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    Sherlock Holmes

    Anyone else watch this new BBC version (written by Moffatt & Gatiss)? Very good I thought, a nice who/howdunit and an enjoyably loopy performance from Benedict Cumberbatch. Probably on iPlayer now.

    #2
    Sherlock Holmes

    It's being repeated on BBCHD in a while , at 12:30am I think.

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      #3
      Sherlock Holmes

      I'm not sure - the concept and the plot were good, but I just couldn't warm to the guy who was playing Holmes. I know he was going for a dark, creepy Holmes, but whether it was the actor's personality or the way he mumbled through his deductions, but just got more annoyed by him the longer it went on. Even Freeman himself or David Tennant would have been a better lead.

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        #4
        Sherlock Holmes

        I thought that overall is was pretty good. I liked both Holmes and Watson and the visuals that came up for text messages and when Holmes was thinking. Plot was ok but did we really need a 20 minute denoument? It started off tense but was beginning to flag by end.

        This Holmes seems to have more of blind spot to interpersonal relationships than the original but I guess we'll have to see if that remains in the other episodes.

        Finally, please can people stop letting Mark Gatiss appear in things? Yes, League of Gentlemen was brilliant but just write things, don't appear in them as well.

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          #5
          Sherlock Holmes

          Rick van Leeuwen wrote:

          Plot was ok but did we really need a 20 minute denoument? It started off tense but was beginning to flag by end
          There seems to be alot of this these days. I thought the more emotionally-wrought episodes of Doctor Who were the only examples, but script writers appear to have forgottten hot to wrap things up succinctly.

          Finally, please can people stop letting Mark Gatiss appear in things? Yes, League of Gentlemen was brilliant but just write things, don't appear in them as well
          My sentiments also. He does love to live the part.

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            #6
            Sherlock Holmes

            The first episode was billed as written by Moffat, co-created by Gatiss, Gatiss writes the third episode, no idea who writes next weeks. Even better than Moffat's writing, was Paul McGuigan's direction. Again, he's not directing next weeks (Euros Lyn is), but he's back for week three.

            I thought it was genuinely excellent. One of the best single shows on British TV in years. Even the things that should have bothered me, didn't. We we supposed to be guessing the killer? (I'm not going to spoil it too much because this is going to be right up jason voorhees's street) Because I'd figured it was a killer after the third death, and before Holmes had even appeared on screen. And what was the thing that the killer was going to say that would make people take the pill? I was hoping for something a little more psychological.

            I loved all the small touches, the large touches, the fact we could see his thoughts, so that it didn't all have to be explained in full at the end. Brilliant.

            Rick van Leeuwen wrote:
            Finally, please can people stop letting Mark Gatiss appear in things? Yes, League of Gentlemen was brilliant but just write things, don't appear in them as well.
            I wasn't a fan of the League of Gentleman, and the only other things of his I've seen are what he's written and appeared in for Doctor Who, and given how poor two of his writings were, and how lazy the third was, I'd prefer it if he just appeared in them.

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              #7
              Sherlock Holmes

              ****************SLIGHT SPOILER*******************

              I thought Gatiss was pretty good as Mycroft. Suitably creepy and his assistant is a character waiting to be exploited in further episodes I hope.

              As a pretty keen Holmes fan when I was a lad I was impressed with the updating. Looking forward to the remaining episodes.

              *To David Agnew: DA - you may just want to flag your post as containing spoilers, just in case like...

              Comment


                #8
                Sherlock Holmes

                The actor playing Holmes was a let-down - he just didn't quite get the difference between Holmes as the somewhat distant genius exasperated by others' inability to follow his leaps of deduction (which almost came across) and Holmes as the delighted, excited yet distant genius, leading mere others like Watson and Lesard to follow him along the path of his deduction.

                It's subtle, but it's the whole essence of the charm of the character, as opposed to just making him seem like a complete twat.

                Still, I enjoyed it, and will watch the rest of the series.

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                  #9
                  Sherlock Holmes

                  The thing is though, is this particular Holmes is rejected and despised by the police, through envy or mistrust, and are just waiting for a chance to discredit him. Only Lestrade seems to understand his genius. Therefore you would be left disappointed by a Holmes being eager to please like a little puppy, he's bound to be distant and wary of others, so it vexes me a little that he immediately warmed to the bloke from the office trying to do an impression of Dr House. It took me more time to warm to Martin Freeman as Watson than it did to Benedict Cucumberpatch. Maybe it's because I too am a mistrustful, misunderstood genius.
                  It was enjoyable non the less, it's a shame they couldn't have done more Phil Davis, though, as TV actors go he's pretty much flawless.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Sherlock Holmes

                    gt3 wrote:
                    I thought Gatiss was pretty good as Mycroft. Suitably creepy and his assistant is a character waiting to be exploited in further episodes I hope.

