7306 replies to this topic

[PitofDespair]

So, new BBC Sherlock Holmes miniseries in three parts, set to premiere on July 25. The twist is that it's Sherlock Holmes set in the modern day. With Watson still just returned from service in Afghanistan, of course. Trailer's available here, although, obnoxiously, there doesn't seem to be a version that's viewable outside the UK yet. Come on, BBC. International viewers want to watch this too.

Edited by PitofDespair, Jul 16, 2010 @ 9:56 PM.

[Cress]

It's supposed to be aired on PBS this year, I think. Oh, you mean the trailer. I saw something abbreviated on Masterpiece Mystery that could be a trailer, but I don't think it's available online.

Hey, this webpage has a press release and photos about the new Sherlock series:

http://community.liv..._co/473133.html

Rupert Graves as Lestrade? Awesome.

Edited by Cress, Jul 16, 2010 @ 8:48 PM.

[Mr. Excitement]

PitofDespair writes:

Trailer's available here, although, obnoxiously, there doesn't seem to be a version that's viewable outside the UK yet. Come on, BBC. International viewers want to watch this too.

The BBC have been good enough to put up the behind-the-scenes clip, though.

Moffat was right, that's one sexy hat Gatiss has on...

[McBrien76]

Digital Spy have a trailer on their website, but I'm not sure if it will work outside the UK: http://www.digitalsp...r-sherlock.html

[patriotickid]

This is going to live or die on Holmes and Watson actor's chemistry. Detective stories are dime-a-dozen these days.

[PitofDespair]

That video works for me, McBrien76. Thanks!

This is my first proper glimpse of the show, and... hmmm. I think patriotickid is right that this will really all come down to chemistry and characters. I'm a little apprehensive based on this glimpse; Holmes's sniping seems kind of... lacking in wit. We will see, though.

[Cress]

Besides the trailer, Digital Spy has a bunch of short articles about the show:

http://www.digitalsp.../s129/sherlock/

[PitofDespair]

The Independent does not approve of these modern day setting shenanigans.

The moment I knew the writer and I have some fundamental differences on what we want to see in a Sherlock Holmes adaptation:

The updating seems a little desperate to me – couldn't we have a female Holmes and Watson while we are at it?

Me: "Yeah! That'd be awesome! And hot! .... oh, you're being sarcastic."

On one hand I kind of agree with the piece. I love Sherlock Holmes's Victorian setting--I'm a total geek for Victoriana and it's actually what drew me to the stories in the first place. And contemporary procedurals that are heavily influenced by Doyle's groundwork are a dime a dozen. But from the perspective of it somehow being an insult to the original stories... really, it's one series based on the most filmed fictional character ever. Maybe I'm used to the world of fanfic, where modern what-if stories are inevitable, but this seems pretty innocuous. I'd be pissed if a Holmes without gaslight and hansom cabs ever became the default Holmes... but one miniseries devoted to exploring how exactly Holmes and his methods would function in the modern world sounds pretty cool to me.

Edited by PitofDespair, Jul 21, 2010 @ 6:34 PM.

[hgalve]

I saw the 5 minute pitch piece for the series before BBC removed it from youtube and I have to say it's what got me really interested in the show. Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch (hee) seem to have a nice easy chemistry with each other based on the scenes that I saw and the talent involved with the show is promising. I hope they can pull it off.

[Cress]

I'm never bothered by modern updates of Holmes. There was a movie called The Return of Sherlock Holmes starring Margaret Colin and Michael Pennington which featured a frozen Holmes who was revived in the modern era and asked by Watson's female descendent to solve a murder. It was so cute and with funny Sherlockian jokes in it, and yet stodgy reviewers still asked, "What's the point?" The point is that we love Holmes and want to see how he'd react to the modern age. He's not a technology-phobe; his skill was not rooted in the Victorian age. His skill is in his brain, in his ability to observe details and reason from them.

Holmes was also brought into the future by the cartoon Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, and individual episodes were actually based on the original stories, and yet I heard stodgy reviewers say it was a rip off of Doyle. I mean, come on! Paying tribute to the source material is somehow an insult? Somehow dishonorable? It's silly to treat Holmes as an untouchable sacred cow.

Holmes is as ready to be updated as any Shakespeare play or Jane Austen book retold again and again. (In movies like West Side Story or Clueless[/i].) The magic is in the characters, not in the setting.

Edited by Cress, Jul 22, 2010 @ 11:36 PM.

[McBrien76]

Moffat, Gatiss, Cumberbatch talk 'Sherlock' :

http://www.digitalsp...k-sherlock.html

Programme info:

Episode 1: A Study in Pink

Sherlock Holmes was always a modern man. It's the world that got old. Now he's back as he should be: edgy, contemporary, difficult – and dangerous .

Watson, a doctor, soldier and war hero, is fresh from military service in Afghanistan. A chance encounter brings him into the world of Sherlock Holmes, a loner, detective and genius. The two men couldn't be more different, but Sherlock's inspired leaps of intellect, coupled with John's pragmatism, soon forge an unbreakable alliance.


