Tuesday, May 22, 2012

AS SEEN ON TV: MRS. HUDSON


MRS. HUDSON

CREATED BY:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


PORTRAYED BY:
Rosalie Williams

AS SEEN IN:
'Sherlock Holmes'

TV STATUS:
Recastaway

TV LOCATION:
Earth Prime-Time


PORTRAYED BY:
Una Stubbs

AS SEEN IN:
'Sherlock'

TV STATUS:
Recastaway

TV LOCATION:
Limbo

From Wikipedia:
Mrs. Hudson is the landlady of the house 221B Baker Street, in which Holmes lives.

Mrs. Hudson is a woman who wants the home to be clean and tidy and often fights with Holmes for this. Watson describes her as a very good cook; in "The Naval Treaty," Holmes says "Her cuisine is a little limited, but she has as good an idea of breakfast as a Scotchwoman," which some readers have taken to mean that she is Scottish and others that she cannot possibly be. Other than one mention of her "queenly tread", she is given no physical description or first name, although she has been identified with the "Martha" in "His Last Bow".

In film and television adaptations of the stories, Mrs. Hudson is usually portrayed as an older woman; on rare occasions she is presented as a young woman.

Watson described the relationship between Holmes and Hudson in the opening of "The Adventure of the Dying Detective":

Mrs. Hudson, the landlady of Sherlock Holmes, was a long-suffering woman. Not only was her first-floor flat invaded at all hours by throngs of singular and often undesirable characters but her remarkable lodger showed an eccentricity and irregularity in his life which must have sorely tried her patience. His incredible untidiness, his addiction to music at strange hours, his occasional revolver practice within doors, his weird and often malodorous scientific experiments, and the atmosphere of violence and danger which hung around him made him the very worst tenant in London. On the other hand, his payments were princely. I have no doubt that the house might have been purchased at the price which Holmes paid for his rooms during the years that I was with him. The landlady stood in the deepest awe of him and never dared to interfere with him, however outrageous his proceedings might seem. She was fond of him, too, for he had a remarkable gentleness and courtesy in his dealings with women.


OTHER PORTRAYALS:
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking Played by Anne Carroll
The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire, The Royal Scandal, The Sign of Four Played by Kathleen McAuliffe
Sherlock Holmes Returns Played by Tish Heaven (as Young Mrs. Hudson)
The Hound of London Played by Sophia Thornley
Incident at Victoria Falls, Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady Played by Margaret John
"Saturday Night Live" Played by Jan Hooks
Hands of a Murderer Played by Faith Kent
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" Played by Bunty Webb
"Meitantei Holmes" Played by Patricia Parris / Yôko Asagami (as Marie Hudson)
Sherlock Holmes and the Masks of Death Played by Jenny Laird
"The Baker Street Boys" Played by Pat Keen
Priklyucheniya Sherloka Kholmsa i doktora Vatsona Played by Rina Zelyonaya
"Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson" Played by Kay Walsh
The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It Played by Connie Booth
Sherlock Holmes in New York Played by Marjorie Bennett (as Mrs. Martha Hudson)
"Les grands détectives"
- Sherlock Holmes: Le signe des quatre, Played by Gisela Hoeter (as Mme Hudson)
"Sherlock Holmes" Played by Grace Arnold
- The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax Played by Enid Lindsey
- The Retired Colourman Played by Enid Lindsey
"Sherlock Holmes" Played by Manja Kafka
"Detective"
- The Speckled Band Played by Mary Holdertitle
"Die Galerie der großen Detektive"
- Sherlock Holmes liegt im Sterben Played by Annemarie Schradiek
"Sherlock Holmes" Played by Iris Vandeleur

The 'Sherlock Holmes' series starring Jeremy Brett is the official version for Earth Prime-Time. All of these others can be found in alternate TV dimensions, some of which are chosen due to the primary language and country of origin for the production.

Therefore, Rosalie Williams, despite other actresses playing the role before her, is the Mrs. Hudson for the main Toobworld.

As for the landlady played by Una Stubbs in 'Sherlock', that series takes place in Limbo as did 'Life On Mars', 'Ashes To Ashes', 'Madigan', and the final season of 'Lost'. Whereas Sherlock Holmes is the soul of the Jeremy Brett version, Mrs. Hudson could be the soul of any woman with that name who may have passed away in Toobworld within the last decade or so.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

BCnU!

2 comments:

Hugh said...

I did not realize that Alfred Hitchcock Presents had featured Holmes.

Toby O'B said...

It was the version from the mid-1980's