Raonaild

I know this isn't strictly speaking a Doctor Who thread, but I think a lot of people who like Doctor Who will also watch Sherlock, and there are a number of connections between the two shows, such as:

• The creators/writers/exec producers of Sherlock are Steven Moffat (current DW head writer/exec producer) and Mark Gatiss (DW writer and actor).
• The idea for Sherlock came about after long discussions between Moffat and Gatiss on the train to and from Cardiff where they worked on Doctor Who.
• There are writers/directors/actors that have been involved with both series. Parts of Sherlock are also filmed in Cardiff.
• The characters of Sherlock Holmes and the Doctor share a lot of common traits. Both are much more clever than those around them, they solve difficult problems through science and deduction, and they've both dedicated their lives to their "work" at the expense of having normal personal lives.
• Before being selected as the Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith auditioned for Moffat for the role of Watson. Benedict Cumberbatch also considered auditioning to replace David Tennant as the Doctor, but after talking to Tennant about it he decided against it. Cumberbatch did appear in a Doctor Who audio adventure before Sherlock, and his mother appeared in the Tom Baker story The Image of the Fendahl.

The first story of Sherlock series 2, A Scandal in Belgravia airs on New Year's day. The episode was written by Steven Moffat and is based on the Sherlock Holmes story A Scandal in Bohemia.

The episode must also resolve the cliffhanger ending of series 1, which ended with Sherlock and Watson facing Moriarty.

In some ways, I'm more excited about the return of Sherlock than I was about the DW Christmas special. I love Doctor Who, but I'm more interested in the main series then the Christmas specials.

scififan2009

Awesome! Can't wait for New Year's.

Almeida's Army

I've never watched it- wanted to- but never got round to it...

Raonaild

You really should see it, you won't regret it. My only complaint is that the seasons are too short, only 3x90min episodes. But I must've watched the three S1 eps a dozen times each or more.

I've liked Martin Freeman since I first saw The Office, and he's great as Watson, strong and dependable and with a wry sense of humour. I'd never heard of Benedict Cumberbatch before Sherlock, but he's incredible as Holmes, and Cumberbatch and Freeman make a great team.

The other thing is that the show's approach to Sherlock Holmes reminds me a bit of the way they brought back Doctor Who - it's updated for a modern audience, but it's done with a lot of respect for the original, by people who were big fans with a deep understanding of the original. They didn't just take the Victorian version of Holmes and stick him in modern London, they translated the essence of the character into what he'd look like in the modern era. For example, he makes extensive use of the internet and mobile phones.

Almeida's Army

Its not that I've avoided it- I was gunna get into it but it started when I was on holiday and then I never caught up so...

scififan2009

I'm trying to find the new one on youtube. No luck so far.

Almeida's Army

I had a look on your behalf but no luck

scififan2009

Never mind. Caught it on livestream.

I liked it.

Almeida's Army

Awesome, glad you liked it

indigo sunrise

Just watched the new episode, loved it

I was under the impression that season 2 would be longer... Very sad to hear that it isn't

Raonaild

Wow ... that first ep was very intense, they packed an awful lot into one story. I need to watch it again, I'm sure there were things I missed.

It were a lot of funny bits as well. I can't remember specifics at the moment, but I laughed quite a few times especially early on. A lot of it to do with all the nakedness ... like the wordless exchange when John and Sherlock first saw each other at the Palace.

A lot of little ACD story references as well, many of those cases and blog titles near the beginning were references to original Sherlock Holmes stories.

That resolution to the cliffhanger was not at all what I expected (Moriarty's ring tone is Stayin' Alive ??). It seemed a bit like a cop out (deus ex mobile?) until the very end of the story, where apparently they needed Sherlock alive for the whole convoluted plan to work.

This ep was definitely as good as anything they did last year, maybe even better. Looking forward to the next two, though not looking forward at all to that being the end of the season.

Almeida's Army

It does sound good in fairness... is there anywhere on youtube that shows the first series

Raonaild

Can't really help with YT, I bought the S1 blu-ray a while back. It's worth watching in high def, the show has a very distinctive style that gets a bit lost if watched at lower resolutions. I've tried watching the show in SD once, and I had to stop after a few minutes. They also do a lot of on-screen text which would be hard to read at lower resolutions.

Given this first ep was based on A Scandal in Bohemia and Irene "The Woman" Adler, it's no surprise that this ep focused on Sherlock's feelings about women and relationships more than any other so far. But that aspect of the story again reminded me a lot of the Doctor. Especially the part where Sherlock has a go at Molly, oblivious to the fact that she's got a crush on him. It was like the Doctor and Martha in S3, though most incarnations of the Doctor would never be as cruel as Sherlock was at that moment.

There's also the way Sherlock rattles off terribly complicated dialogue at 1000kph. I'm completely in awe of Cumberbatch for remembering all those lines, much less saying them and acting at the same time. Throw in a few "reverse the polarity"s and it could be dialogue for the Doctor.

There were lots of cool bits of dialogue in this ep, but I think one of my favourites would be:

Almeida's Army

Found somewhere to watch it and am going to watch the first episode of season 1 and then I'll post here with my thoughts.

dlittleone

just started watching this. too awesome man need to catch up tho.