CAM and a transvestite Mrs Hudson – Elementary offers up new surprises

Apologies if this blog sounds very outdated to my American readers, but here in the UK we are a bit behind with viewings of Elementary. I’m especially behind because I don’t watch them straight away; I use the wonders of Sky-Plus and watch at my leisure. And I’ve just witnessed their take on Charles Augustus Milverton – one of my favourite canon stories. The episode does rather typify my issue with the series as a whole.

It is, as I recall, the only episode of Elementary which has been hung on the coat-hanger of an original Conan Doyle story – but it was hung so very loosely that it slipped off and joined the pile of other creased clothes lurking at the bottom of the wardrobe. In fact, all they did was take the name Charles Augustus Milverton and the idea of blackmail, then went off and did something completely different. Something which missed the point of the original completely.

In the original story, Holmes couldn’t defeat Milverton. He resorted to breaking into his house and burning the salacious materials from his safe, all after witnessing his murder at the hands of his blackmail victim. Milverton is such a great baddie – eccentric in appearance, completely without conscience, repugnant and unbeatable. It took a bullet to finish him off, and hearing of how Holmes jumped through hoops trying to stop him, getting increasingly frustrated and losing his cool in an uncharacteristic manner, made for a great short story.

(Spoiler alert)

In Elementary, Milverton dies within the first ten minutes. We don’t even get a proper look at him. He is shot by one of his victims, which Holmes witnesses, but we are then expected to believe that this victim goes on to take over his blackmail business and bumps off Milverton’s accomplice. It just didn’t work for me – neither the updating of a great story or the actual new plot they conceived.

We also got to meet the updated Mrs Hudson. No longer an aged landlady/housekeeper, now we have a young-ish transvestite – Miss Hudson – who Holmes goes on to hire as a cleaner. That doesn’t work for me either. It’s as if the creators have sat down and thought – “What can we do with Mrs Hudson to make her as different to the Una Stubbs character in BBC Sherlock as possible?”, then some bright spark jumps up and shouts, “I know, let’s make her a transvestite!”  And there she is, glamorous, immaculate hair, make-up etc and we are supposed to believe she is happy to work as a cleaner? I don’t think so.

Perhaps Miss Hudson goes on to be a great character; I guess I should give her a chance. Just like how I keep giving Elementary a chance. Only problem is that I keep feeling let down.

Friends or colleagues? Elementary and Sherlock show different sides of the Holmes-Watson relationship.

As you probably know from my previous blogs, I’m not exactly a fan of Elementary. I have been quite dismissive at times but still continue to watch every week. One of its strengths however, in my opinion, is the way it portrays the growing friendship between Miller’s Holmes and Liu’s Watson.

Watson, starting out as Holmes’ sober companion, gave the relationship a fresh dynamic and the writers have done a good job of slowly growing this into a friendship – and keeping it platonic. Now that Watson’s time as a paid companion has come to an end, something interesting has happened.

Holmes and Watson have basically gone into business together, a sort of master and apprentice relationship in which both live off the proceeds from their joint business. We see this happen in the original stories too. Watson goes from being described by Holmes as a friend, to being referred to as ‘my partner’. After the Great Hiatus, Watson returns to live at Baker Street and sells his medical practice. At this point they are living and working together, both using the consultancy business as a source of revenue to pay the bills. Though friendship remains the glue holding the partnership together, I have always felt that they do operate as colleagues too, particularly during this period.

Holmes enjoys explaining his method to Watson, enjoys teaching him and giving him challenges to go off and do on his own. Though usually very scathing of Watson’s efforts, Holmes clearly takes pride in his development. So far in BBC Sherlock, I don’t feel that we have seen this side of the relationship – at least not to the same extent it is shown in Elementary.

We’ve certainly seen the friendship element, and this has been brilliantly done, but I wouldn’t say that they are functioning as business partners. John is still a doctor, trying to get medical work to pay the bills – he hasn’t completely thrown his lot in with Sherlock just yet. Whereas Liu’s Watson has given up her career as a sober companion in order to be a full-time detective’s assistant and learn the trade. Holmes keeps saying to her ‘you’re a detective now’ and is very focused on developing her skills.

