Category: Film Reviews, News
Tags: Sherlock Holmes

Some years ago, Steven Moffatt helmed a BBC One series called Jekyll. It starred James Nesbitt and was a kind of modern day adaptation / sequel of Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I haven’t seen it but I ‘m told it was quite good. This new Sherlock Holmes mini- series seems to follow the same general idea. Moffatt is once again the creator, along with Mark Gatiss- who is best known as a member of The League Of Gentlemen comedy team, author of the Lucifer Box novels and screenwriter and actor for the new Doctor Who series. In fact, both creators are closely associated with Doctor Who, with Moffatt being the new executive producer for the series (a good thing, since his dark sensibility and sense of humour has made the latest season a treat).

I don’t know where Moffatt gets the time for all these projects. He recently concluded the script for the first Tintin film, for producers Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, then took over Doctor Who and now this. In any case, Holmes is only 3 episodes long and was broadcasted during the slow Summer months. Despite that, it was a critical and popular success, leading the BBC to commission a new series. Which is just as well, as I enjoyed it immensely.

The plot? It’s the present day and army doctor John Watson has just returned to London from a tour of duty in Afghanistan (The centuries may pass, but some things never change). He is depressed, lonely and low on cash and needs a place to stay. An old acquaintance from his University days suggests that he should find a flat and share the rent with someone but Watson is reluctant: “Who would have me for a flatmate?”

“That’s funny” says his friend. “You are the second person to ask me this today.”

The other guy is, of course, a cynical, eccentric, borderline- sociopathic genius who considers himself the world’s only consulting detective and goes by the name of… well, take a wild guess. The pair end up renting an apartment in Baker Street, but Watson is not too happy with his new companion. He is snobbish and aloof and has no time for concepts like morality, etiquette and people’s feelings. He keeps a human skull above the fireplace and a jar of eyeballs in the fridge (for experimental purposes). When bored, he has an unfortunate tendency to shoot at the walls with his gun, or play the violin badly. And he solves crimes for fun.

I ‘m not going to pretend to be impartial here. I have a blind spot as far as Sherlock Holmes is concerned and I particularly love the way the character can be interpreted in various ways. I like the legendary Jeremy Brett ITV series, love The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes and Murder By Decree (Holmes vs Jack the Ripper!) and also enjoyed Young Sherlock Holmes and the hysterical Without a Clue. Not to mention Neil Gaiman’s brilliant short story A Study In Amber.

The point is that Holmes is a lot of things to a lot of people. I personally prefer the more gothic versions and my favorite one may be Peter Cushing, but it depends really. Still, Conan Doyle purists will have a fit with all the contemporary stuff: This new Holmes loves texting, has a nicotine patch because “it’s impossible to be a smoker in London these days” and writes for a website. On the other hand, several characters from the books show up and it’s obvious that the creators love the material. This is certainly closer to the source than Guy Richie’s action- fest (this Holmes actually solves problems instead of punching them). It’s not perfect (the second episode, which features a Chinese secret society is rather silly), but the writing is sharp and the dialogue funny and- crucially- Benedict Cumberbatch (Atonement, Hawking) and Martin Freeman (The Office, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Love Actually, Shawn Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz) make for a charismatic double act as Holmes and Watson.

I hope the new episodes are ready soon. Moffatt and Gatiss seem to be having a lot of fun with their interpretation of Holmes. And if you don’t like their version, that’s OK. As Moffatt himself pointed out, if you wait a while, another one will come along soon enough.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

About the Author: CnB