                    As a pretty keen Holmes fan when I was a lad I was impressed with the updating. Looking forward to the remaining episodes.

                    *To David Agnew: DA - you may just want to flag your post as containing spoilers, just in case like...
                    Soeaking of spoliers, for anyone who's not seen it your first sentence is a slight one if they're not familiar with the whole works of Holmes and think it's another "M". I mean, I got, smart arse that I am, but my wife didn't as she's not read the "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" comics (nor seen the film, lucky her).

                    Oooh, did I just spoiler myself?

                    Anyway, I rather enjoyed it.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Sherlock Holmes

                      "Soeaking of spoliers, for anyone who's not seen it your first sentence is a slight one if they're not familiar with the whole works of Holmes"

                      You're right Eggchaser, thanks for pointing that out...I've amended my post aaccordingly.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Sherlock Holmes

                        I almost stood up and applauded at the end of part 1. It wasn't just a case of "Well, I don't feel swindled out of 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back", it was a case of "That was actually brilliant, the first British programme in years that's anywhere near the quality of The Wire and The Sopranos, and possibly even better than the last show you could say that about, namely Life On Mars series 1".

                        Actually had me thinking "I want to be a detective", like a 10-year-old kid coming out of an exciting film at the cinema.

                        And I loved the bit where Sherlock goes "Ah, Anderson, here we are again..." and we see he's talking to a cop with a Brett hairdo.

                        The Cumberbatch is an odd-looking fish, isn't he? There's a lot of Tom Baker's Doctor in his Sherlock. Wonder if Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat spotted that in him beforehand, or suggested he go for it. Maybe a little of both.

                        I actually can't wait for part 2, and I hope they film more stories, soon. It's great to have some 'appointment telly' to be excited about, rather than just watching old stuff on DVD.

                        Nerdy location-spotting postscript: 'Baker St' is actually North Gower St. Used to walk along there a lot while I was at uni, so I noticed it straight away.

                        Right, back to the top of the thread to see what you mean-spirited lot have said...

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Sherlock Holmes

                          By the way, I've been texting Purves Grundy (who's been away on holiday) to urge him to catch up with part 1 before it disappears off BT Replay or the iPlayer system or Sky Plus or whatever he has... cos this is possibly the most 'him' thing I've ever seen.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Sherlock Holmes

                            ***EPISODE 2 SPOILERS***
                            I noticed a lot more loose ends and holes in the plot this week (how did the graffiti guy know to find Holmes outside the British Museum?), but still really enjoyed it. Especially the "I'm trying to get off with Sarah" moment. I'm glad that Sebastian didn't turn out to be the baddy. That would have been too on-the-nose. Anyone know where the Yellow Dragon Circus scene was shot? Lovely building. And has a hero ever been so clearly written as a high-functioning autistic? Zero social graces, terrifying facility with patterns, maps, numbers.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Sherlock Holmes

                              Seems like all the internet cool kids are slagging off this week's Sherlock, leaving me slightly embarrassed. Ah well, this is not-unfamiliar.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Sherlock Holmes

                                I really enjoyed it again.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Sherlock Holmes

                                  Spearmint Rhino wrote:
                                  By the way, I've been texting Purves Grundy (who's been away on holiday) to urge him to catch up with part 1 before it disappears off BT Replay or the iPlayer system or Sky Plus or whatever he has... cos this is possibly the most 'him' thing I've ever seen.
                                  The Rhino is like some weird mixture of Elaine Page and Barbara Dickson. He knows me so well.

                                  I haven't enjoyed anything on telly so much in years. I'm a bit of a Holmes obsessive, bookishly-speaking, and I even took my Complete Holmes on holiday with me to try and inflict it on YMG (who really liked the Mystery of the Dancing Men). And I worship the Moff (and he speaks very highly of me, too, as we know). And yet I had no idea that this was coming up on the telly. So after getting the Rhino's texts I managed to sit down and watch part 1 tonight on iPlayer, while the rest of you were watching part 2.

