I never counted myself as a fan of Doyle's works. I respect them, I respect Doyle, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Not that I never tried getting my head around the idea; I watched some episodes of Elementary ( US crime series loosely based on Sherlock Holmes), I began one of the books, I watched one of the old movies, the new movies. Some weren't bad, some where. Yet it never made me a fan. They were lacking in some ways - but you probably know that feeling that says that something just isn't right but you can't put your finger on it.
Now I stumbled across BBC Sherlock. And honestly, it didn't sound great to me. Why should a british short film series get me hooked on the idea when some of the big American versions didn't do just that?
The answer after watching those six short films is clear to me: because it is British. It is original.
BBC Sherlock puts the entire setting into society nowadays, in the London of 2010/2012. The cases are modified, the characters aren't. They are true to their innermost core, they do have quirks. I didn't anticipate the next murder case when I waited for the next episode to load, I wanted to see more of Sherlock, more of John. And that's what amazed me as well: John and Sherlock are truly equal. Any movie I saw, any series I began to watch: in each of them Sherlock was depicted as superior. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Sherlock, but a good director needs two characters to act as counterparts, to add dynamic to their relationship. In Sherlock, both were friends, you felt the connection between them - John was Sherlock's equal, Sherlock put him there and Sherlock's quirks were effectively used to counter his intelectual superiorness.
I've talked a lot about those two, I know. To me, characters make a setting interesting. The cases weren't boring and that helped too, but the dynamic relationship between Sherlock and John is the main ingredient which makes this adaption second to none I've seen so far.
I now count me a fan of Sherlock. It made me fall in love with the characters. Don't get me wrong: I don't think you can compare it with blockbusters, with those big Hollywood box-office successes. And these short films don't ask you to do that. They are not made for you to enjoy the action or to get sappy over the end. They are made to show a part of British culture, to make the people fall in love with Sherlock Holmes and John Watson once again, to love them not only in the last millenium, but in this as well.
To me, BBC Sherlock was an eye-opener.
And a bonus, too: Cumberbatch (actor of Sherlock) has a great voice. It took me some seconds to realize tthat no, he wasn't voiced by Alan Rickman, it truly is his own voice. Whenever he is angry and stresses his words, the differences in their voices get even more unnoticeable.
To me, Cumberbatch would have been a great young Severus Snape.
And he's a great Sherlock as well. I look forward to the next season - I sooo hate to wait for it.
A small reward for reading until here: It was damn hard to find this online from a reliable source. But here you go:
http://www.dailymotion.com/moffatholmes#video=xnqfr6
If this becomes available in my country, I SO will buy the DVDs. Have to be on alert for it.
