty sure it all started with television. After all, movies, until quite recently, were either encountered incidentally when they happened to be shown on TV, or had to be seen in theaters or rented. And books had to be sought out at stores or libraries. But television has a constant presence in the household and my first exposure to detective fiction probably came from me joining my father in watching various reruns from his youth or whatever was running on Mystery! when I was in the age range when being exposed to new ideas had the greatest impact on my developing imagination.

So today I’m endeavoring to choose my ten favorite television depictions of detectives and put them in order from least to favorite. I love all ten of these shows and many more, but I can only choose ten (with one instance of cheating a bit, which you’ll see as you go up the list), so let it be noted that exclusion is not to be seen as disrespect toward any small-screen sleuth who does not appear in the countdown.  

One more thing to note: the fine actors in spots 10 and 9 are at the bottom of the list because their shows are still running and so can’t properly be compared to the other eight, which are completed bodies of work. Perhaps, if I update this list several years from now, the order will be altered in some ways.

So here we go. My ten favorite TV detectives, from 10 to 1.

10. Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes

 I was prepared to hate Sherlock. When I heard the BBC was doing an updated version of Sherlock Holmes, I was against it. My favorite fictional character belongs in the Victorian and immediately post-Victorian eras. The entire mystique of the canon fits that period so well. The world has changed so much since then and we have so many new methods of crime-solving at our disposal here in the 21^st century. I was convinced they wouldn’t get it right. And I was wrong. The essence is there! Holmes, Watson, and the usual cast of characters are all represented in modernized versions and the spirit of Doyle’s work lives on. I’ve enjoyed every episode so far, though some are better than others, and I look forward to the next series.

9. Idris Elba as Luther

 Since 2010, Idris Elba has portrayed Detective Chief Inspector John Luther in 3 series of episodes. Elba’s intense performance has made him one of my favorite current actors and made Luther a TV cop I look forward to seeing in what I hope are many future episodes.

8. Ronald Howard as Sherlock Holmes

In 1954, 39 half-hour episodes of a Sherlock Holmes TV series aired. I call this “Holmes Lite,” as they were short, sweet little mysteries, perfect for quick distractions when one is in the mood for a Holmes fix that’s not too heavy or intense. Simply put, these stories are fun. Howard plays Holmes well, and his co-star, Howard Marion Crawford, plays a Watson who is somewhat of a cross between the brave, able doctor of Doyle’s canon and the comedic sidekick of the Basil Rathbone films.   

7. Robbie Coltrane in Cracker

A detective doesn’t have to be a police officer or private investigator as long as he or she works to get to the bottom of mysteries. Robbie Coltrane gave a great performance as Dr. Edward “Fitz” Fitzgerald, a psychologist who assists the Greater Manchester Police in this 1993-1996 series. An obese, chain-smoking, drinking, gambling, sarcastic, yet brilliant man, Coltrane’s character was a pleasure to watch.    

6. Derek Jacobi as Cadfael

A medieval monk solving mysteries is a wonderful contradiction, as the clergy usually has the job of encouraging faith and belief in things we can’t see or hear, while a good detective must always rely on evidence and facts. This mixture of two opposing ideas is what made Brother Cadfael so interesting. The character originally appeared in stories by Ellis Peters (the nom de plume of Edith Pargeter) and was adapted for TV between 1994 and 1998. 

5. Inspector Morse and his spinoffs

Okay, this is the part where I cheat. The Inspector Morse TV series ran from 1987 to 2000 and starred John Thaw as author Colin Dexter’s opera-loving, crossword-solving police detective. His partner was Detective Sergeant Robbie Lewis, played by Kevin Whately. From 2009 to the present, Lewis, now an inspector, has had his own series, simply called Lewis, in which he is assisted by the young Detective Sergeant James Hathaway (Laurence Fox). In addition to that, there is also another currently running spinoff series, Endeavour (Morse’s rarely mentioned first name), which features Morse as a young detective (played by Shaun Evans) in 1960s Oxford. I enjoy all three series and consider them parts of a whole, so I see no reason not to include them all on this list. 

4. Jack Lord as Steve McGarrett 

Hawaii Five-O had an incredible run from 1968 to 1980, making it (I think, but I’m too lazy to look it up right now, the longest running weekly police drama before Law & Order). It’s been the butt of jokes for years, due to the blindingly garish fashions of the 70s, the catch phrase “Book ‘em, Danno,” which is actually not spoken very often at all in the series, and Jack Lord’s thick, seemingly immovable hair. People can make whatever comments they want, but it’s hard to deny that the show was a huge success, and it’s easy to see why. The stories were always compelling crime dramas with great guest stars, clever mysteries, and good action scenes. Like some of the 60s and 70s’ best shows (like Star Trek and Bonanza) Hawaii Five-O features story styles that could switch episode to episode from drama to semi-comedy to espionage-based noir worthy of the early Bond movies. Jack Lord’s no-nonsense McGarrett was the series’ star and the glue that held the show together. 

3. Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes

Holmes is my favorite fictional character in the entire world. He’s been played by many fine actors on film, many of them quite good. But Jeremy Brett, in his 41 Holmes adaptations, from 1984 to 1994, was the most faithful to the character as created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These are nearly perfect versions taken directly from the source material. Brett’s performance is magnificent, as are those of his two Watsons, David Burke and Edward Hardwicke. It was when I happened to walk into the living room of the house I grew up in to find my father watching the Holmes episode “The Devil’s Foot” when I was 11 years old, that I became hooked on Holmes and soon sought out the original stories. 27 years later, I’ve had six of my own Holmes stories published, with 2 more on the way, and, I hope, many more yet to be written. I have Jeremy Brett to thank for all that! Many people who know me well might expect Brett’s Holmes to be first on this list, but it’s third, because, as I said a moment ago, Jeremy Brett was, perhaps, the best, but he was not the only great Holmes. The top 2 spots had to go to actors who are now the only men I can accept as the detectives they so brilliantly portrayed.

2. Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo

Columbo was a unique character among TV detectives, with his stories being not whodunits, but, as someone once pointed out, how-catch-ems, meaning that we, the viewers, knew from the opening scenes who had committed the murder, and, probably, so did our title character, a disheveled little man who latched onto his suspects like an annoying tick, not letting go until he’d just-one-more-thinged them to the point of gathering enough evidence to put them away. These were brilliant stories starring one of the greatest actors ever to grace the silver or small screens. I probably saw Columbo even earlier than my first exposure to Sherlock Holmes, and I still admire the series and Falk’s work to this day. One of my favorite conversations I’ve ever had involved discussing the brilliance of Pete Falk with Robert Culp, an actor who played a murderer on Columbo no less than 4 times. As far as I’m concerned, Peter Falk was Columbo, and if the occasional rumors of a rebooted, recast version ever turn out to be true, my head may literally explode, so somebody needs to keep a mop close by.

1. David Suchet as Hercule Poirot

How could the first spot on this list go to anyone else? Hercule Poirot is easily my second favorite literary detective, after Holmes, and most adaptations previous to 1989 had been less than faithful to the character Agatha Christie put on paper. David Suchet, over a span of nearly 25 years, starred in TV adaptations of almost every one of Christie’s Poirot novels or short stories, for a total of 70 episodes or TV movies. Suchet meticulously researched the role and perfected it in a way no previous actor had (and, I think, no one else ever will, for perfection cannot be improved). His Poirot is an extraordinary accomplishment, and watching an episode transports the viewer to a different time and place. The glorious opening theme music pulls us in and we’re spellbound until the conclusion of the mystery. I would go so far as to call Suchet’s little Belgian detective the finest adaptation of a literary character I have ever seen. Of course, I also have to mention the superb supporting cast of Hugh Fraser as Captain Arthur Hastings, Philip Jackson as Chief Inspector Japp, and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon, whose contributions to the stories and interactions with Poirot added to the show's many layers of charm. 

And that's the list. I'd like to extend my thanks to all the actors, writers, directors, and producers of these fine detective shows, as well as the original creators of the characters and the mysteries in which they found themselves entangled.    

 

To Bond or Not to Bond

One of the big stories in the news this past week has been the leaked Sony emails. Among this leaked info has been the idea that actor Idris Elba has been suggested as a candidate to someday play the part of James Bond. This has caused a lot of differing opinions in various places online, including some controversial statements regarding Elba’s race, among other things. 

            As a writer of spy novels, and a lifelong fan of the Bond novels and films, I thought I’d chime in and offer my view on the subject.

            So, the question is, should Idris Elba be cast in the role of James Bond?

            My answer is no, but the answer has nothing to do with the color of Elba’s skin.

            Do I think Idris Elba is capable of playing Bond? Absolutely. At least if we’re talking about one version of Bond.

            Let me explain that last statement.

            James Bond has always been among my favorite fictional characters. He’s right up there on the list along with Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Captain Kirk, Batman, and Indiana Jones. But Bond is different from all those others. 007, you see, would probably appear twice on the list if there really was an official list. Yes, sometimes you do live twice. I love the literary Bond, and I love the cinematic Bond, and those two are no longer really the same character.

            Ian Fleming’s Bond novels were all written in the 1950s and 60s. That Bond is a World War II veteran turned British agent, very much a Cold War character. The movies, however, really only featured Fleming’s Bond for the first fifth or so of the film franchise’s history. The early Sean Connery movies came pretty damn close to being faithful adaptations of the books. But then, something changed. James Bond became a cinematic archetype and began to adapt and change according to the time in which each individual movie was produced. The Bond of the Roger Moore era was very different than that of Connery (and George Lazenby), and he underwent yet another metamorphosis when Timothy Dalton (the great, underrated, truly awesome Bond) took over the role, and shifted personality and attitude again when the part fell to Pierce Brosnan. Then, in the early 2000s, the current Bond, Daniel Craig, started his term of office and the series underwent a complete reboot, starting over with a fresh continuity. So we have, on one hand, the set-in-stone original James Bond, loved by those who have read the novels, and forever preserved in words as his creator, Ian Fleming, intended. And then, on the other hand, we have the cultural phenomena of the Bond film franchise, experienced by far more people than have ever read the books, immensely successful for half a century, and capable of adapting to the changing times without losing (most of the time) the essential elements of what made the character so popular to begin with.

