Dr. Watson? No way! That's Arthur Dent, I mean Tim Canterbury

[den_down_unda]

So by happy accident, I stumbled into the first episode of the BBC's new Sherlock Holmes adaptation, Sherlock. The episode, called "A Study in Pink," is very loosely based on the first Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet. The setting has been changed to modern-day London, so the Great Detective is equipped with cell phones, a laptop, and all the

Comments

[silverselene]

I caught that episode yesterday after I kept meaning to watch it many times. I always seemed to come across it halfway through an episode. I hate dropping into a new show or movie halfway through. I really enjoyed it a lot and think that they play off each other really well. As far as I've heard, there will be more episodes filmed, though of course with Freeman doing The Hobbit, we'll see how all of that is handled.

[den_down_unda]

Yes, I just saw they mean to do three more episodes. Dunno how that will work with The Hobbit, but I don't think Peter Jackson is shooting for a few months. I could be wrong about that, though.

[cerridwynn]

I agree with you on the weird words-on-screen thing -- it was a bit jarring. I could see it working to let the viewer in on the puzzle (like the highlighted clues in Psyc), but it felt like a very abrupt change in perspective. After all, most of the time we see the story from Watson's pov -- not Holmes'.

As for the plot, i haven't read much Sherlock Holmes, and what i have read was years ago, so i don't have much to compare it to. The creepy serial killer plot didn't bother me -- it seems like part of the 21st cent update, actually, since that's totally the kind of villain who would appear in a CSI or show of that ilk... Makes me wonder if they were intentionally playing with the genre?

Anyway, i'm looking forward to seeing the rest!

[den_down_unda]

Yeah, that might have been part of the problem for me, because I know there's an emotional resonance in the book that's lacking in this version (though admittedly not much of one).

I did like how they messed with the book with the "rache" carved in the floor. In the book, it's written in blood on the walls at the site of the first murder, and it really is the German word for "revenge." But there's no way that would make sense in the 21st century, hence it meaning "Rachel."

[deliquessence]

Found the updated version delightful - am a huge fan of BENEDICT Cumberbatch after first seeing him in The Last Enemy. He seems to specialize in portraying brilliant characters brilliantly. I thought the words overlaying the video were from his text messaging/multitasking whereas his thought process/imaginings were depicted more visually (wait for the second episode). And Freeman does do the salt-of-the-earth foil well. The modernization comes off well and probably allows me to be more appreciative of the brilliance of the plot.

The second episode seemed somewhat more confusing to follow, but I have trouble with dialogue that's too quickly delivered - guess I have slow ears - and will watch for online availability so I can pause and rewind. It probably didn't help that I was overly tired and kept falling asleep.