The Game Is On! – A “Sherlock” Overview

It only took 123 years, but Sherlock Holmes has finally been brought up to date! “Sherlock” has its American debut tonight on various PBS stations throughout the country. When it was originally shown in England on BBC1 this past summer, “Sherlock” was a big hit and was immediately granted a second series for 2011!

“Sherlock” is a contemporary take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s mystery stories, starring the incredibly brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch as the self-proscribed consulting detective. Martin Freeman is equally impressive as the Afghanistan war hero/action junkie Doctor John Watson. “Doctor Who” writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss created the concept for the BBC/PBS co-production.

What makes “Sherlock” special is how it combines today’s entertainment needs with the essence of Conan Doyle’s stories. It doesn’t go overboard with the action like the big budget Warner Brothers’ movie of 2009, nor does it focus squarely on the fog and attire of the Victorian Era like so many Sherlock Holmes movies of the past.

Cumberbatch’s Sherlock may be highly adept at using mobile phones and has swapped out his pipe for nicotine patches, but he still has the lightning fast leaps of logic that has made Holmes so endearing to mystery fans. Freeman’s Watson may have ditched the bowler hat for a Heckler & Koch and now posts Sherlock’s adventures on a blog, but he is still the best friend a genius can have.

As expected from writers of “Doctor Who”, “Sherlock” crackles with witty dialogue and smart characterization. 221b Baker Street, Lestrade, Mycroft, Mrs. Hudson and Moriarty are all back, but now there is a running joke about people believing Sherlock and John are gay as well as all the actual running that is done in every episode. IMHO the best part of the first episode has to do with the duo outrunning a London taxi cab simply due to Sherlock’s superior knowledge of the city! If that’s not enough, there is always the wonderful theme music that opens each episode.

Moffat does a stunning job adapting Conan Doyle’s first Holmes tale, A Study In Scarlet, into the show’s first episode, A Study In Pink. Who can solve serial suicides of four different people with the same MO and no apparent clues as to why they are actually murders? Sherlock of course, since we regular people just lower the IQ of the entire street!