Sherlock

Just caught up with the last episode.

Well, that was hard work, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was very clever actually although I did rewind it the odd time to keep up with it all. Could they have packed much more intrigue into it, I doubt it.

I saw the BBC4 programme positivepam and found it very interesting. I loved the thought of the little boy doubling for Christopher Lee so that the Hound of the Baskervilles would look big enough

I agree with you Mamie in that the previous 2 series were much better all round, written by a different person? They were unusual but plausable, whereas this set of 3 [although the wedding one was better] don't seem of the same calibre. The writer of this set of 3 wrote Dr. Who [some of it.]
Yes, you do have to partly forget about the original books and series, as this is a modern day Holmes, but have to also agree with Papaoscar on the 'startled little rabbit in the headlights' look of Watson, I can't believe in him at all in the part. Holmes is well cast as is Mycroft.

Well I think it was absolutely brilliant and I think both actors portrayed the modern version Holmes and Watson superbly. Did anyone watch the programme on BBC4 about the various faces of Sherlock as you would have seen how badly some versions were? I agree with Mamie the technology is put to good use and Mrs Hudson also well acted by Una Stubbs. Just altogether a brilliant production.

Hmm, my OH feels like that about it and he is a Sherlock Holmes buff. He loves the Billy Wilder film though and I would have thought that was not one for the purists.
Actually I am not sure that the lifelong admirer viewpoint is the right place to judge it from. I think you have to forget about earlier interpretations and see this as something entirely different.
I don't think these episodes were as good as the first two series, but I enjoy the fast-paced, witty, stimulating take on the stories and love spotting the links to the original. I think the acting is excellent, especially Una Stubbs as Mrs Hudson. I like the use of technology too.

Sherlock - I gave it a good dollop of my time, and as a lifelong admirer of the Conan-Doyle originalsl I consider that I'm well placed to judge the latest interpretation. Firstly, I do so relish C-D's haunting and finely-penned evocations of Victorian England, class-ridden, foggy, gas-lit, horse-drawn and well-laced with a bit of the then-innocent drug-taking, foaming tankards, comfortable leather arm-chairs, reeking tobacco, scratchy violin, arrogance, horse whips, Mrs Hudson and large helpings of British superiority. Furthermore, the interesting yet vaguely- defined nature of the relationship between H and W added a special dimension to the already fascinating forensic and often violent nature of the crime-busting.

So how did I think the latest offering fared? Well, sadly, I think Sherlock was a confusing, pretentious load of cliche-ridden codswallop trading heavily on the laurels of its distinguished origins. The plots were far-fetched and unlikely, the use of gimmickry was rampant and overblown, Holmes appeared to have been cloned with a second-rate failed Dr Who, and Watson was a graduate of the 'startled-rabbit-in-in-the-headlights' school of medical mediocrity. Best chararacterisation was the villain Rasmussen, who licked 'em all, and the slimy, superior, almost equally loathsome Mycroft.

I think there were far too many similarities with Spooks, New Tricks, Morse and Silent Witness etc., together with some ludicrous Sergeant Bilko moments, including parodies of Pfc Doberman and Colonel Hall. But all credit to them for trying. It is very difficult to reproduce the work of a genius. But keep on trying, you can only get better!

Found the last episode more than a bit silly, but hey-ho.

Phew! somebody did their homework!

Dorsetpentt not that much and not all the time! Here is the last few years of BCs TV & Film work! If he was my son I would be very pleased for his achievement!

TV
2010–presentSherlockSherlock Holmes[123]11 episodes
2011CuriosityNarratorDocumentary
2012Stephen Hawking's Grand DesignNarrator[124]Documentary; 3 episodes
2012Parade's EndChristopher Tietjens[125]5 episodes
2013The SimpsonsBritish Prime Minister / Severus Snape (voices)Episode "Love is a Many-Splintered Thing"
2013Top GearHimselfSeries 20, Episode 3

FILM
2012The Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyThe Necromancer[100]
2012Girlfriend in a ComaDante Alighieri voiceDocumentary
2013Star Trek Into DarknessKhan Noonien Singh[101]
2013JerusalemNarrator[102]Documentary
201312 Years a SlaveWilliam Ford[103]
2013The Fifth EstateJulian Assange[104]
2013The Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugSmaug / The Necromancer[105]
2013August: Osage County"Little" Charles Aiken[106]
2013Little FavourWallace[107]Short film
2014The Hobbit: There and Back AgainSmaug / The Necromancer
2014The Imitation GameAlan Turing[108][109][110]Post-production
2016MagikLewis[111]Filming

I think his argument was that he didn't have to have proof - just publish the details in his newspapers and they would be ruined. This could work, just think of when Anneka Rice said she had been raped by a well known presenter, she didn't name him but a name was published and in the event the man's career was over.

Without proof it is your word against theirs. It might work if they had a guilty conscience and doubted their ability to stand up for themselves if their "sin" were brought to the notice of someone they didn't want to know about it.

You can't blackmail anyone without proof. Can you?

Well Pittcity, my own vault is a bit empty. I watched it last night, but being blind as a bat and a bit slow preoccupied with the plot, I missed just about all of the brainwaves. Fortunately I recorded it, so will sit down tonight and fast forward to all of them.

And I don't think I could ever get too much of Benedict Cumberbatch, dorsetpennt!

I think his "vault" was simply his amazing memory! Wasn't it?

Loved it. Want more PLEASE.

I'm still wondering about how he could blackmail all those people without having any concrete evidence. We saw him with photographs and letters and he referred to the letters he had. I can't believe Moffatt and Gatiss lost the plot. So he lied about his vault? Can't wait for the next series!

@dorsetpennt - Why are you so uptight about the success enjoyed by some actors/presenters? Are they supposed to run away and hide when they find themselves in demand? They get one bite at the apple usually, and have to milk it for what it's worth - once it's over it's done with.

I enjoyed all the twists in the plot; Mary's new importance; and the great twist in the tail. Obviously a new series is in the pipeline and I hope we don't have to wait as long for it.
Wouldn't BC be an entertaining Dr Who?

My son loved all the Sherlock Holmes books when he was eleven. Think it helped to get him into grammar school. Good answer when they asked "what are you reading at the moment".

Did n't go that far pittcity, but I really thought it was the glasses. Surprised it took Sherlock that long to investigate those specs.

True its not the traditional Sherlock Holmes but I think the writers have done very well in setting it in modern times - you never know it may get younger people to actual read the original books!

I was a huge Sherlock Holmes fan when I was younger, loved the stories, films, tv series.
I haven't watched more than a few minutes of this series because it is NOT Sherlock Holmes!

I don't and won't watch Sherlock as it looks a load of rubbish for a start. However, the main reason is that Benedict Cumberbatch is in it and every other production as well. He seems to be in every play or film at the moment and I am fed up with it. There must be other equally talented actors out there, in fact there are. Typical that we are assailed with the same faces day after day for example: Stephen Fry and Clare Balding - the former not so much now but the latter presents everything. Even the Radio Times had Benedict Cumberbatch on its cover twice in a row. I just don't get it.

Did anyone freeze the screen to read Magnusson's brain?

Yes, it did. But apparently all those very clever Sherlock followers (not me then) are all of a froth online thinking that it might be his younger brother (apparently there's one in the books) or just some sort of camera trickery.

I did actually think I'd seen Moriarty blow his brains out last year - it looked pretty conclusive, brains and blood and all.