This blog was written in response to this article about the BBC threatening to sue CBS for making a contemporary Sherlock Holmes series.
Sherlock to the right of me, Sherlock to the left of me, let slip the dogs of war! Honestly people, why cling to remaking the original? Why not do something original? In its early seasons, Monk was a great contemporary rendition of Sherlock without claiming to actually be Sherlock. Jonathan Creek was another great contemporary twist on the classic stories, with Creek portrayed as an illusionist whose powers of observation and deduction gave me many happy hours of viewing.
I’m getting fed up with Sherlock remakes and renditions, especially after reading something billed as ‘The new Sherlock Holmes novel’. Although others are giving it 4 stars, I shredded the plot and rated it with 2 stars as ‘deeply flawed’ (see issue 7, to be released soon). As the minion said, if the author had built his own sandbox instead of playing in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s sandbox, I probably would have given it 3 stars, but if you can’t write Sherlock REALLY WELL, then you should STAY THE F**K OUT OF IT. Sorry, but I started reading Sherlock in primary school. Although I haven’t read the original stories in about 20 years, Sherlock still holds a special place in my heart. If you can’t write brilliant detective stories, don’t try writing Sherlock.
So why, oh why, can’t CBS call it something different? Why claim this as a contemporary Sherlock? Because Sherlock Holmes is fashionable, we’re getting all sorts of cheap and expensive knock-offs. My advice: don’t try riding on Doyle’s coat-tails, do the series and call it something else.
And BBC? Stay away from lawyers. The US has a habit of remaking stories that have very little if no relation to the original material: Greg Rocke’s Whiteout, The last several eps of Life on Mars (allegedly a remake), hell the ENTIRE SERIES of Life on Mars, and… [insert list here]. The ones who really lose here are the fans, and the only winners are the lawyers.
[insert vampire/lawyer joke here]
If both the BBC and CBS series are good, then the fans are winners – they get two series!
I’m so glad to see that I wasn’t the only one thinking that Sherlock Holmes is a disappointing fad. To the people who were surprised by the ‘twist’ at the end of the last BBC series, I ask: did you even read the books? — Jamie Sage
