The Reincarnation Of Sherlock Holmes

A few weeks ago, 'Sherlock' appeared on our television screens for three weeks on BBC 1. Now, I have not actually had any real previous exposure to Sherlock Holmes stories, television or film adaptations for me to compare this recent reincarnation of the detective to. In comparison, it may be complete rubbish, but without a comparison I thought it to be absolutely brilliant.

I had a few doubts about it though. The adverts made it look really cool and interesting, which was great, but it was written by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who writer) and Mark Gattis (Actor/Writer for Doctor Who and of other stuff). Those of you, who have read my numerous, recent Doctor Who blogs, will be aware that I am not exactly keen on Moffat's writing. The other doubt being that it had been modernised. 'An old classic that been modernised and bastardised' was my initial thought of what it would be. Writer's have a habit of doing that of late; Old books and movies, being updated to appeal to the modern audience.

These doubts disappeared after the first 20 minutes of the first episode. If you look closely, there is that element of Doctor Who within the character of Sherlock Holmes, and the general writing. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of an odd, brilliant man very well, and Martin Freeman is rather good at playing the 'sidekick' Dr. John Watson; a part Matt Smith originally went for before becoming the Doctor. Anyway, Benedict and Martin seemed to work quiet well with each other, and although being massively updated, still managed to keep true to the original stories.

Just little things like Dr Watson being injured in Afghanistan in the original Conan Doyle's stories, fits in perfectly with our current state of affairs, and of course Freeman's adaptation had been injured in service in Afghanistan. Also, the fact they live at the same address on Bakers Street, London and Sherlock Holmes's brother Mycroft, played by Mark Gatiss, return in the adaptation.

Cumberbatch and Freeman, in the guise of Sherlock and Watson, at the famous address

As for the episodes, it is a similar tale to Doctor Who. I only really enjoyed two of the three episodes. However, would you believe it, the episode that I preferred was actually the one written by Steven Moffat, which was the first episode. The other episode I liked was mainly written by Mark Gatiss, which was the finale. The episode I didn't like was the second, written by guest writer Stephen Thompson. So, from the fact I much prefer Moffat’s writing for Sherlock than in Doctor Who, we can conclude that Moffat should give up on Doctor Who and concentrate more on writing for Sherlock.

If he did that, I am sure he could improve on it massively. Only three episodes in the series? You wouldn't expect that treatment in America. I want the series to go on for weeks and week and weeks. Also, shorten the length of the episodes. Produce more, shorter episodes. 90 minute long episodes work, but by the end you tend to tire of it. Produce 13, 60 minute episodes. Moffat is a fantastic writer, when doing the right stuff. He should give Doctor Who to someone else and go for Sherlock, just like I said at the end of the previous paragraph; just to emphasis the point.

The first episode, which was written by the Moffat and entitled 'A Study In Pink', I actually really enjoyed. Even someone like me with no previous experience with Sherlock Holmes could tell you that we were introduced to someone who everyone could identify as Holmes. The only bad thing about the episode, but classic of Moffat's writing, is that I worked out the killer half hour before Sherlock Holmes. I wasn't the only one, I'm aware of lots of people who worked out that the murderer would be a Taxi Driver. However, at the end of the 90 minutes, you felt as if you had really gotten to know the characters, like you would after a few episodes, which certainly is a credit to Moffat.

The second episode, written by a little known man called 'Stephen Thompson which was called 'The Blind Banker', was the weakest of the three stories. Again, everyone had an idea of who the killer was before Sherlock. The problem with them having different writer’s, is that the characters seemed a bit different in the second story and is taking a different angel, a weakness of numerous writers and the episode didn't seem to fit.

The third episode, written by Mark Gatiss was called 'The Great Game'. Now, between this episode and the first, there were numerous links and they fitted with each other better; which just emphasis's the point that Gatiss and Moffat should work together on writing Sherlock, and not get in other writers. This episode however, was fantastic in allowing the audience to fully understand the character of Sherlock Holmes and fully appreciate his mind power. It is an episode in which Sherlock has to solve numerous puzzles in order to save people’s lives, and with it being much more fast paced, it just came across as a great episode.

Sherlock Holmes has been updated a lot, with Laptop's, iPhone's and Blackberry's being used throughout the stories and also includes a lot of travel by taxi, in which he seems to think and work things out. Of course, he still has the old resource of books, but it has been modernised with care. You almost begin to believe that if Conan Doyle was alive today and writing the Sherlock Holmes books, it is how he would have written them, with new technologies aiding him. I have read rather a lot of reviews, because I am very intrigued as to what other people thought, and there seems to be a general thumbs up.

Hardly any reviews I have read, comment on how the modernisation has ruined the classic stories. Most people agree that it is in keeping with the original stories. There does seem to be rather a lot of love for it, which is fantastic. I honestly think that if the BBC approaches the new series right, they could have another hit, just like Doctor Who, on their hands. The new series does need to have shorter, but more episodes in my opinion for it to work. Only three episodes? By the time I got my teeth gripped into it, it just ends. The BBC also need to make sure they don't have guest writers, and they make Moffat and Gatiss write the entire lot; just to emphasis and repeat the same point yet once more.

Dramatic walking through the streets of London

So, essentially my conclusion is that Moffat should stop writing Doctor Who and give that to someone else, and just focus on Sherlock. He clearly produces better work for that project. I am so very pleased the BBC has commissioned another series. Makes a change from the usual crap they commission.

Now, I feel I should make an attempt at starting to read the original books and stories. I feel I have missed out, and if I am enjoying this new version, imagine the fun I could have if I actually read the original written by one of our most famous writers. Sherlock Holmes in my opinion is next to James Bond in the list of characters from English literature that have become quintessential characters of our every day-to-day life. Very important and should be remembered in both their original and new forms, forever, and for many generations to come.