                                  It was pretty well flawless. Usually updates of literary greats have me reaching for the sickbag as Legz Akimbo types present Richard II as playground turf wars or somesuch. But this was done with proper lightness of touch, showing that the Moff learned from what went wrong with his take on Jekyll & Hyde.

                                  The only piece of really slack writing was where Holmes didn't smell a rat when the uncalled-for taxi arrived (although I bridled when he called for a cab and got into the first one that arrived). Apart from that the whole thing was entirely in keeping with the original tales, yet given the sort of zip that has been lost through age, but which must have been apparent on first publication.

                                  Martin Freeman is just right as Watson, whose public perception is still horribly affected by Nigel Bruce's windbag portrayal in the old Basil Rathbone movies; while Cumberbatch is quite possibly going to "do a Matt Smith" and make me reassess my attitude that Jeremy Brett is insurpassable in the role. Incidentally, Holmes was the first major role Tom Baker took after the Doctor, in '81, and showed himself hideously miscast in a rotten production of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

                                  The story itself was pretty slight, but so were the original tales. Like the original tales, the success was entirely in the presentation, and in the characterisation, both of which were wonderful.

                                  By the way, given Holmes' demonstrated brilliance at discerning motives (and assuming careful scriptwriting) there really can be no interpreation of the cafe scene than that it was a genuine, hesitant, pass made by Watson at Holmes, and was called as such by Holmes. Will be interesting to see how that pans out.

                                  Can't wait to watch part 2 tomorrow night.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Sherlock Holmes

                                    Purves Grundy wrote:
                                    By the way, given Holmes' demonstrated brilliance at discerning motives (and assuming careful scriptwriting) there really can be no interpreation of the cafe scene than that it was a genuine, hesitant, pass made by Watson at Holmes, and was called as such by Holmes. Will be interesting to see how that pans out.
                                    I think it's more the idea that Holmes is clueless about personal relationships (like his comment about the woman who lost her daughter), and has a particular blind spot with regards to himself.

                                    And the second episode (this isn't much of a spoiler) goes against the idea that Watson would be interested in Holmes.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Sherlock Holmes

                                      I haven't seen either of the episodes yet, and given my poor form in keeping up with downloads and iPlayer viewings, I might be better off waiting for the DVD set. I am, however, eagerly awaiting the red button supplement to the series - 'Benedict Cumberbatch', in which a struggling private detective makes ends meet by using his connections in the BBC to take on roles in primetime drama series.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Sherlock Holmes

                                        I sort of wish I hadn't watched this, and I'd left it a couple of years till the Beeb had filmed several stories and brought them out as a DVD box set, so I could gorge on it. I'm not used to this real-time dripfeed any more.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Sherlock Holmes

                                          I'm filling in the blanks with a five season boxed set of Jonathan Creek. It's not quite the same thing.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Sherlock Holmes

                                            I used to love Jonathan Creek, but haven't seen any since first broadcast. I'm curious to know how well they stand up.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Sherlock Holmes

                                              I missed it cos it started at 8.30 not 9, so I watched it yesterday on iPlayer.

                                              Normally i'll pause the iPlayer to make a coffee or something, not with this though.

                                              Though it was true to say there were more plot holes this week, I don't think the London A-Z starts at page 1 in the index, does it?

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Sherlock Holmes

                                                Baptiste wrote:
                                                Though it was true to say there were more plot holes this week, I don't think the London A-Z starts at page 1 in the index, does it?
                                                That is true, and there were a couple of others - e.g. library books are stamped the date of return not the date of issue, and there's no such tube station as "Piccadilly". It doesn't matter of course, dramatic license and all that, but I can't fathom why they'd need to invent a tube station. There's loads of 'em.

                                                I guessed it was the A to Z though, with the help of Leandor Sydnor - the fifth season of The Wire uses a similar code.

                                                Now there's a spoiler you weren't expecting.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  Sherlock Holmes

                                                  Purves Grundy wrote:
                                                  I used to love Jonathan Creek, but haven't seen any since first broadcast. I'm curious to know how well they stand up.
                                                  The good ones stand up well, the bad ones are worse than you'd remember. The first series was surprisingly good, the second less so, and I'm working my way through the third and others. It was great rainy Sunday afternoon TV though, even the more convoluted and far-fetched plots (the murdered man whose death was foreseen by a woman miles away) that don't really stand up to close scrutiny.

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