Sherlock

Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law (following the leads of their director, Guy Ritchie) may have thought they'd redefined the roles of Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson in modern buddy-movie terms. Not for long. A 2010 BBC TV series redefined the duo in truly modern terms, Sherlock, and cast it well with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. The first series of three 90-minute adventures, costing a fraction of one SFX-ed Ritchie movie, is an entertaining set of TV detective thrillers.

Major credits go to creator-writers Mark Gattis and Steven Moffat, who'd worked together on the revived BBC TV franchise, Dr Who. Each had a successful track record, Gattis more publicly as a member of the offbeat comic League of Gentlemen quartet.

Their simple concept was to relocate Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic pedantic arrogant genius-detective and his stocky bumbling medico sidekick from 19th to 21st-century London. Hey presto, they had an odd couple of sleuths using IT (Watson's blog, Holmes' texting, mobile phone cameras), state-of-the art magnifying glasses and forensic science to solve devilish serial killings for Scotland Yard's baffled D.I. Lestrade (Rupert Graves) from old-fashioned bachelor lodgings in Baker Street.

The one-hour pilot episode was never screened, and the BBC and the production team shrewdly included it on their DVD for the first 3-episode "season". That ensured that the DVD could be cost-justified as a 2-disc set, a bigger earner visibly justifying the expensive decision to re-shoot most of the pilot after extending its plot by 50%. A particular consolation for Gattis must have been the chance to write himself a juicy role as Holmes' Home Office brother, Mycroft, in the first and third episodes.

In the short version of the first drama, A Study in Pink, the killer's identity was identified too quickly and Holmes' powers of logic were under-illustrated. A more detailed examination of each death, combined with a merry stew of red herrings and Holmesian references, enriched the plot and characters. Most important was extra directorial panache, tenser pacing and a more confident sense of humour from a fresh director, Paul (Gangster No.1, Lucky Slevin) McGuigan, a Scot with an award-winning film and TV track record since his debut with The Acid House.

Cumberbatch, a young Brit TV veteran (Hawking, Forty Something, The Last Enemy) and occasional movie actor (Amazing Grace), could be looking forward to a decade of potential seasonal fun with this franchise. His asexual, overly brainy, mildly psychopathic Holmes character is neatly balanced by Martin (The Office, Hitchhiker's Guide, Fuzz) Freeman's robuster, less dim-witted version of Dr Watson, who was quickly given a medical lady friend. Just as quickly, other characters' non-judgmental acceptance of their possible gay relationship was highlighted in order to be cast aside. Another self-consciously gratuitous PC touch was the deliberate inclusion of black actors as policewomen and victims; there are Chinese in the third tale, but they are playing real Chinese villains, so that's all right. The modern Moriarty is also mod: a mock-camp self-consciously cute and clever Celt who's a fun-filled challenge for Holmes.

Holmes devotees and history buffs can have extra fun looking out for updated period details. Comparing the two versions of the first episode, the deliberate down-playing of the character of Mrs Hudson, the duo's landlady (Una Stubbs), in her costume and manner made her less stereotypical, less Sweeney Toddish. I'm not sure why the production increased the size of the three nicotine patches that are the modern Holmes' meditational drug of choice (shared by Lestrade, so that's PC all right too). Maybe the first trio might have been overlooked by visually challenged viewers.

The good news for the two under-employed young male lead actors from the Harry Potter series is that they could audition for the Holmes franchise in the future. Rupert Grint can only hope to be as good an actor as Freeman, his older lookalike, is; Radcliffe will regret that HP didn't give him enough free time to follow Cumberbatch at Harrow.