I’m reading people’s tweets and Facebook updates about “A Study in Pink” — awesome awesome title — and feeling like I’m going to explode with the waiting. It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die.
Meanwhile, please don’t spoil in comments here. It’s unlikely I’ll even be able to see this for a day or two.
Also meanwhile: enjoy Dr. Watson’s blog:
So, last night I went to look at the flat. It’s pretty decent actually. Sherlock had already moved in so it was a bit of a mess but that ‘s actually a nice change from where I was before.
And the madman himself? He’s fascinating. Arrogant, imperious, pompous. He’s not safe, I know that much. I’m not going to be bored and I doubt we’re going to be arguing about whose turn it is to pay the gas bill or what we’re going to watch on the telly. And yeah, he is probably most likely definitely mad. But, he knows a couple of nice restaurants so he’s not all bad.
Funny stuff. Why are there no Sherlocks in my life? To paraphrase the immortal words of Billy Joel, it just may be a lunatic I’m looking for…
Try to stay away from spoilers, it’s worth it. (And as someone who hasn’t been impressed with the Eleventh Doctor, Sherlock gave me that Doctor-y excitement back).
Well there is hope for seeing it here soonish- From Moffat’s Twitter:
So I’m guessing it will be on Masterpiece contemporary this fall? (Is Tennant still hosting that?) But all the same, can’t wait can’t wait can’t wait. *Tigger bouncing*
Benedict Cumberbatch looks very close to what I imagine Colin Morgan from Merlin will look like in 10 years. But it’s a ton of fun to watch, can’t wait for more.
Kinda saw the ending coming. But it was alright, loved it anyway.
Yes, excellent, much fun was had. One bit in particular was an homage that I’m sure MaryAnn will enjoy.
Kassia, I thought Benedict was Colin from Merlin for the longest time.
YEAH I agree, PolyG – I watched it in a room full of noisy people so will watch it again to make more sense of it but I thought he was quite doctorish – less rude than the Dr though, lol.
Loved the taxi chase, that was hilarious!
Benedict would make a great Dr. Liked Martin Freeman in it too. Can’t wait for the review here
Just finished watching it a minute ago, and I *LOVED* it! I’ll have to watch it again, to see if I can spot the ‘homage’ bit that Mark mentioned above. I am eagerly awaiting MAJ’s review. And next week’s episode, too, of course!
Why can’t we make quality stuff like this over on this side of the pond, anyway, huh?
Cumberbatch is the closest thing to Tom Baker who is not Tom Baker.
Well, that went down an absolute storm in my house. For spoiler reasons I’ll hold fire on saying why for now; I’ll just say that they updated it very smoothly and managed to keep the spirit of the original. One or two of the famous quotes had to be reworked for the C21st, usually to humorous effect.
If the rest of it lives up to this opener, it’s got “hit” written all over it.
I completely spaced on this (I did have it set up to record, but utterly forgot to watch it) but everyone was talking about it at work this morning so I’ve been all ‘la la la tell me nothing’ until I can get home and watch it this evening!
Already have it pre-ordered from Amazon uk (don’t care if it will air in the States; if it does, it’ll probably be cut). So far, I’ve seen some great reviews for the show.
‘Twas great fun. Looking forward to the next. Martin Freeman was a revelation, I thought.
I can’t watch any of the preview material. The colonies are unworthy, apparently (time to dump Doctor Who DVDs in Sydney harbour methinks).
So it’s not actually ‘A Study in Scarlet’ then, but similar?
Muzz- to answer would spoil it. But it’s set in modern day, so there’s differences no Sherlock story has had- Watson is an Afghanistan soldier, Sherlock likes to text- and I’m saying nothing more.
Oh, I see. I missed that detail. The clothes and the Afghanistan reference made it seem like they were starting afresh with the old stuff (for the squillionth time)
I’m only halfway throught the episode and I alredy think this has all the ingredients of a new TV obsession for me…
Actually, Watson had been recently discharged from duty in Afghanistan in “A Study in Scarlet”, the original Sherlock Holmes novel that the movie was loosely base on. So that wasn’t a change, merely history repeating itself.
Alright, I meant modern day, so I assumed people would pick up on the modern day notion of Afghanistan and being in the modern Afghanistan war.
This show is brilliant, It will definitely keep me busy until Doctor Who is back.
Oh, it was pretty much brilliant and it will have to hold me over until Dr. Who season 5 comes out on DVD. Too bad it’s only a miniseries, but I’ll take it!
This was awesome! So awesome that I actually had to pause the episode several times to let the awesomeness sink in and also to laugh uncontrollably at some of the hilarious dialogue. To wit: one of the guys from the forensic team calls Sherlock a sociopath, to which he replies: “I am a high functioning sociopath! Do your homework!”
Also, they managed to squeeze in some trademark Holmesian phrases: ” Mrs. Hudson, the game is on!”
And of course, I am now officially a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch …he’s perfect for the part.
My only regret is that this is a mini..mini series ..with only four episodes…but I’d rather have four episodes of awesomeness than 22 episodes of diluted boredom.
MaryAnn, you HAVE to watch and review this. In some respects – ok, a lot of respects – it’s much better than Ritchie’s take on Sherlock.
P.S. Absolutely loved how they managed to work pieces of the Sherlock canon into a modern context, with Sherlock deducing that Watson’s sibling is an alcoholic because of the scratch marks on the phone (also featured in Ritchie’s film, only there, like in the book, it was a watch).
I must be the only one who was disappointed, perhaps because the ending was pretty obvious from the beginning and a significant part of the mystery was left unsolved. I was not happy when Sherlock seemed to take longer to figure things out than I did. I’ll say no more.
I did like the way they played with the Holmesian canon in terms of updating the characters, and establishing the scene, as well as updating the clues. I don’t think it is a spoiler to say that I really liked the use of words on the screen to help illustrate what Holmes was seeing, though they didn’t use it consistently throughout the episode.
Definitely fun, though, and Mary Ann should take special pleasure in the wrap up of the mystery, though I won’t say why.
Sorry–I have to post again as I was upbraided by a friend of mine who says that the plot is not the point as the writers assumed that, because they were adapting original Holmes stories, viewers are will know the plot already and trying to structure it as a suspenseful mystery would be patronizing.
Well, I figured out early on who the killer was because there was a similar storyline – about the profession of the killer, that is – on another British tv series, namely Luther. Still, I think the stories will get much better ..but so far, the feeling of the show as a whole is fantastic. I was just re-watching it and thinking that although it is made for television, it looks much better than some big budget American films ..makes you wonder how the Brits managed to use film budget so efficiently, and how the Americans manage to waste it so appallingly.
Also, the episode is endlessly quotable.
Sherlock to Anderson, an annoying forensics guy:
“Anderson, don’t talk out loud. You lower the IQ of the whole street”.
Also, at the end of the episode, Watson to Sherlock, while leaving a crime scene:
“Stop it! We can’t giggle, it’s a crime scene. Stop it”.
Freeman and Cumberbatch have very good chemistry and there’s a scene, right at the end at the episode, where both of them are standing, and Cumberbatch has this perfect Holmesian figure/silhouette …arhhh .. I can’t wait for next Sunday.
I have a friend who’s really into the original stories.
I actually managed to make her lose the power of coherent speech by saying that ‘they just took Dr House and made him a detective’.
Great episode, but like a lot of people I worked out one thing well before Holmes did, which always seems wrong.