Absolutely. I used him as my user pic till recently. And the first Watson was far superior to the second.The only one I ever watch - Brett was THE Sherlock Holmes for me!
In the first series Brett was at his majestic peak. When Hardwick was Watson, he had big bags under his eyes and some of the mad spark had gone.
Reminds me of Mourinho's first vs second times as Chelsea manager.
Brett suffered from mental health issues and this was transparently obviously reflected by his physical decline. RIP.