Wow, no one’s talking about this? Even those of you in the US can check it out, I think, via BBC Player.
The BBC has a new, ultra-modern twist on Sherlock Holmes. Instead of telegrams and candel lanterns Holmes now uses cellphones and Google. Benedict Cumberbatch shows definite promise as a somewhat young-ish Sherlock Holmes: A flare for the dramatic, and some Jeremy Brett-esque idiosynchranies that show both that he’s extremely intelligent yet also somewhat lacking in the human interaction department. Martin Freeman gives a great performance as Watson (and hopefully he’ll now be known for more than just The Office).
I like the Fight Club-style editing for some of the deduction scenes. I like some of the modern twists (scratches on a wind-up clock = scratch marks on a smartphone). Didn’t like the ending to the first week’s episode, and some of the twists were a bit gimmicky - but overall I’d give the show (based on the first week) a solid 8 out of 10. Haven’t seen the second week’s episode yet, but it’s on our DVR. The wife and I like the back-and-forth between the 21st Century Holmes and Watson. I hope the rest of the show can deliver.
I was all ready to hate it (I’m a huge Jeremy Brett fan) but I absolutely loved the first episode.
I watched the second episode last night and was extremely underwhelmed. All the wit and spark and joy of the first episode was gone and the plot just didn’t translate well to a modern setting, despite the writer’s best efforts. Speaking of which, it was a writer I didn’t recognise, it wasn’t Moffat or Gatiss, so that may explain why it didn’t feel like the same series as episode one.
It wasn’t so bad that I won’t keep watching, but I do hope episode three goes back to the style of episode one.
130 comments so far on The Guardian site and counting - a real range of views as well.
Pretty interesting but you’ve got to ‘get it’, and so many BBC1 viewers are, frankly, almost to thick to breath unaided.
I liked the first episode better than the second one (thought the second had some interesting stuff going on in the Chinese theater). But the first episode was thick with interesting stuff. As far as I know this will only be a 3-episode series (PLEASE tell me if that’s not true) which makes me really curious about part 3 tomorrow. There’s a lot of potentially very interesting stuff that was set up in part 1 that really hasn’t come back in part 2 at all.
I’ve seen rumors that the BBC will pick up a second series that’ll air next summer, but unfortunately, I haven’t seen anything official. Given the huge ratings the first episode got (don’t know about the 2nd) I would be stunned if they didn’t order more.
They were filming this in Cardiff at the same time they were doing the last series of Doctor Who. I’m trying to wrap my mind around how awesome it would be to see the Doctor and Sherlock Holmes having a chat while waiting for their respective calls.
The third one (written by Gatiss) really worked - as did the first written by Steven Moffatt. The middle . . . .
Still, 4 1/2 hours in total and a real treat. Excellent reworking of SH.
Haven’t seen the third episode yet, but holy balls was the second episode crap. All the spark and wit of the first episode gone, and instead we had some generic, mundane ‘suspense’, and a poorly-done one at that. I hated the random story line, there was no spark between Watson and Holmes, the writing was bland…yuck.
I can’t hardly believe the same cast and crew made both episodes. Who at BBC thought episode 2 was a good idea?
Am really hoping the final episode closes on a high note…
The final episode was amazing, I was gnawing on my knuckles most of the way through it! I even ended up exclaiming to no-one in particular “I’m SO enjoying this!” half way through.