The Return of Sherlock Holmes (TV Series)

The Empty House (1986)

Jeremy Brett: Sherlock Holmes

Photos 

Quotes 

• Dr. John Watson : I would have thought I was as trustworthy as your brother.

  Sherlock Holmes : Of course you are, Watson!

  [sighs] 

  Sherlock Holmes : But you have a kinder heart.

• Sherlock Holmes : It was a few months later that I read with great interest your description of my death. It was excellently done, a most picturesque and exciting piece of fiction.

  Dr. John Watson : I'm certainly glad from the bottom of my heart that it was fiction.

• Sherlock Holmes : [to Lestrade]  You seem to want some unofficial help. Three undetected murders in one year won't do, you know.

• Sherlock Holmes : It's no joke when a tall man has to take a foot off his stature for several hours on end.

• Sherlock Holmes : About that chasm... I had no serious difficulty in getting out of it for the simple reason that I was never in it.

• Sherlock Holmes : Watson, may I occupy your couch for a few hours?

• Sherlock Holmes : There's no sign of the bullet.

  Mrs. Hudson : Oh! Excuse me, sir. Er, a moment, if you please?

  Sherlock Holmes : What is it?

  [she thrusts her tray into his hands and reaches into her pocket] 

  Mrs. Hudson : I have it here. I picked it up off the carpet.

  Sherlock Holmes : Mrs. Hudson, you are becoming indispensable.

• Sherlock Holmes : How many times have you not tethered a young kid under a tree, laid above it with your rifle and waited for your bait to bring out your tiger? This empty house is *my* tree and you are my tiger!

• Sherlock Holmes : [in disguise]  Just the books to fill up your bookcase. It looks untidy, does it not?

  [Watson gets up to look, turns back to see Holmes has stripped off his disguise] 

  Sherlock Holmes : Watson, do you mind if I smoke a cigarette in your consulting room?

• Sherlock Holmes : For two years I traveled. To Tibet, then amused myself by visiting Lhasa, spending some time with head Llama. I then moved through Persia and made a short but interesting visit to the Khalifa in Khartoum. The results of which I passed on to Lord Kitchener of the Foreign Office, anonymously, of course.

  Dr. John Watson : You mean, you actually saw the palace where Gordon was murdered?

  Sherlock Holmes : It was a sorry sight, a ruin. His blood still upon the staircase. Lately I have been in France researching the coal tar derivatives. Then came the news of this remarkable murder, which not only appealed to me by its own merits, but seemed to offer the most peculiar personal opportunities.

• Sherlock Holmes : My dear fellow, we have a hard and dangerous night's work ahead of us.

• Sherlock Holmes : Parker by name. A garroter by trade.

  [referring to Moriarty's confederate who kept 221b Baker Street under surveillance]