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Written by Joanna Starzynski
When Arthur Conan Doyle first wrote The Hound of the Baskervilles, I’m sure he wouldn’t have known the continuing worldwide success of Sherlock Holmes. There are already several well-known adaptations of this story, but can Mark Gatiss’s BBC adaptation compete?
A basic summary of this episode begins with Henry Knight (Russell Tovey), who sees a “hound” when he is a child - the same night his father dies. When Henry revisits his father’s grave many years later, the hound reappears. Henry asks for the aid of Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) and John (Martin Freeman) who investigate the hound and what it has to do with Baskerville. Is it really a hound? Does the supernatural really exist?
It’s hard not to shoot in Dartmoor without a sense of unease, and this episode creates the right sense of eeriness and isolation that is needed for the story. There are some slight changes from the original story though - instead of leaving Watson to report back from the moors alone (though Sherlock does initially consider this idea as an homage to the original), Sherlock and John travel to Baskerville together.
As always, Cumberbatch and Freeman are on par, although we do see Sherlock take an emotional rest from his last love torn episode with Irene Adler. Furthermore, John and Sherlock’s relationship was explored through simple gags, such as Sherlock imprisoning John with the supposed hound and then watching John’s horrified reaction on CCTV. As well as this, Tovey seems to take some of the limelight and overacts way too much which distracts from the actual episode.
There are also a few negatives to the episode. Though the Baskerville research facility was a sound idea from writer Mark Gatiss (Mycroft), too much time was taken up with explanation, rather than moving on with the story. This is surprising for horror fanatic Gatiss, who you would have thought would focus more on suspense than back story. The research centre did however resemble a 28 Days Later animal testing territory which was a small magufffin for the audience to buy into the reality of this demonic hound.
Though this episode is good, the previous episode A Scandal in Belgravia had more inter-twisting storylines and character development, making it unmissable (although this could also be due to the ‘nude’ scenes which provoked strong reactions from the general public). This week’s storyline focuses on one case and there are no cliff-hangers or twists to keep the audience glued to their seats - most of the episode is spent building a reliable background for the research facility.
As in all the other episodes, the camerawork and on-screen text give us an added insight into Sherlock’s mind when he reaches his “Mind Palace”. These are used together for an explosive and effective combination that match Conan Doyle’s description of Sherlock’s deductions in the original novels.
I would recommend the updated version of The Hound of the Baskervilles as for the first time in a long time it has made an authentic and accessible original Sherlock Holmes story for all ages. Even if this episode isn’t as good as the others, it is still far better than most other television programmes at the moment and is well worth the watch.
The final installment of the series, The Reichenbach Fall, airs 9pm on Sunday and sees the return of the marvellous Moriarty.
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