NP but Quality TV

[Allan Balliett]

If you're in North America, the new episode of BBC's SHERLOCK starring
Benedict Cumberbatch will premier at 9PM on PBS. (Yes, you can stream it
from their website)

If you are in Europe, you've already missed it, of course (but it will show
again in a couple of days)

-Allan in WV where the VPN has once again come in handy and we'll be
setting down to a meal of Hoppin' John and Sherlock in a few moments

SHERLOCK: THE ABOMINABLE BRIDE SPOILER-FREE REVIEW * 01 JANUARY 2016

After two years of waiting, we have taken a parallel side step that still
propels us forwards.

What transpires in this 90 minutes was so top secret the press weren't
allowed to view the completed episode before its first airing on BBC One
and in UK cinemas. Sherlock: The Abominable Bride is crowd pleasing and
rather self indulgent (while all the better for it), razor sharp in the
scripting, tangled in the narrative, occasionally broad in the comedy, all
while capable of cutting to the heart of the characters in new and exciting
ways.

Indeed, the characterisation is resolutely familiar to the canon stories,
while also forging ahead with the characters as we know them in the series.
It's an incredible feat by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, playful and
daring in equal measure. Sherlock and John are gone, Holmes and Watson are
instead present and correct. Benedict Cumberbatch is a stiller presence as
this version of Holmes, clipped, often polite and full of acid wit, but
still frequently curt and losing none of the brilliance. Watson meanwhile
is a boiling kettle of frustration coupled with gentlemanly honour and more
human observation, clearly essential to Holmes in ways even he does not
realise - there is genuine concern for his friend here, both emotional and
stern, and not unwilling to stage an intervention when necessary.

Always known as a television show rich in cinematic flair, The Abominable
Bride ramps this up still further in full justification of its cinema
release. This episode looks utterly ravishing in the hands of director
Douglas Mackinnon, not least thanks to the work of production designer
Arwel Jones and costume designer Sarah Arthur in ensuring that the world
onscreen feels truly Victorian. Despite the old-fashioned looks though,
there's no way you could mistake this story as glacial in the telling. The
episode features some rollicking, action packed adventure, fashioned around
a genuinely chilling ghost story that has other concerns bubbling along
under the surface.

There are numerous other observations that rocket to mind. It is
intrinsically a cutting look at Victorian gender politics, sometimes in
laugh out loud, show stopping form; in others, emotional tragedy.
Appearances of numerous characters who never appeared in the trailers is a
very conscious decision. The new, period ways of implementing the trademark
onscreen graphics are works of subtle, clever genius. At times, it
intentionally plays as a subversive package of greatest hits from the
canon. And everything that occurs after an hour in we're simply desperate
to talk about. But this is a spoiler-free review, and that first reaction
is one to savour.

We wouldn't want the series to do this forever, but we'd gladly visit
again, from time to time.
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