Elementary is still a police procedural running along the same lines as a load of other US cop shows, and doesn’t bare much resemblance to the adventure and quirkiness captured so brilliantly by Conan Doyle in the original stories. But it does have some strengths, does bring a few fresh ideas to the party. This is what keeps me watching.

The Sign of Three – what can we deduce?

BBC Sherlock creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have revealed that the title of the second episode of series three will be – The Sign of Three.

Well, it’s obviously a play on the title of the original Sherlock Holmes story, The Sign of Four. And this is very significant because it’s the story in which John Watson meets and falls in love with Mary Morstan, who he eventually marries.

News broke a few weeks ago that Martin Freeman’s partner Amanda Abbington would be joining the cast playing, “a role that significantly impacts upon the lives of John and Sherlock”. Speculation was already growing that Amanda would be playing Mary Morstan and today’s news compounds that theory rather nicely. Given that the second key word to describe the series was revealed to be ‘Wedding’ last year, it now seems highly likely that John will indeed meet, fall in love with and marry Mary Morstan.

But it is worth remembering that the creators of Sherlock do like to mess with our heads. Remember the very first episode and how it led us to think that Gatiss was playing Moriarty rather than Mycroft? They do love to tease us with misleading clues and of course, that cliff-hanger ending which concluded series two was the biggest tease of all.

Perhaps Amanda will be playing Harry Watson, John’s alcoholic sister? Perhaps she’ll turn up at his wedding drunk and reveal a tantalising secret which sets Sherlock and John off on a new adventure? Or perhaps she’ll be a villain, a female colonel Moran or Charlie Milverton?

I know what all the clues point to but I’m keeping an open mind just in case. And I’m off to re-read the Sign of Four . . .

Deja vu as BBC Sherlock has the Granada factor

Many years ago when I was 16, I wrote a full-length Sherlock Holmes screen play and sent it to a producer at Granada – the company responsible for the long-running series starring Jeremy Brett as Holmes. I can still remember the excitement of making a submission to them.

After a week of suspense, I finally received a letter back. It was a very polite ‘thanks but no thanks’. Their series had ended for the final time and the producer explained that Holmes had been ‘done to death’. They had no plans for any further productions involving that character. She said my writing was very good and urged me to write something else. I was gutted. And can still remember how that felt too.

Now, 19 years later, I’ve received a very similar letter mentioning BBC Sherlock. How ironic. I am in the process of submitting my novel, Barefoot on Baker Street, to production companies in the hope that someone will want to adapt it for television. I had a lovely email last week from the head of development at one of the companies I had contacted. She genuinely enjoyed my novel and wrote some wonderful comments but felt that it will be impossible to get it on TV as long as BBC Sherlock is running.

She suggested that the market is saturated and I’m too late – or too early depending on your point of view. Naturally I will keep trying and feel that Barefoot is different enough to deserve an audience share. But I couldn’t help smiling at the irony. And it shows the massive impact Sherlock has had – just like Brett and Granada did all those years ago.

Title revealed for BBC Sherlock series 3, episode 1 – The Empty Hearse

Filming begins in Cardiff today for the first episode of Sherlock Series Three. News has just broken that the first episode of the new series will be called ‘The Empty Hearse’.

Obviously this is an intriguing play on The Empty House, the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story in which Sherlock Holmes returns ‘from the dead’ to a startled Doctor Watson. It also brings to mind The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax, another of the original 56 stories. In this story, an extra large coffin with a false bottom is used to conceal a chloroformed Lady Carfax beneath a deceased old lady, about to be buried alive. Holmes works out the truth at the last minute and saves her life just in time.

