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I am a longtime fan and advocate of the Russian Holmes series. I rate the late Vitaly Solomin as one of the very best screen Watsons, and actually rate him higher than I do Edward Hardwicke or David Burke. Livanov's Holmes isn't quite on the same level, but his vaguely jolly and sometimes bespectacled take on the great detective is recognizably Holmes, and has a particular endearing charm that puts it in the upper echelon of Holmes portrayals. The interaction and relationship between this Holmes and Watson is right, and that's half the battle with any Holmes production.

Roughly a decade ago I got my hands on some vhs copies, without English subtitles, and wrote about it on my site http://www.bakerstreetdozen.com/russianholmes.html Judging by all the Russian email I got it was fairly apparent that I was one of the first in the West to review or promote the series in any major way online. Based on the email, and from what I've learned in the intervening years, this series was hugely, and I really do mean hugely, popular in the Soviet Union back during its initial run. Oddly enough, Vasily Livanov received an OBE from Queen Elizabeth in 2006 for his contribution to Anglo-Russian relations because of his appearance as Holmes. A life size statue of Livanov and Solomin as Holmes and Watson was erected in Moscow back in 2007 (Some background and images can be found here.

It's a great, if occasionally rather quirky, series that deserves to be seen  and enjoyed by anyone with an interest in Sherlock Holmes. There are a number of import DVD releases with English subtitles out there, but if you can't find one, you can see the films online, with subtitles, at  http://video.kylekeeton.com/2007/03/sherlock-holmes-and-dr-watson-on.html

Glad to see it's getting some love here at the CHFB!

While there has been talk of a new Russian Sherlock Holmes television series for a number of years now (the project last stalled in 2009), it would appear that a new series has begun shooting in St. Petersburg. 34-year-old Igor Petrenko is playing Holmes opposite Andrey Panin  as Watson. The new series is said to consist of 16 episodes and is expected to air late in 2012.

http://rt.com/news/prime-time/sherlock-holmes-russian-adaptation-875/