# BBC's Sherlock on PBS \[OPEN SPOILERS\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246 "2010-10-25T03:14:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/41 "2010-10-26T00:28:13Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > With copious dosages of narcotics. The three nicotene patches he used to help him concentrate made me chuckle. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/42 "2010-10-26T01:39:15Z")
Just saw the first episode. Loved it. Way better than the Downey Jr. movie. Wayyyyy better. “I’m in shock. Look, I’ve got a blanket.” ---
**Author:** ![Jennmonkye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@Jennmonkye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennmonkye)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/43 "2010-10-26T02:09:30Z")
Loved it …LOVED IT! My husband didn’t watch it but I have told him he must, so we will be watching it together later this week. I agree with most everyone on the board…this is what the Downey Holmes should have been! ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/44 "2010-10-26T02:37:37Z")
Fair warning–the second ep is weaker than the first but #3 more than makes up for it. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/45 "2010-10-26T16:42:20Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > Fair warning–the second ep is weaker than the first but #3 more than makes up for it. Not that the second wasn’t very good in it’s own right. They are all very good. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/46 "2010-10-26T22:34:32Z")
Very good. I especially liked the scene where Holmes explains all the stuff he instantly figured out about Watson (psychosomatic limp, drunken divorced sibling, all that); Watson remarks “That’s very impressive” and Holmes tells him people usually say “Piss off.” Which they probably would, IRL. I also liked the reworking of A Study In Scarlet, though as some have already remarked, it was not a rewriting so much as a “cut into pieces and reuse some pieces” of the original story. It’s still fun if you know the original story. One piece of the original they should have thought harder about, though: The cabbie’s death-sentence aneurysm (though I liked the line “That’s the most fun you can have with an aneurysm.”). It worked in the original story, but 1. Aneurysms can be treated today–why wasn’t his? 2. He’s got an aneurysm that could blow any second–how the hell is he allowed to drive a cab? (Not that he would care about the law, but the cops would; my understanding is the London black cabs are tightly regulated.) ---
**Author:** ![Ceejaytee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ceejaytee/32/2956_2.png) [@Ceejaytee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ceejaytee)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/47 "2010-10-27T01:01:42Z")
We watched it last night and thought it was fantastic. The actors were great together and the dialogue was just amazing. I got the cabbie thing the first time Mrs. Hudson appeared and Holmes said he hadn’t ordered one. I’m not sure what took him so long, except that he may have been distracted by the missing phone. But that’s a minor quibble. My husband and I have been talking about it all day, it was just so good. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/48 "2010-10-27T12:12:44Z")
> [@Ceejaytee](#): > > We watched it last night and thought it was fantastic. The actors were great together and the dialogue was just amazing. I got the cabbie thing the first time Mrs. Hudson appeared and Holmes said he hadn’t ordered one. I’m not sure what took him so long, except that he may have been distracted by the missing phone. But that’s a minor quibble. My husband and I have been talking about it all day, it was just so good. I think he was distracted by all the cops (who would love to take him down a peg) searching his flat. Holmes obviously had _something_ that he didn’t want them to find. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/49 "2010-10-27T15:55:47Z")
[QUOTE=Smeghead] The three nicotene patches he used to help him concentrate made me chuckle. [/QUOTE] This is a specific Doyle reference, Holmes smokes his pipe to help him think and describes something as a “three pipe problem.” There were lots of such throw-away references. > [@Maus Magill](#): > > Holmes obviously had something that he didn’t want them to find. Again, those who know the Holmes stories well know that he took cocaine for stimulation when life became “boring.” > [@John T](#): > > IMHO, if somebody is so hyperaware of their surroundings that they can deduce levels of physical activity based on the scruff marks of a barely-seen cell phone, that person is on the teetering edge of insanity… how does one function like that? In the original story, Holmes spends a lot of time studying Watson’s pocket watch to draw such conclusions. Time can move fast in a story but the TV version would obviously be dull if we just watched Holmes study the cellphone for five or ten minutes. They’ve speeded up the pacing considerably. This was also noticeable when Holmes examines the body (“wet” and “dry” and so forth flashing across the screen.) The real-life examination would have taken considerable time; the show is using short-cuts to keep the pacing brisk. I loved the show. I thought they really captured the Holmes and Watson flavor, while updating brilliantly. (And I caught that it was Mycroft during the first conversation with Watson. However, Mycroft should be somewhat stout\*, so the casting I thought was a little off. I guess that since they wanted the audience to think it was Moriarty, casting a thinner actor made sense. There was a line about him having “lost weight” later.) - Intentional pun and reference to Rex Stout. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/50 "2010-10-27T16:14:39Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > However, Mycroft should be somewhat stout\*, so the casting I thought was a little off. I guess that since they wanted the audience to think it was Moriarty, casting a thinner actor made sense. There was a line about him having “lost weight” later.) Also, of course, they needed a role for series co-creator/producer Mark Gatiss that allowed room for his somewhat arch acting style. > [@JSexton](#): > > My only complaint is that we, the audience, often got a conclusion long before Sherlock did. Especially that the cabby was behind it all, that was glaringly obvious and there’s no way Holmes could have missed it for so long. Likewise, how he could have failed to consider that Watson was the one who fired the shot that saved him? Who else could it have been? > > Fortunately, they fix this problem for the next two episodes. The only time I got ahead of Holmes is when I had information that he did not possess. I wonder how much of this was caused by _A Study In Pink_ being expanded from its original 60-minute length? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/51 "2010-10-27T16:19:22Z")