            I happen to be a big fan of the novels’ James Bond, and also of the movies’ Bond, and, honestly, I’m unwilling to commit to liking one more than the other.

            Now here’s the key to the question of whether or not Idris Elba could play James Bond. If we were talking about straight adaptations of Fleming’s novels, period pieces set in the 50s and 60s, there’s no way Elba could portray the character. The social and political conditions of the world at that time would not have made it possible for a black man to do the things that Bond had to do in those books. In that time, his interactions with the other characters would have been totally altered by his race. He could not have gone to the same places, dealt with situations in the same way, or done his job the same way a white agent could have. Sad, perhaps, but history nonetheless.

            But we’re not talking about the Bond movies being period pieces. They never really have been and they probably never will be again, which is fine, because, as I said earlier, Movie Bond is not Book Bond. He’s grown into something else, a franchise of his own. And the world now is different than it was in the 50s and 60s, in mostly good ways. Could a man with the skills to be a competent British secret agent do his job well in the 21^st century regardless of whether he’s a black Englishman or a white Englishman? Yes.

            I think Idris Elba would make a fantastic James Bond. He’s an amazing actor. I’ve binge-watched all of LUTHER and enjoyed everything else I’ve seen Elba in and I think he’s one of the best actors working today. I don’t care what color he is, I can absolutely imagine him walking into M’s office after a quick, “Hello, Moneypenny,” and standing in front of his supervisor listening to the details of his latest mission while inserting the occasional wisecrack into the conversation, then flying off to some exotic city to face a nasty megalomaniac villain, seduce a few beautiful women, and fire a few dozen rounds of ammunition and cause a handful of explosions before the movie ends.

            So why, then, did I just say I don’t think Idris Elba should be cast as Bond?

            It’s simple. The clock is ticking and it can’t be reversed.

            The next Bond movie, SPECTRE, is being made right now. It’s not coming out for a year. From everything I’ve heard or read, Daniel Craig is going to do at least one more after that. That will take three years. If Craig quit after that one and another actor (hypothetically, Idris Elba) was cast in the part, it would probably be three more years before that actor’s first Bond movie was released. So, best case scenario, we’re talking about 7 years before we’d see Idris Elba acquire his license to kill.

            Elba is 42 right now. In 7 years he’ll be 49. Do the math. He’d be pushing 50 when he became Bond. Sorry, but that just doesn’t work.

            How old should James Bond be? Old enough, I think, to have been a military officer, lived some life, gained some scars, and learned how to best use his specific skills, yet young enough to be physically capable of the dangerous grind of risking his life over and over again (not to mention “keeping the British end up,” as Roger Moore quipped in one of his finer moments). His is not an easy or safe job. Maturity and fitness is the necessary combination to make a successful Double-O agent. I’d say that means at least in his thirties but not far past fifty. With that in mind, thinking of the actors who have portrayed Bond, we have this: Connery and Craig both started in their thirties. Dalton and Brosnan were in their early forties. Roger Moore, the latest starter, was 45 (and stayed too long, into his late fifties). Brosnan left the role at 50. Connery came back for one last movie at 53, but the story included the theme of him being an older agent who had to prove he still had what it took to do his job. An actor still playing Bond at 49 is okay if he can still make it work, but 49 is no age to do your first Bond movie. I don’t want a talented actor who would be so good in the part just coming into it when he’s on the edge of being too old for it.

            I also don’t want to wait those 7 years now that I’ve had to think about Elba in such a role!

            So I say we forget him as Bond and come up with something better than sitting around waiting for the Daniel Craig era to end so Elba can take his place behind the wheel of the Astin-Martin, because thinking that way is an insult to both actors.

            Hollywood, if you’re listening, let Idris Elba have his own espionage/action franchise now. I mean, right now, while he’s in his prime and at the peak of his career and the height of his popularity. If it’s written right, it’ll be as good as Bond. Maybe it will be better than Bond. And there’s no reason we can’t have multiple successful spy franchises running at the same time. Bond is not the only spy in town, and hasn’t been for a long time. We’ve got Mission: Impossible, the Bourne Franchise, and Liam Neeson’s TAKEN movies, all of which are very, very successful.

            So, no, I don’t think Idris Ebla should play James Bond. He’d be great, but the timing’s not good. He’s the right age now, but somebody else is standing in the famous gun barrel at the moment. So, rather than wait for a chance that may or may not come half a decade or more down the road, somebody please give this fine actor his own spy game to play? I’m pretty sure he’ll win.

And if anyone reading this wants to check out my take on the spy genre, here’s a link to my novel NOBODY DIES FOR FREE.