Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue talk Sherlock
I went to see Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue talk in Wrexham tonight about "Sherlock".
Here are some comments I scribbled down that I thought would be relevant to our interests:
- The interviewer was a bit of an idiot. For example, "girls don't read Sherlock as much as boys, tehe!" (ugh)
- Sue said that when Sherlock was commissioned, she read some of the books: "I noted, for example, that John gets married at some point" D:
- One comment from focus groups was that the police were too stupid. Moffat: "Lestrade is smart enough to recognise a man smarter than him and a lot less sane"
- They cast Benedict to be "scary and imperious". When Martin came into the audition, they had "immediate chemistry" and Benedict changed his game when Martin came in; he was much stiffer before.
- Sherlock is a "most unlikeable bastard" - "if not human, a forgiveable psychopath" (and continued to call him a psychopath throughout, forgetting his own script)
- How can you make a character like Sherlock loveable?
- "We like to see people grow"
- "We long for the heart of gold"
- "The person you like the company of the most is not necessarily the one you approve of the most"
- Sherlock starts as a "lone autistic psychopath"
- Sherlock sees Moriaty and knows "what evil's like - and that's not him"
- Sherlock is "humanised by a friend and enobled by an enemy"
- Re: tech - Sherlock is "born for the internet chat room" - eek!
- "The point is these two men having great adventures"
- Point of mean: "if you lost every rabid SH and DW fan in one day, it wouldn't make a dent in the ratings" :o
- "All Sherlocks treat their Watsons like doormats. But Sherlock views the whole world as doormats - one of which he knows the name of" -> Watson is "the first man a genius would trust"
I have further notes, mostly about writing and production, but if you wanted me to add some more, I could type them up.
Here are some comments I scribbled down that I thought would be relevant to our interests:
- The interviewer was a bit of an idiot. For example, "girls don't read Sherlock as much as boys, tehe!" (ugh)
- Sue said that when Sherlock was commissioned, she read some of the books: "I noted, for example, that John gets married at some point" D:
- One comment from focus groups was that the police were too stupid. Moffat: "Lestrade is smart enough to recognise a man smarter than him and a lot less sane"
- They cast Benedict to be "scary and imperious". When Martin came into the audition, they had "immediate chemistry" and Benedict changed his game when Martin came in; he was much stiffer before.
- Sherlock is a "most unlikeable bastard" - "if not human, a forgiveable psychopath" (and continued to call him a psychopath throughout, forgetting his own script)
- How can you make a character like Sherlock loveable?
- "We like to see people grow"
- "We long for the heart of gold"
- "The person you like the company of the most is not necessarily the one you approve of the most"
- Sherlock starts as a "lone autistic psychopath"
- Sherlock sees Moriaty and knows "what evil's like - and that's not him"
- Sherlock is "humanised by a friend and enobled by an enemy"
- Re: tech - Sherlock is "born for the internet chat room" - eek!
- "The point is these two men having great adventures"
- Point of mean: "if you lost every rabid SH and DW fan in one day, it wouldn't make a dent in the ratings" :o
- "All Sherlocks treat their Watsons like doormats. But Sherlock views the whole world as doormats - one of which he knows the name of" -> Watson is "the first man a genius would trust"
I have further notes, mostly about writing and production, but if you wanted me to add some more, I could type them up.