I’ve just seen the first episode of Steven Moffat’s new Sherlock Holmes tv series, and quite enjoyed it. There’s more than a little resemblance between the way Moffat writes Holmes and the way he writes the Doctor (in fact the Holmes actor is rumored to have turned down the role of the Doctor).
Doctor and Companion in front of the TARDIS -- no, sorry, I mean Holmes and Watson at 221B Baker Street
This is also one of the coolest versions of Watson ever. (I hate versions that make Watson stupid. What makes Holmes impressive is that he outthinks smart people, not that he outthinks stupid people.)
Despite being set in the present day, the show is a lot more faithful to the spirit of the original (IMHO) than the recent Downey/Law film (though the two share in common the rather neat gimmick of displaying Holmes’s thought processes visually; of course Moffat did something similar in “The Eleventh Hour” as well). At the same time, it’s both lighter and darker than the original – in typically Moffatian ways.
My only real complaint was that I figured out the major plot point before Holmes did; admittedly, the audience has some information Holmes doesn’t, but still I thought he was a bit too slow on the uptake on that point.
Anyway, I recommend it; and the opening episode is on YouTube (at least for now) in ten-minute increments:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9