And it is FANTASTIC. As other reviewers have noted, there is a total dirth of sleuths in modern pop culture. A CSI and NCIS for every city. NYPD and L&A: SVU and CI and all manner of other crime fighting acronyms that show the super brainy and logical detectives hunting out the bad guys and knocking them down. And so this version of Mr Holmes and Dr Watson needs to bring the best game it can. "And the game is on"
Created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gattiss, the Beeb has brought witty and intriguing crime television to life. Conan Doyle's details are brought to life in modern London, with all the trappings of a technological society to aid his brilliant powers of deduction (or induction, if you want to be a pedant about it) - text messaging, smart phones. The original Holmes tale A Study in Scarlet has been tweaked for Ep 1 as "A study in pink". Instead of a pipe, there is nicotine patches. Instead of horse drawn handsome cabs, it is black cabs. And Holmes has the wonders of modern refridgeration for his severed heads and other experiments. Watson doesn't keep a journal, he is a blogger (bless his soul) - and he blogs about his adventures with his new flatmate. The vibe of Conan Doyle's original stories is by no means destroyed in this new one - just tweaked to make it fit in the modern world. Guy Ritchie kind of messed with the vibe a little bit - it was less of a scuffle and more of a full blown action bonanza. Moffat and Gattiss have brought the scuffle back to the sleuth work.
And should there be any doubt as to the quality of the show if Moffat is behind it? He is credited as the Man Who Saved Dr Who. He was also the gendudeius behind the highly addictive Jekyll from a few years ago. He is responsible for the much loved Press Gang. But most importantly, he is the comedy genius behind the oh-so-brilliant Coupling - one of the best written sitcoms of all time, witty and insightful commentary on the difficulties of negotiating relationships and friendships across the great divide of Gender. But I think that is a-whole-nother blogpost. Perhaps it deserves a rewatch...? The point is that Moffat is no stranger to brilliant tele, and Sherlock is no exception.
The principal performers also bring a touch of the brilliant. Bendedict Cumberbatch not only has a tasty and chunky name, he also inhabits this oft-performed role to perfection. He is simultaneously prickly and endearing. He captures the Asperger's tendencies, and has a chilliness to his stare (last seen in Atonement) that hints at the enromity of the calculations of his brain, and the lack of emotion behind them. Yet another emotional retard/amputee? Martin Freeman has comic timing by the bucket load. His every-man face, made famous and endearing in The Office (the original and the best, UK of course) and Love Actually. He brings a little more internal turmoil to Dr Watson - war vet from Afganistan with PTSD. He is more emotionally engaged in the cases than the world's only Consulting Detective, but his empathy forces Holmes to view events through different lenses. Freeman isn't just playing the sad clown or the awkward lover, and is showing a greater depth in his characterisation.
It is the city of London. Gatiss, in the geeky making-of special features doco, says that they were trying to fetishise the streets of Modern London in the way the traditional interpretations of Victorian London are shown, with the fog, and the cobbles, and the handsome cabs. And it works!! I mean, it doesn't take much for me to swoon at shots of London, and I was especially treated with glimpses of the South Bank and Waterloo Bridge - which has been redubbed the Pinch Me Bridge (as in 'Pinch me, I'm in London, and from this bridge I can see pretty much all of the cliched sites of the city!). From his famous base on Baker Street, Sherlock and his sidekick flit all about the fantastic city. Chinatown, Battersea, Hungerford footbridge, the Gherkin... The beautiful cinematography is almost enough for me to chuck in my job and hightail it all the way to Londres for good.
But three episodes is not nearly enough. Moffat has hinted that there are current negotiations for timing and format for further episodes. Crossing all of my fingers!
