January 26, 2011 -- Appreciating Jeremy Brett
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts bestows BAFTA awards each year, and there's a campaign underway to persuade the Academy to award a posthumous BAFTA to Jeremy Brett for his fine work as Sherlock Holmes in the Granada series. There's an interesting website with an appreciation of his career, lists of supporters of the campaign, and an opportunity to sign the petition online.
The Granada series, developed by John Hawkesworth and produced by Michael Cox, was launched in 1984 and featured David Burke as Watson for the first 13 episodes. It continued with Edward Hardwicke as Watson until 1994, when it ended after the 41st episode. It was a great success in the U.S. on PBS' Mystery, and it's still running in repeats in the U.S. on some public television stations. It's also available on DVD, of course, and on YouTube. It's well worth watching.
The most recent posthumous BAFTA was awarded to Heath Ledger in 2009, as best supporting actor for his performance as The Joker in the Batman movie The Dark Knight.