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I'm almost an hour into the first episode, and it is magnificent! Luther was great, but it pales next to this. The movie was fun, but it wasn't even in the same category as this show.
There are going to be 3 90 minute eps this first time around. It's some of the best TV I've seen in a long time.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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It's written by Steven Moffat, the (best) Doctor Who writer, right? I'm certainly looking forward to it. I've heard that it's Doctor Who in a contemporary time, except with Sherlock Holmes as the Doctor.
It's three 90 minute episodes? Wikipedia says that it's three 30 minute eps. Fantastic if it's really that long. . .
Posts: 517 | Registered: Nov 2008
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I like Russell Davies better than Moffat for Doctor Who, but... well, I guess it's a little Who-ish in a way, but not really. Imagine Holmes more annoying than House. Though Watson is every bit as much a main character here, and he's also amazing. Understated, but brilliant.
This first one (A Study in Pink) was definitely an hour and a half. And there was no drag... they used all that time.
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2nd was... OK. Several laugh-out-loud moments, some interesting wordplay between the characters, but not quite on the same level. Are they hoping to do more, or are the three episodes supposed to be a miniseries?
Because if "Sherlock" is to become a full season series this would fit in nicely, but as the second of only three it seems to be an unimpressive standalone and fails to move along any larger story arc.
Really like how Watson holds his own, though.
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Outstanding. Brilliant. "Life on Mars" good.
It reminds me very much of "House". But it's more daring and funny.
Can't wait to see the second episode. Supposedly, the BBC wants to make more . . . they're just ironing out the details.
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I agree that the second ep wasn't as good as the first one. But the bar was set pretty high, so I think I can forgive that. Can't wait to see the third one, and I hope hope hope they do more.
The guy who plays Watson was Arthur Dent in the Hitchhikers movie. He also did an odd little 4 episode series called Boy Meets Girl last year. The guy playing Holmes, though, I've never seen before. "I'm not a psychopath; I'm a high functioning sociopath. Get your diagnoses straight!" Hee.
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The guy who plays Holmes was offered the role of The Doctor before Matt Smith but turned it down. I like Matt Smith, but I think I would prefer this guy.
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quote:Originally posted by JonHecht: The guy who plays Holmes was offered the role of The Doctor before Matt Smith but turned it down. I like Matt Smith, but I think I would prefer this guy.
What's the source for this? All the accounts of Matt Smith's casting I've ever read have said that he was so good in the auditions that he was always the front runner.
Posts: 2910 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Cumberbatch has been in stuff, but not much Americans are likely to have seen. I heard he played Stephen Hawking in a British biopic called "Hawking", for which he won their equivalent of an Emmy and was also nominated for a BAFTA. He also had a supporting role in Atonement, evidently. He's been around Brit TV for a while, and unlike many American TV actors, most Brit TV actors can act.
I agree that the second wasn't as chock full of awesome as the first, but I have high hopes.
Also, comparisons to House amuse me, because I've always said that "House" (and so many other shows based around the 'brilliant but unpleasant' character) is just an extrapolation of the Holmes archetype.
Jeremy Brett was the shizat. I'm a huge fan. But this new Sherlock? Blew me away.
Can't wait for more!
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Olivet: Also, comparisons to House amuse me, because I've always said that "House" (and so many other shows based around the 'brilliant but unpleasant' character) is just an extrapolation of the Holmes archetype.
Jeremy Brett was the shizat. I'm a huge fan. But this new Sherlock? Blew me away.
Can't wait for more!
I have always said that house is just holmes as a doctor.
You really think this guy tops Jeremy Brett? I haven't seen it yet as it doesn't appear to be on in my area but that's a tall order. Now I really want to see it.
Posts: 333 | Registered: Feb 2010
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I didn't say he was better than Brett. I said he blew me away.
Comparing this new Sherlock to Brett's is a fish-to-fowl comparison. Gone are the horse-drawn cabs and the pea soup fog. This is, basically, exceptional fanfiction. Someone very talented asked "What would Sherlock Holmes be like if he lived in Modern London?" and then tried to answer that question.
I could quibble on several points, but I think they got it close enough to make me happy. (I don't think Holmes from the books is a sociopath, for example. I'd put him as more of a... there is a particular type of narcissist who has somewhat limited empathy and tends to have a moral code that is peculiar to them, but by which they live very strictly. But they are definitely trying to play him as a sociopath as opposed to an extremely high-functioning Aspie or what have you. I can live with that, because most sociopaths (one in every 25 people, by latest estimates) are not scary killers. Salesmen, maybe. )
Much like Brett, though, this Sherlock twanged the same invisible chord in my heart that won me over. It's very different, though.
Some kind soul put both 90 minute eps up on YouTube, broken up into 10 minute segments, so if you have a couple hours to kill and won't get fired or anything, you can decide for yourself:
Between this, RTD's Doctor Who season four ender, and Lost in Austen, I'm beginning to think that the coolest BBC shows are exactly that.
Posts: 26063 | Registered: Mar 2000
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Just finished watching them and I can't wait for the third to get posted. Fantastic show.
I see that the third was written and directed by the same people that did the first one (the second was a different crew) so hopefully they will bring the humor back.
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The first was definitely better, but I didn't realize the second had different folks at the helm.
I believe the next (and last, for now) will air Sunday in the UK. Meaning it should be up at The Box by Monday at the latest.
