The Return of Sherlock Holmes – by Paula & Terry Erdmann

BBC's Sherlock: Benedict Cumberbatch

As in “Sherlock Holmes,” of course.

Since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first introduced this shrewdest of sleuths in the l887 edition of Beeton’s Christmas Annual magazine, the detective has been depicted by more film and television actors than any other fictional character. An astounding 254 actors, in fact, including turns by Basil Rathbone (the most memorable), Jeremy Brett (brilliant!), and Robert Downey, Jr. (not our cup of tea). And that number doesn’t take into account the legion of non-Holmesian characters who’ve “borrowed” the master detective’s trademark skills of observation and deduction. The producers of both Monk and House, for example, openly confess to having liberally reinterpreted Doyle’s creation. And you can pretty much thank Doyle for every police procedural you’ve ever read or watched.

The version up for this year’s Emmy, titled simply Sherlock, is a 21^st century retelling of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In addition to his astonishingly brilliant mind, this Sherlock employs today’s technologies to help him solve cases. He texts, uses GPS, and conducts Internet searches, all via his most valuable tool: his cell phone. Not as elegant as the original Holmes’ magnifying glass, perhaps, but better suited to crime solving in modern London. The Sherlock miniseries, starring the improbably named but incredibly gifted Benedict Cumberbatch as the title character, is up for thirteen Emmy awards. This includes one for Cumberbatch as Outstanding Lead Actor, and, as we mentioned, one for the miniseries itself. Everything about this show is cracking good.

Sherlock, like Downton Abby, airs on Masterpiece (as a co-production of Masterpiece and the BBC). And like Downton, it has proven very popular in the U.S. This season’s opening episode drew 3.2 million viewers—more than recent numbers for such high-profile cable shows as Mad Men. While that’s not enough to make the producers of “quality programming” like Dancing With the Stars nervous, it was enough to make at least one American network prick up its antennae. Which is why, on September 27, just three days after the Emmys broadcast, CBS will debut Elementary, its very own “modern Sherlock Holmes” series. Coincidence? Definitely not. Initially, CBS consulted with Sherlock’s producers about remaking their British show for a broader American audience, but later opted to light up their own calabash pipe.

We predict that lots of people (including a few lawyers) will be watching when Elementary debuts. As “a contemporary take” on the famed detective, CBS’s show likely will be similar to the BBC production, although it will head into different territory—literally: It’s set in New York, rather than London. And the previously male Dr. Watson will be played by the very female Lucy Liu. Holmes, we’re relieved to confirm, remains distinctly male and British  as portrayed by Jonny Lee Miller, late of Dexter and Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows.

Ironically, Miller recently shared the stage of Britain’s National Theatre with Cumberbatch, the other Sherlock, in an acclaimed adaptation of Frankenstein. The two actors nightly alternated as Victor Frankenstein and his Creature throughout the show’s run, leaving little doubt (at least to us) that both men are talented enough to fill the shoes of the world’s most brilliant detective. As for the show itself, casting is one thing, but it’s the writing that will tell the tale.

That much, at least, is elementary.

            Paula and Terry each have long impressive-sounding resumes implying that they are battle-scarred veterans of life within the Hollywood studios. They’re now happily relaxed into Jacksonville.