Sherlock - Review

 Sherlock Review

The premise for Sherlock is a modern day crime drama adaption of the books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, It follows a private detective/consulting detective called Sherlock Holmes and his partner John Watson as they solve various cases. 

Although the characters have already been around for decades the show puts a fresh spin on the iconic duo, the modern day reinterpretations add a whole new dimension to the characters. Even though I have read the books previously the episodes, whilst following the same overall plot of the books adds twists and changes to make each episode new and interesting.

What makes Sherlock a great show is that it is set in a modern timeline, this allows for a broader and younger demographic to be able to relate to the show. The younger renditions of Sherlock and Watson also allow for this to be the case. 

Since there have been numerous technological advancements since the original Sherlock Holmes novels over a hundred years ago, incorporating things like mobile phones, cars and the internet could be challenging yet Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss managed change the short stories to include these advancements without losing the integrity or realism of the story.

Throughout the series the dialogue is well written, rarely will you get a long monologue describing something in a boring and uninteresting manner, in fact the first time Sherlock explains his deduction about Watson to him the audience are treated to a montage style sequence with many close ups and extreme close ups mixed with graphics to help illustrate certain points. I find these scenes are highlights of an episode as they are captivating and awe inspiring.

In terms of characters each has their own strengths and weaknesses, Sherlock is portrayed as a highly intelligent yet emotionally clueless in a sense, Initially Sherlock is depicted as an arrogant selfish character, however if you look closer you can see glimpses of aspects of his personaity he keeps hidden, such as being pleasantly surprised when Watson praises him for his deductions. 

In the first episode he points out to Watson that he keeps saying amazing, when Watson asks if he wants to stop Sherlock replies in the negative stating its quite nice actually. In terms of Freuds model of psyche Sherlock resembles Super Ego as he strives to answer questions and is in control of his inner desires and primal urges or ID.

Watson is an ex army medic previously deployed in Afghanistan, he returns after being injured and struggles to overcome his PTSD, after searching for a flat to share he is introduced to Sherlock, his character acts as Ego he is more inclined to follow his desires particually sexual whereas Sherlock doesn't seem to be interested, until he meets Irene Adler who would most likely represent ID as she is shown to be a dominatrix.

In conclusion I feel that Sherlock is a great rendition of the Sherlock Holmes genre, combining modern day technology and a franchise that was written over a hundred years ago, the longer episode time allows for longer and more elaborate stories to be told, the characters are interesting and relatable and the dialogue is witty, interesting and rarely irrelevant.

I enjoyed the dynamic between Sherlock and Watson, they compliment each others personality well and I would like to be able to put that into my own work on occasion, maybe have one character as a genius who is unorganised or lazy paired with a hard working but less intelligent person, then they could each help improve on each others shortfalls.

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/sherlock_the_blind_banker.pdf

https://uk.pinterest.com/theoldhorse/sherlock-bbc/

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - 1892