For up-to-date news about series three, keep checking the Sherlockology website – www.sherlockology.com

• Related articles:
• A twist on the Empty House? Can’t wait
• How will BBC Sherlock tackle the problem at the very heart of The Empty House?
• RAT, WEDDING and BOW – three little words, one big mystery
• So, how did Sherlock fake his own suicide?
• BBC’s Sherlock – a televisual feast for the mind and eye
• Another triumph for the Sherlock team with the Hounds of Baskerville
• BBC Sherlock’s A Scandal in Belgravia – simply wow

It’s all in the adventure . . . BBC Sherlock gets it right – Elementary doesn’t

I’ve just come across this lovely quote from Stephen Moffatt, creator of BBC Sherlock – ‘Other detectives have cases, Sherlock Holmes has adventures, and that’s what matters.’

It is this sense of adventure that really sets the original 56 stores apart from other detective fiction. Holmes and Watson have adventures, and we love sharing in them. They don’t just work with the police to solve murders – they enthusiastically bound off in pursuit of evil step-fathers, missing brides, wronged lovers, jellyfish and red-haired eccentrics. Sometimes, no actual crime has been committed but the mystery remains fascinating.

BBC Sherlock captures this very well, as did the Granada series. Elementary is too much of a police procedural, too typical of the crime drama genre. Jonny Lee Millar’s Holmes dutifully works with the police in a very official capacity as consultant, investigating grisly murders that are straight out of CSI.

BBC Sherlock is 90 minutes of pure adventure. Fast, fun and a televisual event that deserves complete concentration. Elementary is something I watch while eating my tea – (perhaps not a great idea when people are getting their throats cut and bleeding to death)

It’s been quite a week for Sherlock fans. The first script read-through for series 3 began on Monday 11^th March, with filming due to start on the 18^th. Benedict  Cumberbatch has confirmed that series 4 has already been commissioned. The adventure continues . . .

Holmes’ ideal woman – ordinary or extraordinary?

Recently I saw a poll on social media (Facebook probably, I really should make a note of these things) asking people who they liked the most, Molly or Irene from BBC Sherlock. Now, I’m not sure exactly what they meant – whether it was ‘if you were Sherlock, who would you go for?’ or, which is the best characterisation?

Either way, it got me thinking as to what sort of a woman would suit a man like Sherlock Holmes and why Molly Hooper has had such an impact on fans.

Conventional wisdom has traditionally dictated that a femme fatale such as Irene would be perfect for Holmes. Cunning, smart, resourceful and attractive – the character of Irene Adler has been matched with and against Holmes in countless pastiche.

Generally, it’s a pairing I don’t like and find a bit too obvious. But I did really enjoy the way she was interpreted and updated in BBC Sherlock, a bi-sexual dominatrix, feisty and flawed – played brilliantly by Lara Pulver. I also recommend the books by Amy Thomas – ‘The Detective and the Woman’, and ‘The Detective, The Woman and the Winking tree.’ Both these pastiches include a believable, intelligent portrayal of Irene which works very well, but I think this is a bit of an exception to the norm.

Common sense suggests that someone as extraordinary as Holmes needs an equally extraordinary woman to gain his attention. This is certainly the approach I took with my own novel. But what if the reverse is true?

Isn’t it more interesting to pair him up with someone completely normal – not a femme-fatale, kick-ass woman, but a nice, quiet sensible woman? After all, in terms of friendships, Holmes chose an ordinary person to be his only friend – not an eccentric or a great intellect, just a humble doctor. Might he not have done the same with a woman?

This is why the Molly Hooper character works so well in Sherlock, and why I prefer her to Irene. She’s not the obvious choice, and is therefore more interesting.

We can associate with her, understand how she’s feeling. We all know a Molly, perhaps we are one. She is like a female Watson, an everyman character whose humility diffuses Holmes/Sherlock’s displays of ego and brilliance. Molly is intelligent – I presume you don’t become a pathologist without engaging a few brain cells – but also human, sensitive and makes mistakes. We love her for that – and in an odd way, I think Sherlock does too. In creating Molly, Moffatt and Gatiss have looked beyond the obvious and given us a very unexpected, but brilliant, new friend for the character of Sherlock Holmes. Never underestimate the ordinary.