TV: Sherlock SE3 EP1

Sherlock
Crime, Drama, Mystery

Merry Christmas and Happy New Sherlock! I am beyond excited about this show and the return of everyone's favourite neurotic detective, so this will probably be an exceedingly long, swoony post. I - along with everyone else who's seen it - love this show. The cast is amazing and the 1.5hr long episodes are like mini movies which makes the 3 episode seasons not too bad. I know I go on and on about short seasons but if any show can get away with it, it's this one; English shows somehow manage to pull it off.

The opening was amazing, making us think that was how Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch - Star Trek Into Darkness) had managed to make everyone believe he was dead... except that's not how it actually happened is it? Will they ever tell us? How do you think he did it? The way Sherlock explained it to the journalist is probably the most liable. Though the jumping through the window and kissing Molly (Louise Brealey)... that scene alone would have made me happy with this episode.

We all knew that Sherlock wasn't dead and even though Watson (Martin Freeman - The Hobbit, The World's End) wished it wasn't so, he had no idea...poor Watson. I was absolutely horrified at that meeting scene... it was everything I could have wanted it to be. I knew he would punch Sherlock... in fact the hubs and I were egging him on the entire time! Sherlock is such an ass! What do we think about Watson's fiance, Mary (Amanda Abbington)? I had a momentary thought that maybe she was a plant... but Sherlock would have picked it up, right?

Mycroft (Mark Gatiss - Doctor Who) knew the whole time then hey? I love the banter between these two; they are each other's bouncing boards. Is Mycroft the smarter one? I wonder if they could do a spin-off for him... spending a day with him would be interesting. And how ordinary are their parents?! Hilarious! How did that happen? Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs) is brilliant, just giggling away. Lestrade's (Rupert Graves) reaction was surprising.. I thought he would have smacked Sherlock one as well. I loved the fan-fiction Moriarty (Andrew Scott) slash Sherlock scene if only to see the amazing Moriarty again.

Speaking of Moriarty, who is this new nemesis? The one who kidnapped John and put him in the pyre? I wonder if these episodes are at all close to the books. I recently picked up a copy of the classic collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and mean to read some of them this year. I'll let you know.

I love the way this is shot; so much black, white and grey... very London! The observations coming up on screen in words, slow motion pan ins and over-layer photographs...great! It's like they show us all the pieces of the puzzle and give us just enough time to almost figure it out ourselves before Sherlock shows us. So well done! I like this show so much better than Elementary, I will probably post about each episode as they come... stay tuned!

5 out of 5 Happy New Sherlock...

Extras

They actually have "I don't shave for Sherlock Holmes shirts" here.

Did anyone else catch some of the #SherlockLives promo tweets? They had an empty hearse drive through London to some of the places Sherlock is filmed and used Twitter to spread the news of the new episode.

TV: Sherlock

Sherlock 
Crime, Drama, Mystery

I do not have enough praise for this show. Now watch me ramble on about it!

I'll start by reminding you how often I whine about short seasons but remember I also mentioned somewhere that this is acceptable for English shows. I don't know why but they seem to be able to cram more quality into a shorter season than any US show I've ever seen. This particular series is extremely short with just three episodes per season but it makes up for it by being hour and a half long episodes! I've accepted this quite happily.

Benedict Cumberbatch is Sherlock Holmes and I'm sure you've heard about him by now after he starred in Star Trek: Into Darkness as legendary Starfleet nemesis Khan. I'm also really looking forward to seeing him in The Hobbit trilogy where he plays the Necromancer and the voice of Smaug the dragon. How awesome does the preview for that look?! Another face from The Hobbit is Mr. Bilbo Baggins himself; Martin Freeman, who plays Sherlock's trusty sidekick, John Watson.

I'm sure you know the general gist of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic character; Sherlock is a consulting detective with exceptional observation skills and deductive reasoning. The character often has slight dark twist such as alcoholism or drug addiction that makes us doubt his fanatical personality but is actually a conduit for his intellect. Dr Watson is his trusted friend and sometimes flatmate, an ex-army doctor who traditionally narrates the story.

This show follows a lot of the traditional Sherlock mannerisms and I think that's what makes it so good. Cumberbatch manages to portray the intense energy that such an active mind should possess. His performance reminds me of James Nesbitt's stunningly brilliant role in Jekyll. There is something about Cumberbatch's performance that reminds me of the way Nesbitt changed from Jekyll to Hyde. Perhaps it's the way Sherlock can go from quietly processing to vomiting a string of verbal facts. (If you haven't seen Jekyll, go find it now, it's amazing!)

Without going into details about the plethora of other minor characters, I really needed to mention the Andrew Scott in the role of Holmes' arch nemesis, Moriarty. His face, his voice, the entire character he puts across is manically insane and scarily intelligent. Messing with Sherlock is fun for him. I just love this performance and Scott totally deserved the Best Supporting Actor nomination he received for this part.
brilliance that is

I also have to applaud the writers; legendary Steven Moffat (who also writes for Doctor Who, Jekyll and one of my old favourites, Coupling.) and Mark Gatiss who also plays Sherlock's brother Mycroft. The current six episodes are somewhat loosely based around the classic Conan Doyle books and I think this makes them just that little bit more special.

I've watched the existing episodes three or four times now and would quite happily watch them all again. Season three will be starting soon (we hope) and I have heard a confirmation that no matter what the powers that be say there will be a season four, even if Benedict Cumberbatch has to finance it himself! Hell to the yeah!

5 out of 5 smoking pipes....