A woman in pink lies dead in a derelict house, the fourth in a series of impossible suicides. DI Lestrade is the best Scotland Yard has got, but even he knows he can't compare to the young man who can tell a software designer by his tie or an airline pilot by his thumb.

Cast:

Sherlock Holmes: Benedict Cumberbatch
Dr John Watson: Martin Freeman
DI Lestrade : Rupert Graves
Mrs Hudson:Una Stubbs
Molly Hooper : Louise Brealey
DS Donovan :Vinette Robinson
Jeff: Phil Davis

Full cast: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1665071/


Episode 2:The Blind Banker

Watson's new life is never dull – after all, he's sharing a flat with Sherlock Holmes. But solving mysteries won't pay the bills. The trouble is, though, that Sherlock's idea of a visit to the bank is not quite what Watson had in mind.

Mysterious ciphers are appearing on walls all over London and anyone who sees them is dead within hours, from the glittering financial hub of the city to the heart of a travelling Chinese circus. Sherlock and Watson must decipher the deadly symbols before anyone else falls victim to the mysterious Black Lotus.

Cast:

Sherlock Holmes: Benedict Cumberbatch
Dr John Watson : Martin Freeman
Mrs Hudson : Una Stubbs
Molly Hooper: Louise Brealey
DI Dimmock: Paul Chequer
Sarah:Zoe Telford
Soo Lin Yao:Gemma Chan
Opera Singer:Sarah Lam
Amanda:Olivia Poulet

Full cast: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1664529/

Episode 3:

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman embark on their final thrilling, scary, action-packed and hugely entertaining adventure as Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson.

Despairing of the ingenuity of London's criminals, Sherlock is invited to take on what looks to be a very ordinary case – a young civil servant found on a railway line with his head smashed in. It seems to be open and shut – or so he thinks.

The curtain is about to rise on a terrifying game of cat and mouse as a crazed bomber pits his wits against Sherlock. A 20-year-old murder, a blood-soaked car, a rediscovered Old Master worth millions – it's just the kind of adventure Sherlock and John relish, but who is behind these deadly puzzles? London is set to become a battle ground as Sherlock confronts the one person capable of beating him.

Cast:

Sherlock Holmes: Benedict Cumberbatch
Dr John Watson: Martin Freeman
Mrs Hudson: Una Stubbs
Molly Hooper: Louise Brealey
DI Lestrade: Rupert Graves
DS Donovan:Vinette Robinson
Connie Prince:Di Botcher
Kenny Prince:John Sessions
Miss Wenceslas:Haydn Gwynne
Lucy: Lauren Crace

Full cast:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1664530/

[December13]

This man and this will, easily, be the greatest Sherlock Holmes, for me.

As for the new one... Well, it looks all too CSI, but I'll give it a go.

[Cress]

Look, it's the blog of Dr. John Watson! I wonder what he'll write once he meets Sherlock on Sunday.

[hgalve]

The Science of Deduction - another tie in website for the show.

Some stuff from the forum that made me laugh:

Anonymous: One day we will meet.
SH: Oh, that's lame
Anonymous: You don't know who I am.
SH: No but you're using phrases like 'one day we will meet'. If you're going to stalk me or threaten me or whatever it is, at least use your imagination.

"Oh, that's lame" made me giggle.

Molly Hooper: Hi Sherlock. I was wondering if you were coming into the hospital again at some point as I've found a tie and I think it might be yours. Its like the sort of tie you might wear so I don't know if you left it here last time you visited.
SH: 'It's' not 'Its'. No, it's not mine.

Holmes being a grammar nazi! Hee!

Edited by hgalve, Jul 24, 2010 @ 1:14 PM.

[PitofDespair]

Heh, okay, Watson asking "How do I delete this?" is kind of funny.

The fansite Sherlocking also links to some tie-in websites for two female characters. One's a girl who's crushing hopelessly on Holmes (which I'm fine with, as long she's allowed some dignity and has other stuff going on in her life, neither of which are in evidence), the other is some kind of fashionista who writes about shoes and make-up? I hope the websites aren't indicative of the handling of the female characters as a whole.

[Jellybaby]

Well, i really enjoyed it!

[phoenix_73]

Me too. I thought it had some nice Hee! moments and updated the characters in a very interesting fashion. Plus I think the success lies in the casting. Benedict Cumberbatch is excellent as Holmes but Martin Freeman deserves credit as well. You could well understand why he'd go along with someone like Holmes on his escapades.

Looking forward to the next couple of episodes. It's a pity there's only three.

[Cress]

Glad you guys enjoyed it. I can hardly wait for PBS to air it. It's cute that even on Watson's blog, his brother and friends ask whether he and Sherlock are gay. :)

[Blairish]

And I love that the show doesn't specifically say they aren't! Brilliant. The chemistry between Sherlock and John was fantastic.

