Amph Sherlock - new BBC series from Steven Moffat

I refuse to wait that long.

 

I'm more disappointed that there are only 3 episodes instead of the 6 that were doing the rounds

 

I'm delighted it's only three.

 

I was a bit disappointed at first, I really hoped they'd do 6 episodes, but then I thought "better 3 excellent episodes than 6 mediocre ones".

And since next year series of Doctor Who will be split into two blocks, I'm guessing Sherlock will fit between them...

 

Mar forced me at mousepoint to watch this series. Naturally, I love it. It has exactly all the things I love to see in television.

I am perfectly content with the second series having three episodes. Like Mar has said, better three excellent episodes then six mediocre ones. But also I think it's a pacing thing - three episodes suited the series' style. Though the cliffhanger at the end of the third episode had me pulling out my hair, I loved it, 'cause sometimes I don't always want to know the ending (I'm weird like that).

 

I see you decided to join the "Put A Sherlock Quote About Human Body Parts In Various Kitchen Appliances In Your Signature" club, Idri...

 

Oh, yes. Well, see, you already took the eyeballs line, so I naturally had to go for the second best one with the severed head.

(That scene did make me jump a bit when I first saw it - should have known better - mostly because it reminded me of a fantastically creepy Bones episode where they're chasing a serial killer and the team find his wife's severed head in a fridge. But now I find the scene amusing, especially the, "Just tea for me, thanks," bit from Sherlock).

 

Okay, I've just watched the unaired pilot (DVD extra). I thought the aired first episode was much better , but it wasn't all that bad, though.

Things I liked:

+ Sherlock's drunk act and Angelo "throwing him out". It was just like in the books when he used various disguises and acted in order to get information out of people. I wish they'd use something like this in the next series, because it was good and pretty funny. Plus, a drunk Benedict Cumberbatch was adorable.
+ John stepping up to Lestrade and saying he was Sherlock's doctor. John was pretty good throughout the pilot.
+ Sherlock figuring out that it was a cabbie much sooner. The realisation took him too long in the aired episode (then again, the unaired pilot was only 60 minutes long).
+ The fact that we didn't see John following Sherlock and shoot the cabbie and only found out when Sherlock went on to describe the shooter.
+ Angelo. Same actor who also played Luigi in Ashes to Ashes, which made me squeal in delight.

Things I didn't like:

- Sherlock smiling too much and being too nice.
- Mike Stamford's voice. WTH?
- Mrs. Hudson. Way too camp. And she's running the shop, too?
- No pretend drugs bust. Some of the best lines were there (human eyes in the microwave, Anderson's loud talking lowering the IQ of the whole street...).
- Also the scene with the pink lady's body was better written and shot in the aired episode (and it also had the wonderful "Shut up" "I didn't say anything" "You were thinking" exchange).
- No visual deductions with the pink lady and the cabby. Also not displaying the deductions and texts on screen - I thought it was a very ingenius storytelling device.
- Sherlock's hair. Ugh. The longer curls suit him much, much better. Also his wardrobe in the series proper is much better and stylish (he looks too studenty in the pilot).
- Sally Donovan. She wasn't brilliant in the series, either, but here she was downright irritating.
- The cabby drugging Sherlock instead of Sherlock choosing to come with him. Didn't like that at all.
- No "Rachel" -> no tracing the pink phone via GPS.
- The cabby driving Sherlock to his own flat rather than to an empty school. But this also derives from the fact that there was no GPS tracing on the phone.
- Sherlock's talking. I dunno, but his fast speech (especially when he's explaining stuff) really works for him.

 

Thanks for those Mar. If I can ever buy the show in Canada, it'll be money well spent. I've been really curious about the unaired pilot, but haven't managed to find a copy of it online yet. Your descriptions have helped soothe that slightly seething wound.

 

Nudgenudgewinkwinksaynomore...

 

HURRAH! YAY!

Now, if only I didn't just waste all my megavideo time by finally getting my mom to watch the first episode of Doctor Who series 5.

 

I generally loathe "This is to make sure you tune in next season!" cliffhangers, but something funny happened here:

Moriarty left, and as things began winding down I was getting really frustrated. What a lame ending, introducing Moriarty and letting him win then going back to "normal" right at the end. Not exactly a cliffhanger per se, but definitely a surfeit of dangling plot.

Then Moriarty came back in. Then it was over. Which was somehow maddening and entirely satisfying at the same time.

 

Exactly! I thought the way they handled it was brilliant - not your ordinary cliffhanger ending, so it fell into my "I approve of this ending" category.

 

Just for you, Idri Sherlock will be broadcast in Canada on 10th September and Region 1 DVD will be out on 9th November.

 

Oh yay! Now I can finally stop cursing that I don't live in the UK.

 

Sorry for the double-post. I'm coming from fan fic, and I'm still not used to forums where I can't edit my own posts whenever I want.

So, I've now watched the 60-minute unaired pilot. It was quite amusing, especially since I was playing a game of "spot the blocking changes and/or similarities!" and "spot the delivery of lines!", which was good fun. It was interesting to see the same story in 60 minutes; it really shows you that the quality goes up when they add another 30 minutes. The unaired pilot was very fast and snappy, almost too much. There are individual scenes that I like, but the aired pilot was much, much better. The 90 minute format totally suits this show.

Some things:

- Anderson has a BEARD!!!!
- Sherlock standing on the roof... very Torchwood. Especially with that coat of his.
- Sherlock's introduction in the computer lab; I liked him checking his email, but I prefer the version from the aired pilot
- Angelo "throwing" Sherlock out of his restaurant: Benedict Cumberbatch playing drunk is hilarious! And kind of adorable, too.
- I liked that Sherlock solved the mystery faster than before. It took forever in the aired pilot; I knew it was a taxi driver really quickly.
- the finale taking place in 221B Baker Street. Interesting.
- the inside design of 221B Baker Street. I like the drabber, darker colours in the aired episodes; the red and the crackling fireplace were a bit too... happy-go-lucky.
- Mrs Hudson. Very camp. I'm glad that they toned it down.
- Sherlock's speaking was a lot slower than it is in the aired version. It was kind of weird - everyone else seemed to be talking after, while he was talking slower. Maybe that's just my weird perception of it.

It was an interesting experience.

 

US premiere of Sherlock on 8th October at New York Comic Con!

 

I'm not American, but that's exciting.

 

Oh I'm so excited this show I saw a month ago is finally going to come to my country!

 

That's the statement they'll read at your trial!

As always, the criminal mastermind cannot resist arrogantly bragging about his diabolical schemes. Will they never learn?

 

I taped it and sent it to him...

 

I just torrented it, a mere hour after the original broadcast.

 

Well, I'm buying it when it comes out on DVD in North America.

 

Well, if everything goes well, you won't have to, Idri.



NEWS!

Moffat teases about the second series of Sherlock

Interesting, very interesting. I'm very curious how he'll handle Irene Adler, how different (or similar) she'll be to the RDJ film version (and how different or similar she'll be to the Irene Adler from Idri's fanfic, which is now pretty much stuck in my head... ). The Hound of Baskervilles has already been hinted at, of course (Benedict Cumberbatch said he'd like to do that). But I'm wondering about Reichenbach - obviously the maddening cliffhanger between Sherlock and Moriarty next to the pool at the end of The Great Game is a strong allusion to it. Except that now John is present... Hmmm.

Well, in any case, it makes me excited for the next year.

 

Posted on twitter this morning by @steven_moffat along with the words 'It begins':

http://twitpic.com/4pnflc