REVIEW: Sherlock, Series 1 Episode One 'A Study In Pink'

 REVIEW: Sherlock, Series 1 Episode One 'A Study In Pink'

The 2010s, it's fair to say, was a very big decade for Steven Moffat. He was the showrunner of two major BBC productions (Doctor Who and Sherlock), and the screenwriter of a major motion picture (The Adventures Of TinTin). Sherlock was perhaps his biggest gamble during this period. Normally a Sherlock Holmes adaptation would seem less of a risk, but this was a take on the Arthur Conan Doyle classic with a twist. Conceived with his fellow screenwriter Mark Gatiss, the pair decided to relocate the famous detective away from the Victorian Age and into the modern world. It was a risky decision, but one that ultimately paid off.

The opening case is an intriguing one. We are presented with three (later becoming four) mysterious suicides, each seemingly connected. Detective Lestrade (Rupert Graves) is flummoxed, but consulting detective Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) seems to hold all the answers. In a very amusing scene, Sherlock sends a text to every phone in the press briefing room, informing all present that Lestrade is very wrong on his insistence that they were suicides. This is an ingenious way to establish from the start that Sherlock is far from your standard detective. Here is a man who holds a significant presence even when he is not in the room, and who isn't afraid to show off if he believes he has worked out what is taking place.

His first meeting with army doctor John Watson (Martin Freeman) does a similarly great job at establishing who this version of Sherlock is at his core. The way he works out his deductions is incredible, looking closely at every little detail to work out just who this doctor John Watson is. He even manages to deduce that John fought in either the Afghanistan or Iraq war, based on a very slight facial tan obtained from warm temperatures, and immediately we are shown this vast intellect at play. Steven Moffat's writing here perfectly encapsulates the genius mind of Sherlock Holmes, an element that is undeniably important to this beloved British character.

Of course, a show like this would be nothing without a great Sherlock and John Watson, and in this episode Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman prove that they are the right men for the job. The pair hold so much chemistry together, and bounce off one another in a way that is almost reminiscent of a Doctor/companion pairing in Doctor Who. It's hard, in fact, to imagine any other actors playing these roles quire as well as they do. To me they feel like the definitive Sherlock and Watson.

In this episode, we also meet Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes (Mark Gatiss), and it's a curious way to introduce this character. John is brought to this shady car park, where Mycroft claims to be Sherlock's 'arch enemy' and offers to pay him to spy on his brother. It feels almost as though he is playfully toying with John, every bit the man his brother is, with that same curious lack of self awareness, and when it is revealed that Mycroft's problem with Sherlock is just the same childish feud typical of most families, it's quite funny to witness. The cinematography of this scene is absolutely gorgeous also. Mycroft is lit like a silhouette in this darkness that is closing in on doctor Watson, as he falls further and further into the life of Sherlock Holmes, and the lighting further helps to emphasise Mycroft as appearing like this sinister presence.

It also becomes apparent in this episode that the digital world will play a major part in this version of Sherlock Holmes. In any other detective series, you would question the logic of the detective texting the phone in the murderer's possession. Here, however, it makes perfect sense. Texting the phone brings the murderer to Sherlock rather than Sherlock having to waste his own time locating the culprit himself, and it really is such a clever piece of writing by Steven Moffat. It's something that possesses this very clear and calculated sense of logic, despite initially seeming quite a dumb action to take, but the more you think it over, you realise of course the killer would want to find out who had the number of the phone.

The fact that the murderer turns out to be a taxi driver is an inspired narrative decision. It plays into that common Moffat trope of things being hidden in plain sight, as the cab driver points out that nobody thinks of the man or woman sat in the driver's seat of a taxi. The driver instantly becomes invisible, passing the suspicions onto the passengers instead - something which even Sherlock himself is guilty of. It's a twist that plays directly to Steven Moffat's strengths, and conveys this idea that in the world of Sherlock even those you may not initially suspect could  become the culprit of the crime.

Overall, 'A Study In Pink' is an excellent opener for Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss's Sherlock. With sublime acting, clever writing and exquisite cinematography throughout, it's no wonder that the BBC's modern adaptation of Sherlock became such a major success.

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What are your thoughts on Sherlock's first episode? Let me know in the comments.