[ganesh]

That was a lot of fun. I've read all of the literary Holmes, and always try to catch anything on tv since I was a kid. I'm of the "competent Watson" camp, and I was glad to see while Watson was still pretty impressed with Holmes' skill, he was able to step up on his own. I also really liked his back story, and hope there's some more to that.

It doesn't look like they're sanitizing Holmes at all (with the drugs comment), and I like that too. I think Holmes would have totally taken the pill. I also was pleased that the 'enemy' was Mycroft.

I did like the 'heads up display' used when Holmes was examining the body. I was trying to keep up with the clues: she's wet, but the umbrella is dry; so it must have been a bad storm, etc., then Holmes checking his phone for maps. And of course he would prefer texting.

The leads are cracking together. Great casting. I can't wait for the next installment.

[Marq DeCarabas]

Oh this was Brilliant. Though I admit, there are scenes where I thought you know, if the Doctor ever bothered to explain his thought process to anyone he'd sound an awful lot like this.

Maybe it's because Moffat is currently writing both of them, but I get the feeling that Moffat writes them both very much the same, because really they have a lot in common.

I kind of fear an episode where the Doctor meets Arthur Conan Doyle, because it just seems so obvious now.

And I love that the show doesn't specifically say they aren't! Brilliant. The chemistry between Sherlock and John was fantastic.

Agreed I love Sherlock 'turning down' Watson, not because he's straight, but because he's not interested in a relationship.

Only had one problem with the episode. During the whole good bottle, bad bottle scene I had the Princess Bride running through my head. Was a little disappointed to not find out the answer was both pills were bad and the cabbie had built up a tolerance to 'iocane powder'.

Edited by Marq DeCarabas, Jul 25, 2010 @ 11:35 PM.

[Cress]

Sounds like the episode really takes after the original Study in Scarlet novel, in which the killer had prepared two sets of pills, one poison and one harmless in each set.

[hgalve]

I absolutely loved this. Fantastic chemistry between the leads and it made me chuckle quite a few times which is always appreciated. It's really too bad this is only for 3 episodes. I'd love for it to be longer and see more of Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch (hee!) together.

[ganesh]

Sounds like the episode really takes after the original Study in Scarlet novel, in which the killer had prepared two sets of pills, one poison and one harmless in each set.

I think so, the title seemed to be a wink in that direction. With all the serial killers in modern times on tv doing horrible things to their victims physically, it was cool (in the tv sense, I wouldn't ever want someone to be killed) that we had one who resorted to poison instead.

I'm sorry, but I am very much hoping for the Doctor to meet Doyle. As soon as I saw Moffat in the credits, it was the first thing I thought of. I'm hoping Doyle doesn't actually base Holmes on the Doctor, but there's similarities.

[Marq DeCarabas]

I'm hoping Doyle doesn't actually base Holmes on the Doctor, but there's similarities.

There are, in The moffat video he actually talks about how the Doctor was made to be more like Holmes.

I don't know if there is an appropriate period for Doyle to have met the Doctor though after he created Holmes. I'm sure Moffat and Gatiss have thought about it. Being both Holmes fans and Who fans how could they not?

[ovrdedge]

I quite enjoyed that. Holmes and Watson with blogs, texting, computers - what, no twitter.com/sherlockholmes?

My favorite bit was when Holmes commented on how impossible it was to sustain a smoking habit in London these days and showed Watson his nicotine patches, then called the case "a three patch problem."

During the whole good bottle, bad bottle scene I had the Princess Bride running through my head. Was a little disappointed to not find out the answer was both pills were bad and the cabbie had built up a tolerance to 'iocane powder'.

Hah! I was thinking the exact same thing. But I think the biggest problem I had was that I knew that the killer was a "taxi driver" way before Holmes did, and I don't feel that home viewers should be able to solve a case before Holmes - the villain needed to be less obvious. Granted, the "how" was still a pretty good mystery.

Also, nice misdirection with the brother since I am sure most people probably assumed he was Moriarty.

[Marq DeCarabas]

Hah! I was thinking the exact same thing. But I think the biggest problem I had was that I knew that the killer was a "taxi driver" way before Holmes did, and I don't feel that home viewers should be able to solve a case before Holmes - the villain needed to be less obvious. Granted, the "how" was still a pretty good mystery.

Well the killer had the same job as in the Study in Scarlet, plus we see the last minute of the first 3 victims before the cabbie picks them up, so that might help us/the audience figure it out.

[Lived In Inch]

I love watching this. It was a riot.
What would have been the Conan Doyle equivalent to the "three patch problem"?

[Cress]

The three-pipe problem, from the Adventure of the Red-Headed League.

“What are you going to do then?” I asked.

“To smoke,” he answered. “It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes.” He curled himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird.

Edited by Cress, Jul 26, 2010 @ 12:16 PM.

[quazimodo]

Loved it. Both leads are great and have wonderful chemistry. Plus just the right balance of mystery, drama and comedy. Looking forward to the next one but also disappointed that it will only be on for three episodes.