Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Sherlock Season 3


I've had an interesting relationship with Benedict Cumberbatch over the years. No, we have never met, but one we would presume based on my highly vocalised opinions of the poor guy, that we had once had a fruitless fancy in love that did not end well. My comments about his "arrogance", "weasly-nature" and "larger-than-normal head" are just a few to mention from my tirades. Which is why it is ironic that his performance in Sherlock has managed to sway my judgements of an actor and actually like him for a change.

For those of you who don't know, this BBC modernization of the Conan Doyle series features England's most prolific fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and his wise side-kick, Dr John Watson, as they galavant around 21st century London solving mysteries. I was not a fan of the series in its inception simply because I was not a fan of Mr Cumberbatch himself. But when my boyfriend made me sit through an entire 90 minute episode during Season 2, I was suddenly hooked.

Sherlock features not only one of the greatest fictional characters ever created in English history but also the finest production value of any TV series I have seen the past 10 years. The BBC have pulled no stops in presenting their audience with exquisite (near perfect) special effects coupled with a cinematographic style that supremely exceeds anything you'd find amongst Downton Abbey. London's wet, cold, cobbled streets are suddenly refreshing even to the local govn'r and the audience becomes at one with this amazing setting, a character in itself.

Season 3 set outs to outshine its preceding seasons with more action, more drama, and more personal life at risk. We follow on from Season 2 two years after Sherlock Holmes supposedly jumped to his death following an unfortunate incident with his nemesis, Moriarty. Holmes must return to Baker St to win back his family and right the wrongs done whilst he has been MIA under the shadow of a potential terrorist attack on London City. It makes for an exciting, suspenseful series that is bound to not only suffice the strong-willed Sherlock fan, but attract an audience of watchers searching for a new breed of television. Three 90-minute episodes make viewing more of a blockbuster event than a veg-out session and are guaranteed to make people talk about it on Twitter or Facebook later that night. It may, like me, also convince a few Cumberbatch-critics to lighten their tone for an hour and a half as well.