There is no other adaptation like this
If any character embodies the entire sensibility of the entire Victorian Age, it is Sherlock Holmes. His complete portrayal of the Victorian age, the fetishisation of the late nineteenth century London and complex plots are what made him the most famous character that Arthur Conan Doyle ever wrote. It should be no surprise then that Sherlock Holmes has been adapted and given homage in every medium beyond books over the course of twentieth century. With over 25,000 Holmes related media and dozens of movie adaptations, one needs something truly unique to captivate modern audiences and make the adaptation stand out. Fortunately, that is the least of the “wow” factors that make one marvel at the genius behind the BBC series Sherlock.
Sherlock is the brainchild of Steven Moffat, the current showrunner of the acclaimed and quintessentially British TV series Doctor Who, and Mark Gatiss, a veteran BBC writer and actor. Sherlock updates the classic Sherlock Holmes, bringing him to the 21s century in an alternate world where there has been no Conan Doyle and thus no Sherlock Holmes mythology. This world, however, is strikingly similar to our current world, yet familiar, because it contains all the tiny nods to the classic Holmes adventures. The series is very short, with only three seasons of three feature-length episodes each, that have been released two years apart since 2010, and a fourth season expected in 2017. All the fans can look forward to in the short term is the Christmas special slated to be released this year.
Modernisation of a classic tale is not something that is new for Steven Moffat; he has in fact done it before. In 2007, Moffat created “Jekyll”, an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” which was an unexpected hit. The six part miniseries adapted the old story as a sort of a sequel to the original story, where the source material existed in the story universe. While that makes things easy for Jekyll, the ubiquitous nature of Sherlock Holmes references in modern world would make it almost impossible to pull off in a modern setting. That is why the non-existence of the original stories in this universe makes a lot of sense.
The plot is your basic Holmes “Origin Story”, so to speak. You have an Afghan war veteran doctor, Doctor Watson, who is in desperate need for affordable accommodation in London and through an old friend, he is introduced to Sherlock Holmes, the ‘world’s only consulting detective’. The meeting is the same as you would read in A Study in Scarlet, the first Holmes novel, except instead of deducing the information about Watson from his watch, Holmes deduces it from his iPhone. They hit it off and take lodgings at the familiar 221B Baker Street apartment and then spend the rest of their lives solving crimes. In this incarnation of the Sherlock Holmes universe, we are introduced to some of the old and familiar characters such as Inspector Lestrade, Mycroft Holmes and Mrs Hudson, and some new ones like the pathologist with a perpetual crush on the aloof Holmes, Molly Hooper, and the perpetual doubters, from New Scotland Yard, Sally Donovan and Philip Anderson.
There are certain ways this incarnation of Holmes and Company have been reinterpreted or updated. A lot of that has to do with moving the setting to the 21st century. There are more references to the long speculated about relationship between Holmes and Watson. Mrs Hudson here has actually ran a cartel. Mary Morstan has also been reinterpreted. Holmes is a fan of modern cabs and texting. These changes fit right in, with the newer generation. They make Sherlock Holmes less of an old crony and more of an updated young detective.
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Sherlock Holmes and is complemented very well by Martin Freeman’s Doctor Watson. Their on-screen chemistry is visible. Even in the later episodes that deal with Watson’s marriage, you can feel that they are life-long best friends with their bonds forged in fire. In the Series 2 opener, they are bickering like an old married couple while they are about to be executed, whereas their heartfelt dialogue when Sherlock supposedly dies in the Series 2 finale is heartbreaking.
Apart from their chemistry, they are doing an absolutely amazing job embracing their characters. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Holmes is aloof and not interested in the outside world. He despises mundane stuff. He is only interested in interesting information, information that will help him solve crimes, but only those crimes that strike his fancy. He is blunt and has trouble interacting with people, and Cumberbatch embodies that sort of geeky awkwardness while still oozing brilliance that sometimes it is hard to distinguish the man from the character.
Martin Freeman’s Watson, on the other hand, is emotional. He has obvious battle scars and is afraid of the old life, but at the same time yearns for the excitement. This excitement is what draws him to Holmes in the first place. Freeman plays that role admirably. His character is always freaked out but also not really surprised. Freeman channels a bit of his old Arthur Dent persona, from Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy and he transforms that into a battle-ready wounded hero.
The storylines are basically lifted straight from the source material, but updated. This leads to some very interesting and creative reinterpretations of the original stories. For example, while in the original The Five Orange Pips were literal pips; in here, they are small beeps on your cell phone. The “hound” in Hound of Baskerville is not an actual dog, but something that is brought up by the hallucinogens tested in a nearby military testing site. Although, there is an actual dog painted with fluorescent light, as was the case in the original, but this is a red herring and a nod to the source material. These homages, both big and little, are enough to keep fans of the original interested while not alienating those handful of people that have never heard of Sherlock Holmes.
So far, three series, each containing the three episodes, have aired, and they follow a distinct story arc. This story arc mirrors the Holmes storyline. The first series, that consists of “A Study in Pink”, “The Blind Banker” and “The Great Game”, deals with the introduction of Sherlock Holmes and how his profile rises in public, from an occasional consultant to a household name. This culminates in Sherlock being pursued by his mysterious nemesis, Moriarty. The second series, consists of the episodes “A Scandal in Belgravia”, “The Hounds of Baskerville” and “The Reichenbach Fall” deal with the high profile Holmes has acquired and the consequences of it, which make him an easy target for Moriarty. This leads to the “fall” that purportedly kills Sherlock. This mirrors the storyline in the original mythos where Holmes fakes his death so he can take Moriarty down. The third series consists of the episodes “The Empty Hearse”, “The Sign of Three” and “His Last Vow”. While the names mirror the names of the final set of Holmes stories, the episodes seem to follow suit, until the very last moment. The episodes deal with Sherlock getting back to London and dealing with an engaged and later married Watson. The story is yet to be continued in the Christmas special this year, and fourth series with no confirmed air date as of yet.
I would be remiss not to mention the character of Moriarty. Moriarty has classically been portrayed as an old hag, who is manipulative and ugly. However, Andrew Scott plays a very different Moriarty. Scott’s Moriarty is a young metrosexual male, who has all the cunning but a penchant for chewing the scenery. He will take over whatever scene he is in by his sheer presence. This Moriarty, the world’s only “Consulting Criminal”, is a creative reinterpretation of the classic Moriarty. He has the same cunning but he is also quite insane. His insanity has patterns as well, though, which makes Sherlock a worthy rival for him. His major role in orchestrating the events of “The Great Game” and then actually misleading Sherlock in “The Reichenbach Fall” marks him as one of the most effective villains in TV history. The way Andrew Scott portrays him tests his acting skills to the maximum and he passes with flying colours.
I shall not endeavour to review individual episodes here because each of them deserves an entire article dissecting on its own, but I will say here that for any person who even pretends to like Sherlock Holmes, this series is a must watch. It will spoil you for all the adaptations that have ever been or will be. This adaptation is quite possibly the best adaptation of the Holmes mythos done in the most original way possible and to achieve a similar feat, we need to have technology advanced to the point that all our current technology including cellphones and laptops and internet become obsolete and the society has been transformed beyond recognition. Only then will you have a reinterpretation of Sherlock Holmes that even comes close to what Moffat and Gatiss have accomplished in this century.
Sherlock is created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. It aired on 25 July, 2010, in the UK on BBC One and 24 October, 2010, in the USA on PBS. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson. The TV series has aired nine episodes in total with three episodes in each series. A fourth series of three episodes has also been announced.
Rating: 5/5 stars, Must Watch