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For Sherlock fans, this was always the reason to count down to the New Year, as Sunday finally saw the return of Benedict “The Cheekbones” Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson respectively. Perhaps they spent the past year and a half struggling to climb out from under that massive pile of TV awards, who knows, but it’s certainly worth it: A Scandal in Belgravia, loosely based on one of Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous stories, is by no means meretricious.
From the very beginning, there’s no question that writer Steven Moffat is on top form. He wriggles out of last series’ cliffhanger in such a gloriously devious way that even the most outlandish of fanfiction authors would have groaned. Then applauded. As in A Scandal in Bohemia, the story revolves around the blackmail of a member of royalty (a young, female royal in this case) and Sherlock must retrieve some dodgy photos from the grasp (or gasp) of Irene Adler – more on her later.
There’s one thing to be said of the writers: they know what we like. The first ten or so minutes must be sheer heaven for the original fanbase: we see “The Geek Interpreter” and “The Speckled Blonde” and, to top it all off, the appearance of The Hat. THE. DEERSTALKER.
Some might say it couldn’t have been better if Sherlock had been wandering around completely starkers save for a bedsheet. Oh, wait.
A Scandal in Belgravia then, mostly places emphasis on uncovering (sometimes literally) Sherlock’s character, rather at the expense of a single, solvable adventure. But this is necessary: we see more of the brotherly bond between Sherlock and Mycroft (Mark Gatiss), as well as the detective’s resolute allegiance to Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs). And to see Sherlock actually apologise to Molly (Louise Brealey) shows the writers are not afraid to soften the edges of their main protagonist and keep him glued to reality. Cumberbatch's perfect portrayal goes without saying.
Most importantly, the female characters are finally allowed to grow backbones! YES! Molly talks back, Mrs Hudson kicks ass, but Irene Adler (Lara Pulver) – more than just a ‘feisty’ lead female ‘with a bit of spirit’ – is of course the prime example here. Reinventing the woman as a gay dominatrix who “beats” Sherlock is just brilliant and Pulver is superb in establishing a truly ambiguous relationship between the two characters.
Again, the mysteries and puzzles that enthralled us in the last series are not so coherent in Scandal, leaving the story a tad confusing at times, even with the many ‘wowzers!’ deduction moments. Furthermore, the amount of twists (and phone-switching) becomes almost exhausting, but hey, there’s nothing wrong with making the viewer work to keep up.
'Readaptation' may have been the BBC’s buzzword of late, but this description doesn’t do Sherlock justice at all. The production is magnificent and experimental; the characters can be present at a crime scene in their minds without physically being there, and whilst it’s a bit psychedelic, it really, really works. The odd slight camera trick adds to the whole cleverness of the show and delightfully pushes the medium of television as far as possible. This show is anything but a regurgitation of the old.
Put it this way: if the rest of 2012’s televised drama is anything like Sherlock, we’re in for a great year.
Trailer: BBC
Sherlock: The Hounds of Baskerville airs next Sunday, 8.30pm. Are you excited? You should be.
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