‘A STUDY IN PINK’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and Martin Freeman’s Watson Begin!
Can I get through this ‘Sherlock’ TV series without a false start this time? 😐
After checking out the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, it’s only fair that I check out the ‘Sherlock’ TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. The ‘Sherlock’ TV series was made from 2010 to 2017 and it has Sherlock Holmes in contemporary times.
Now in some respects, the idea of a 21st century version of Sherlock Holmes is not a bad one. Honestly, I would enjoy Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson tackling crime cases in modern-day London using mobile phones, taxi cabs and other modern technology if the storytelling was very compelling.
Sadly, however, the problem with this ‘Sherlock’ series is that it’s created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss. I know I’ve criticised Steven Moffat’s writing in the past, but I’m sorry, it’s very easy to do nowadays. And I know people rate ‘Sherlock’ highly as a series, but I feel it’s somewhat overrated. 😐
It doesn’t help that Steven Moffat was making ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Sherlock’ at the same time, which could explain why his writing efforts are often hit-and-miss with me. I’m also sure Mark Gatiss is a very good writer, but I’m not sure him working with Steven Moffat on this particular series helped. 😦
My parents and I struggled to watch this series on Blu-ray when we started back in 2018. We tried starting again and again in 2019 and 2020, but we only got as far as halfway through Series 2 before we lost interest. The execution of the storytelling is very baffling when we were watching the series. 😦
I’ll try my best to be fair on ‘Sherlock’ as a series and justify why I feel it doesn’t work well for me compared to the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ 1939-1946 films. The chances are I’m going to favour the 1939-1946 film series of ‘Sherlock Holmes’ more than the ‘Sherlock’ 2010-2017 TV series by the BBC.
There are four seasons and a 2016 New Year’s Day Special in total (so far). Series 1 includes ‘A Study in Pink’, ‘The Blind Banker’ and ‘The Great Game’; Series 2 includes ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’, ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’ and ‘The Reichenbach Fall’; Series 3 includes ‘The Empty Hearse’, ‘The Sign of Three’ and ‘His Last Vow’; the 2016 New Year’s Day Special is called ‘The Abominable Bride’; and Series 4 includes ‘The Six Thatchers’, ‘The Lying Detective’ and ‘The Final Problem’. Each episode is very long.
It’s also interesting each of the four seasons of ‘Sherlock’ is comprised of three episodes approximately 90-minutes each, making them more like films than TV episodes. I know the same was done in ‘Inspector Morse’ and ‘Marple’, but I would have divided the episodes into multi-parters.
I should also point out that whilst a crime-solving drama can be complicated, especially in shows like ‘Inspector Morse’ and ‘Marple’, at least the drama in those shows is clear enough to understand it. Here in ‘Sherlock’, there’s a lot of fast editing and transition effects that make the stories confusing.
The first ‘Sherlock’ episode is called ‘A Study in Pink’, loosely based on the first Sherlock Holmes novel ‘A Study in Scarlet’. At least ‘Sherlock’ has a beginning compared to the 1939-1946 film series!
‘A Study in Pink’ is by Steven Moffat and is directed by Paul McGuigan. It introduces us to Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson who meets Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes for the first time.
In all fairness, I have seen this episode more than once to get an understanding of what’s going on and an appreciation of the characters. But I’m still baffled by the villain’s motivations in this episode.
John Watson, an army doctor injured in Afghanistan, meets Sherlock Holmes who’s looking for a flatmate to share his flat with at 221B Baker Street. Watson later assists Sherlock solve a series of deaths.
These deaths are described by the police as ‘serial suicides’. Holmes is unconvinced the deaths are suicides. He delves deeper into the case when examining the latest victim, a woman dressed in pink.
With the case unravelling and involving a suitcase belonging to the dead woman called Jennifer Wilson, Sherlock and Watson uncover more about what’s going on as well as who is the true culprit.
In terms of the casting, it’s very good. Martin Freeman (who I also know for playing Bilbo Baggins in ‘The Hobbit’ film trilogy) is very good as Dr. Watson. He’s someone the audience can quite relate to.
He’s not a bumbling buffoon as Watson sometimes was when Nigel Bruce played him in the 1939-1946 films. Martin Freeman plays him straight, especially when he’s getting to know who Sherlock is.
I like how he’s initially non-committal to helping Sherlock solve the case and getting into the fun of it when it becomes dangerous. But he happens to be a worthy ally for Sherlock throughout this series.
Arguably, Benedict Cumberbatch is very good as Sherlock Holmes. I like how he portrays the quick-thinking manner of the character, especially when he notices things that nobody else notices about. 🙂
Honestly, I would like Benedict’s Sherlock more if his ability to think quickly and notice things became more prominent. Sadly, it’s taken over when Sherlock often comes across as a bit of a jerk. 😦
The thing that attracted me to Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock was his polite charm and charisma, which Benedict’s Sherlock doesn’t always have. Benedict’s Sherlock also talks too fast for me to catch up. 😦
The cast also includes Rupert Graves (who would later go on to appear in the ‘Doctor Who’ episode ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’) as D.I. Greg Lestrade. Ah, they got a modern-day Lestrade in ‘Sherlock’. 🙂
There’s also Una Stubbs as Mrs. Hudson. I remember Una Stubbs for being in the ‘Fawlty Towers’ episode ‘The Anniversary’. Honestly, Mrs. Hudson gets more to do here than in the 1939-1946 films.
Mark Gatiss guest stars as Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s brother in the series. Honestly, I think it would have been great if Mark Gatiss was revealed as Moriarty. I’m surprised the series didn’t take that on.
Louise Brealey guest stars as Molly Hooper, a young woman who seems to fancy Sherlock, but he doesn’t return her feelings. Honestly, Molly should’ve kept that lipstick of hers on! Don’t take it off!
Vinette Robinson (who has been in the ‘Doctor Who’ episodes ’42’ and ‘Rosa’) guest stars as Sgt. Sally Donovan. Donovan doesn’t like Sherlock Holmes and she warns Watson to stay away from him.
There’s Jonathan Aris as Anderson, who also doesn’t like Sherlock; David Nellist as Mike Stamford; and Lisa McAllister as Anthea. Anthea is worse than ‘Doctor Who’s Sonia Khan when looking at her phone.
The story’s villain is Phil Davis (who I’ve seen in 2005’s ‘Bleak House’ and ‘Doctor Who’s ‘The Fires of Pompeii’) as Jeff Hope, the cabbie. It turns out that the cabbie is the one responsible for the deaths.
Now, I appreciate he did this because of something involving his family and he seems to be dying of a brain aneurysm. But my main issue is that we don’t get to spend enough time with the main villain.
He appears in the final act and the motivations for his villainy aren’t clear enough as I would have liked. Otherwise, I have found ‘A Study in Pink’ a decent opening episode for the ‘Sherlock’ TV series.
On Disc 1 of the complete ‘Sherlock’ DVD/Blu-ray box set, there’s an audio commentary on ‘A Study in Pink’ with series co-creator Steven Moffat, series co-creator Mark Gatiss and producer Sue Vertue.
‘A Study in Pink’ rating – 7/10
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