Sherlock vs. Holmes

I wasn't a huge fan, though I read them all as a kid. I think the character is better than any of the stories he appears in. You might think this would make me a purist about portrayals of the Great Detective, but I'm not.


I liked the Jeremy Brett interpretation on the TV (much later I learned that my father-in-law-to-be had been script editor for that series). I liked Robert Stephens in the film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed the late Michael Williams on the radio (even though a dog was addressed as "Cerebos" - so you had to take it with a pinch of salt). I am too young for Basil Rathbone

I watched the first Guy Ritchie movie on DVD at a friend's home in Venice and QUITE enjoyed it but couldn't help wondering why you would take a detective best known for his cerebral (Cereboral?) skills and change him into an all-action hero.

But the reinterpretation I've liked best, nay, LOVED, is Benedict Cumberbatch in Stephen Moffat's and Mark Gatiss's television Sherlock.

Yes, the Chinaman episode in Series one was c**p, yes, A Scandal in Belgravia was a bit sex-stereotyped and yes, Moriarty sounds like Graham Norton and looks as frightening as an animated haddock. But it really is fresh as well as funny, smart as well as sexy, and it has the wonderful Una Stubbs turning Mrs Hudson into a real character, in spite of Conan's Doyle's unpromising creation.



And they're right "brainy is the new sexy." Did you SEE BC in Starter for Ten? The transformation is astounding. You can keep your dishevelled, stubbly, quick-to-punch Robert Downey Jr. (and many of you will want to). He may have his disreputable charm but he just isn't Sherlock Holmes.



And why set it in period if you think the Savoy would have let in said stubbly, bruised and cut, tie-less diner?

BC on the other hand really is credible as the "high functioning sociopath" a combination of autistic savant and 21st century geek.

I've now seen two episodes and really enjoyed them both, even though they are getting a bit self-referential with all the "cheekbones" stuff and the endless harping on about Holmes and Watson aren't in a gay relationship.

But people I love and respect have not liked them at all.

Where do you stand on the Moffatt/Gatiss vs Ritchie issue? Or Cumberbatch/Downey Jr one? (Or even Freeman/Law if you like)