Sherlock

Every week I'll do a review of a tv show, movie, band/artist, book or author, etc. This week I am reviewing the tv show Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. 

My friend Jason has excellent taste in tv shows. He introduced me to Sherlock and Battlestar Galactica (the new version) as well. If you're not into modern version of classics, I totally understand that. My dad doesn't like modernized things (and I must say that I tried Joss Whedon's version of Much Ado About Nothing and I couldn't watch more than a few minutes. I definitely prefer the Kenneth Branagh version which I will review at a later date) but I bribed him into watching Sherlock.

It's an amazing show with a fantastic cast. I wasn't sure about Andrew Scott's Moriarty at first but he's now one of my favourite characters. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sherlock with the right amount of snarkiness and reclusiveness. Martin Freeman has a ball as a cheeky yet world-weary Watson who puts up with all of Sherlock's eccentricities. 

Another character that I was unsure of initially was Amanda Abbington's Mary. She's Martin Freeman's real life partner and they have incredible on screen chemistry which is fantastic for a couple that has been together so long. They play off each other as well as Freeman and Cumberbatch do (Sherlock and Watson have been accused of having a homosexual relationship or even just an attraction to each other for ages and so do the Cumberbatch/Freeman duo). Abbington is a joy to watch as is Una Stubbs who plays Mrs. Hudson. 

The writing is brilliant and the characters are well developed. Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat are fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work and they incorporate storylines from the books into their scripts. Mark Gatiss makes appearances as Sherlock's older brother, Mycroft and he does it with style and panache. 

Louise Brealey (Molly Hooper) and Rupert Graves (DI Lestrade) round out the cast. Lara Pulver plays Irene Adler and Benedict Cumberbatch's real life parents (Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton) make a couple of appearances as Sherlock and Mycroft's parents.

It's very easy to see that everyone has so much fun working on these productions. Unfortunately, there aren't very many (only 3 seasons have been produced with 3 1.5 hour episodes each plus a short) but there will be a Christmas special this year and then a new season in 2016. With Freeman's and Cumberbatch's popularity increasing, making these episodes becomes even more difficult but both actors are committed to playing these characters for as long as they can. 

I don't want to go too much into the plot of the episodes beyond already having mentioned that the writing is wonderful. I highly suggest that you watch this amazing show and become as Sherlocked as so many of us are.