Battlemouth

Sherlock is a modern interpretation of the greatest detective of all time created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This three-part miniseries was developed by Doctor Who writers Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss, who discovered a common love of the character and his stories over years of train commutes between London and Cardiff. Their discussions were initially conceptual until Hartswood Films sat them down, and Sherlock Holmes was reborn.

The original Holmes stories are recognised as a cultural phenomenon, with the novels being translated into over 160 languages. With this in mind, Moffat and Gatiss set out to create a series that stayed true to the core of the original tales, but stripped away the superfluous frippery that had been added to the character over the years. Moffat already had similar adaptation experience with his 2007 series, Jekyll, while Gatiss wrote the Dickensian “The Unquiet Dead” episode for Doctor Who.

While some would think creating such a series would be a risk with the recent Guy Ritchie adaptation still fresh in people’s minds, Sherlock starts anew with fresh ideas that don’t conflict with other interpretations. The writers recognised that, at the core, Sherlock Holmes is about “brilliant detection, dreadful villains, and blood-curdling crimes and frankly, to hell with the crinoline.” This became their codex to work from and it shone true in the first episode, “A Study in Pink”.

The title character is played by Benedict Cumberbatch (Atonement, Hawking), who brings us a Sherlock Holmes that is coldly calculating, impetuous, and more than a little Aspergerish. His Holmes even refers to himself as a high-functioning sociopath. While the police are reliant on his aid for certain cases, there are some that don’t like him at all, thinking of him as a freak that gets off on crimes and will eventually be the one committing murders himself. There is something creepy about the way that Cumberbatch shows such glee while investigating a murder crime scene, but he plays well the portrayal of a character whose mind works at a different rate to everyone else’s and is frustrated accordingly.

The modernisation of Holmes is excellently done. He still performs experiments to develop tools for his deductive reasoning (e.g. whipping a recent corpse in a morgue to see how it bruises), but he has also uses the technology of the modern world to aid his investigations. This master of detection is not adverse to the likes of SMS messaging or GPS location, and he even has a website advertising his services.

The inimitable Doctor Watson is played to perfection by Martin Freeman (The Office, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). He provides the primary point of view in the first episode, experiencing the same madcap introduction to Holmes as the viewer, thus saving the writers the chore of developing Holmes’ back-story. Watson himself is solid with a stern military bearing, but relaxes as he’s pulled into Holmes’ world. His history as a veteran of the war in Afghanistan provides him with the ability to be the muscle of the duo, yet he shows that he’s no shrinking violet in the mental department. His sole quirk thus far is that he’s an action addict who’s stressed by civilian life, and this drive is what draws him to the manic lifestyle of Holmes. On a sidenote, this was the role originally auditioned for by Matt Smith, whose portrayal led him to be cast as the Eleventh Doctor.

“A Study in Pink” was written by Moffat, and reflects his usual writing style. Like his characters, his story has a façade of simplicity, but is undercut with layers of complexities. The episode is also rich with quirkiness and humour, which seems to be a trademark part of his writing. Considering Moffat’s writing background, it’s inevitable that Sherlock comes across like Doctor Who, and it is true to an extent that you could easily swap Holmes and Watson for the Doctor and Amy Pond, but this is the writers’ homage to the original Sherlock Holmes tales and should be viewed as such.

The filming style of the series enhances well the atmosphere of the story. The filters provide a dark grimness reminiscent of the gaslight era, which combines with the high definition to bring the viewer quite a stark picture. Enhancing the story are text graphics that are overlaid on-screen. For example, if a character scrolls through a cellphone menu, that’s reflected with the menu actions appearing on-screen. The graphics also flash over parts of a crime scene as he examines it, providing the viewer without an insight into how he’s thinking, without the cumbersome tool of having him narrate what he’s doing. It’s a simple touch, but quite effective.

UK crime dramas have unfortunately become a-dime-a-dozen with only a handful really being worth their salt e.g. Cracker, Wire in the Blood. Sherlock joins the crime drama family and has quickly established itself as one of the worthy ones. I knew 20 minutes into the first episode that I’d be watching all of them. It’s currently only a three-episode miniseries, but the first episode’s 28.5% share of the UK viewing is a clear call for more episodes to be made. Sherlock is modern and fresh, and easily has the potential to be one of the best UK crime dramas of its generation. I strongly recommend checking it out.