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Oh, it's fantastic. Pure Austen fan fiction Mary Sue crack. I can't believe it got produced and aired.
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Lost in Austen was pretty awesome. And everyone I showed it to loved it, including my husband (but he has had to endure through bbc pride and prejudice numerous times- and we have watched sense and sensibility about a million times. when my daughter was 2, that was her favorite movie and I did Regency dress as our Halloween contest. Those costumes were the first time I really felt like I could actually sew.
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I demand to be cryogenically frozen until there's more.
*wince*
It takes an evil, evil person to make a cliffhanger that... egregious. Especially on British TV, because they take forever to bring out a new season of anything.
Which is probably why they make such great shows. But still.
posted
Looks like the BBC shut down the guy that posted them. I hope he gets 3 up and I can watch it before they can it.
Posts: 333 | Registered: Feb 2010
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Goodness, that was a wonderful mini-series. Episode 2 was not as high a standard as the other two, but the others were brilliant. But to go down the waterfall (metaphorically) and leave us all hanging is very unfair. I love it.
I do like Matt Smith in the part, but having seen this series, now I really wish that the guy playing Sherlock had been, or will one day be the Doctor on DW. He's weird as all get out, has a voice that sometimes reminds me slightly of Tom Baker and looks darn good in a coat (yes, I am that shallow). And he's funny. He would have been great. I hope they get him on there as a baddie, at least.
As for Watson, the actor was the one and only redeeming feature about the Hitch Hiker movie, so I'm glad he's back to being the voice of normality in something more worthwhile. I like how his character's military background comes out in how he deals with danger.
Posts: 1458 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Yes, he really would. That voice is like fingernails scratching down a blackboard. It really puts your teeth on edge.
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The websites associated with the series are interesting. Everything that is on them as referenced in teh episodes is on teh websites, plus some ciphers and things.
On the 'forum' on his website, they have this:
quote: I would kill every one of you for a cigarette. - SH
This struck me as really funny, for some reason.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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I had a moment watching A Study in Pink - lovely title, by the way:) - where I literally 'Whoaaa!'-ed as though I were one of the Monarch's henchmen from Venture Brothers. It was the entire sequence between Holmes and the unfriendly coroner and sergeant, poking fun at their little tryst and his parting dig.
ETA: I do have to wonder, though: who on Earth would antagonize that guy? Heh
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In my experience, there are people who will antagonize anyone, but that is particularly stupid of them, I think.
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quote:Originally posted by Rakeesh: I had a moment watching A Study in Pink - lovely title, by the way:) - where I literally 'Whoaaa!'-ed as though I were one of the Monarch's henchmen from Venture Brothers. It was the entire sequence between Holmes and the unfriendly coroner and sergeant, poking fun at their little tryst and his parting dig.
ETA: I do have to wonder, though: who on Earth would antagonize that guy? Heh
It's interesting that he doesn't seem interested in taking any revenge on her for the constant "freak" comments. Maybe she's just beneath his notice.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Officially renewed. But only for three more 90min episodes. For next autumn.
Which is good news, but I wish there was more! More! And sooner.
From the statement, it sounds like a certain dog, American woman and waterfall may play a part next year.
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I did. Liked it very much (but got the giggles in the Princess Bride scene which kind of ruined the tension).
Posts: 10283 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I know! That bit annoyed me, too. Well, I say "annoyed." More like took me out of the story as if I had been shot out of a cannon.
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Yep. I imagine it would have been fine for people unfamiliar - but how many of them can there be?
Posts: 10283 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by kmbboots: I did. Liked it very much (but got the giggles in the Princess Bride scene which kind of ruined the tension).
Huh? What Princess Bride scene? Have you read any of the original Sherlock Holmes stories? The two poison pills was taken directly from there, a long, long time before William Goldman was even born.
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Be that as it may, it is now a Princess Bride scene.
Being true to the original source is no excuse for bad storytelling.
And something that accidentally takes you out of the story, as it did for me and others, is bad storytelling.
Posts: 16549 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Feh. I didn't have a problem with it in The Princess Bride just because it was ripped off from Sherlock Holmes.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I have read all the original Sherlock Holmes stories and Porter is correct. It is now a Princess Bride scene. I called it that so as not to spoil it for people who hadn't seen it yet it was easily identified by those who had. Despite your pretend confusion, you clearly knew which scene I meant. Since you have identified it with the pills, I imagine there were very few watching that did not at least fleetingly wonder if the murderer had built up an immunity to iocane powder.
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It would have been brilliant IMO, if (given that this Sherlock is set in the present) Sherlock had made some snotty reference to The Princess Bride. I think that acknowledgment (even a comment that it was a common literary convention) would have been better than ignoring it.
Posts: 10283 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Originally posted by kmbboots: I have read all the original Sherlock Holmes stories and Porter is correct. It is now a Princess Bride scene. I called it that so as not to spoil it for people who hadn't seen it yet it was easily identified by those who had. Despite your pretend confusion, you clearly knew which scene I meant. Since you have identified it with the pills, I imagine there were very few watching that did not at least fleetingly wonder if the murderer had built up an immunity to iocane powder.
Actually, no. I had no idea. I Googled "Sherlock AND Princess Bride". Don't sprain your ankle jumping to conclusions.
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