New BBC show: Sherlock Holmes, by Steven Moffat!
I saw the first episode this weekend, and it is outstanding.
It is set in the modern day, written by the current Dr Who show runner and master writer, and Mark Gatiss, also a Who writer and actor, and member of the surreal League Of Gentlemen. Gatiss also acts in the show.
This run consists of three 90 minute episodes, separately plotted but with a running storyline as well. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a magnificently misanthropic Holmes, and The Office's (the proper version!) Martin Freeman, who more than keeps up as Dr Watson.
I was worried for the modern setting, but it works very, very well; Holmes, freaking people out with mobile phones? There's going to be a lot of fun here.
The only criticisms I have are that, between us, my wife and I figured out the mystery well before Holmes (not that it was a bad mystery, just not fiendish enough) and I am a little worried that Moffat is not going to differentiate his Holmes from Dr Who enough. Mind you, I have always felt that the Doctor owed an awful lot to Arthur Conan Doyle's creation.
This is definitely one to have a look at. It's on iPlayer now, I'm sure that it will turn up on TV across the pond soon, or, well, I'm sure that there are other options that I couldn't possibly comment upon.
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Read title of post: Enthusiasm goes to 11.
Read modern setting with Holmes doing tricks with cell phones: Enthusiasm drops to 0.3.
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Yeah. Same here. Sherlock Holmes does not need to be modernized! Harumph!
"History is'a made at night! Character is what you are in the dark!" - Lord John Whorfin
Stop scaring kids off your lawns and watch it!
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I'm with spider_j. Very good indeed.
You know you're getting old when all the fictional characters from your youth that you thought were played by old looking men are now being played by people younger than you.
I'll watch it, but a modernized Holmes in the same year I watched Guy Ritchie's action-figure Holmes makes me sad for Holmes fans.
I was extremely skeptical as well. Thought it couldn't possibly work until I watched the first episode. Now I down for watching the rest of the series. The two guys playing the main parts make it (the writing is also very good.) Do yourself a favour and at least watch an episode if you get the chance.
I just wish that they'd find the person who insists on using contrasting coloured lights in all BBC drama programmes and destroy his or her collection of gells.
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I want to give it a chance. I'm a big Sherlock Holmes fan, any legal way for us folk across the pond to see it?
So, like, CSI: London?
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I am half way through and it is very good but they ripped a lot of the music from the movie which I find annoying.
YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAH
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See, now I know you're joking. That's not a name for a human being.
*ahem*
His full name is Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch.
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Cool, or AWESOME?!
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After seeing what Steven Moffat did with a modern version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I will devour this once I can get my hands on it. Seriously, you should check out Jekyll before dismissing this show.
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Do you think it's coming to BBCA? I *love* Sherlock Holmes and have watched a lot of the old series/movies.
As a huge fan of the books, I was also dubious, but I really liked how it called back a lot to A Study in Scarlet without being the same story, though I felt it was a missed opportunity to make the baddies The Scientologists (instead of The Mormons in the original). The success hinged on the writing, which was clever, showing how all the CSI gathering of evidence doesn't help you without the insight to deduce what it is telling you. Holmes can still make the deductive leaps because he can see what it all adds up to.
Cumberbatch was very good, as was Rupert Graves as Lestrade. Freeman has slightly too much baggage for me to buy him as Watson yet, for me he doesn't seem military. I find Mark Gatiss a pain in the arse, and I didn't like his performance or what they'd done with his character. Phil Davies was excellent as usual.
I found the music more of a Jeremy Brett Holmes callback than a Guy Ritchie Holmes callback, with all those violins. It wasn't very Zimmery. by which I meant it was quite unintrusive. I do like Zimmer's scores, but they tend to be quite dominant in the mix of the movies they're in.
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I watched the first few minutes... I still can't commit the 90 minutes yet. But it seems like Luther with out all the blood and guts and drama.
From Wikipedia:
Looks like it will be on PBS before anything else.
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The second episode, The Blind Banker wasn't quite as good as the first. It had a much more complex pedigree than A Study In Pink (which was a direct analogue to A Study In Scarlet), with elements from Sign of Four, Dancing Men, and the Valley of Fear. I thought it was pretty solid, though the romantic subplot was a bit annoying and farce-like.
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Bah...'went dark' for a couple of weeks (don't think I turned on the TV once) and totally didn't realise that this was a thing.
I shall check iplayer later. is the first episode still there or is it already gone? If so I'll wait for the (probably overpriced) DVD.
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I agree, though I just assumed they were trying to set her up as the Mary Morstan equivalent.
Been very good so far though, nice to see Holmes cultivating his 'stable' of tame Scotland Yard operatives - and it's always nice to see dead bankers.
Freemen is a bit 'meh' though, seems almost back to the bumbling Watson rather than the foil. The only insights he added in this episode were from objects like the journalist's notebook that he had in his hands - his love interest added more than that, much to Holmes's annoyance.
Liked the graffiti artist Baker Street Irregular
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That would be terrific. BBC America ruined this season of Doctor Who for me by making it a commercial-fest. I miss the days when PBS ran old Doctor Who.
Last night's episode was not as good as the first; it was (god help me) not nearly as compelling a story. Mid you, it was still better than 99% of the dreck I watched last week!
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Both episodes 1 and 2 are still on iPlayer, as of 5 minutes ago.
There is no honour without pie.
I guess I'll give them a shot. It's just hard to overcome my Sherlock snobbery and taking away the Victorian setting was equivalent to removing one of the main characters for me. Guess I'll see how it goes.
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Interesting. I didn't Moffat had done these, just that they were being made. Thanks for the link to Jekyll, Jayhawker. Added to queue!
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I enjoyed it. Like you, I guessed who was the villain way before Holmes in the first episode. At least this episode didn't suffer from that problem. The only thing that let it down a little were the brief fight sequences that, to me, were entirely unconvincing.
You need to visit the north of England
. Cumberbatch, although glorious, is quite a tame name compared to some. 'Sidebottom' springs to mind.
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So is that where the Hobbits live?
Stunted simple agrarian folk? Norfolk.
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