Did anybody but me notice the one scene where Sherlock is squatting in his chair? I wonder if the screenwriters are Death Note fans or if this was just a coincidence? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/52 "2010-10-27T16:44:09Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > Again, those who know the Holmes stories well know that he took cocaine for stimulation when life became “boring.” I wasn’t sure whether this version of Holmes had a cocaine habit. He described himself as “clean” to Watson and Lastrade. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/53 "2010-10-27T16:48:08Z")
People who claim to be “clean” are people who are known to have spent time “not clean.” ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/54 "2010-10-27T16:53:16Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > I wasn’t sure whether this version of Holmes had a cocaine habit. He described himself as “clean” to Watson and Lastrade. He was probably lying. You could tell when Watson protested that Sherlock would _never_ and Sherlock gave him that look. I think they did a good job of hinting at his drug use for the “purists” without turning him into an open junkie. also how awesome is Lastrade? I want a spin-off starring Rupert Graves being all hot and awesome and solving the crimes that aren’t important enough for Sherlock. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/55 "2010-10-27T17:26:45Z")
> [@ryobserver](#): > > One piece of the original they should have thought harder about, though: The cabbie’s death-sentence aneurysm (though I liked the line “That’s the most fun you can have with an aneurysm.”). It worked in the original story, but 1. Aneurysms can be treated today–why wasn’t his? 2. He’s got an aneurysm that could blow any second–how the hell is he allowed to drive a cab? (Not that he would care about the law, but the cops would; my understanding is the London black cabs are tightly regulated.) The way I explained it to myself was: 1) The location of the aneurysm in his brain made it impossible for the surgeon to get to without killing the patient, and 2) He never told the cab company about his aneurysm or his doctor about his driving a cab. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/56 "2010-10-27T17:27:55Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > I wasn’t sure whether this version of Holmes had a cocaine habit. He described himself as “clean” to Watson and Lastrade. > [@acsenray](#): > > People who claim to be “clean” are people who are known to have spent time “not clean.” > [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > He was probably lying. You could tell when Watson protested that Sherlock would _never_ and Sherlock gave him that look. I think they did a good job of hinting at his drug use for the “purists” without turning him into an open junkie. I certainly got the vibe of his meaning clean as “clean, right now, in this moment, but I might be holding” from the way he looked meaningfully at Watson. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/57 "2010-10-28T13:57:37Z")
Loved it. I was glad not to have read or seen the original Scarlet story. Reminded me a lot of Dr Who. And of course the whole pill thing had shades of Princess Bride. Also liked the way they visualized the clue finding. > [@Krokodil](#): > > Oh, what’s with the comment about Holmes not getting paid for his consulting? He certainly did in the canonical stories! Is Lestrade going out of pocket to save his job or something? I would have thought Holmes got by on his non-police jobs, but from this episode it seems like he gets paid for those in favors rather than in cash. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Oh, and there was no reason for Holmes to take the pill. He should just take it home and do a chemical analysis. I suppose his ego wouldn’t let him play it safe. But yeah, that was kind of silly. Also disappointing that the audience never finds out. > [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > also how awesome is Lastrade? I want a spin-off starring Rupert Graves being all hot and awesome and solving the crimes that aren’t important enough for Sherlock. I totally did not realize it was Rupert Graves. Is he not aging well? The Moriarty switcheroo was fun, but it seems there is still a real Moriarty. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/58 "2010-10-28T15:51:20Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > He was probably lying. You could tell when Watson protested that Sherlock would _never_ and Sherlock gave him that look. I think they did a good job of hinting at his drug use for the “purists” without turning him into an open junkie. > > also how awesome is Lastrade? I want a spin-off starring Rupert Graves being all hot and awesome and solving the crimes that aren’t important enough for Sherlock. One more nice thing about this version, is that Lastrade and Watson are both smart, capable human beings. In some versions, I would be surprised if they could wipe their own bottoms without assistance. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/59 "2010-10-28T15:53:45Z")
I thought that the first series was truly excellent on several levels, and innovative. I hope that future episodes keep up to the very high level already set. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246/60 "2010-10-28T17:02:24Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > One more nice thing about this version, is that Lastrade and Watson are both smart, capable human beings. In some versions, I would be surprised if they could wipe their own bottoms without assistance. Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I always thought Basil Rathbone was a great Holmes, but using Nigel Bruce as a doofus comedy sidekick made me detest the entire series of movies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbcs-sherlock-on-pbs-open-spoilers/558246.md?page=4)