Sherlock Downgraded To Drivel?

I am a massive fan of the new  Sherlock series and everyone's fascination with something so piously British. My only complaints up until now had been that the series simply wasn't long enough. Now given the actors work commitments ( The Hobbit, Star Trek etc) and the writer Steven Moffat's 'other baby' Doctor Who, it was great to get a series this year at all. However the whole thing felt like such a drastic departure from the previous two seasons, that I was actually left wondering why they bothered.

Don't mistake me here I liked all three episodes, but that's just the problem, I only liked them.

The first episode (The empty Hearse) spouting lots of possible plot twists as to how Sherlock survived, and told us nothing. Aside from proving Sherlock's departure from his ability to read and understanding people, his almost stand up comedy in this episode was frankly underwhelming.

The second episode (The sign of Three) dealt with John Watson wedding, and a variety of mixed up cases, thrown together to distract from the departure from classic Sherlock Holmes. Unnecessary relationships were explored and emphasised whilst Sherlock grandstanded egotistically.

The final episode (His Last Vow) gave us hope for a new super controlling baddy. Yeah that fell flat as well, ripping off Sherlock's character and changing the basis for the Watson marriage. It threw all we had previously learnt to the side and re-imagined Mary Watson's character into something dis-believable.

That's not to say that I disagree, Mary Watson's character always seemed a little under explained, for
someone who was able to understand Sherlock and play him and Watson off against each other. Surely the expert of deduction, Sherlock Holmes would have been a little suspicious. The writing did excel in areas, but it seemed that they threw away all that was great about Sherlock to make room for storyline. A story line that, it has been promised, will make sense later on. Not impressed.

In fact there seemed so much missing, where were the visual deduction clues? How did Sherlock become so unobservant and careless? The adoption of a homeless junkie wasn't a surprise (Sherlock's homeless network), but inviting him into the inner sanctum when he showed promise was a departure. As was the casual inebriation of the stag night.

The stand out character of the series had to be Mycroft Holmes, played by Mark Gatiss the second writer. The character proved his greater intelligence and superiority to his younger brother, as well as a depth to his feelings for Sherlock.

I honestly feel as if the series has been dumbed down for the masses, now suitable to be enjoyed by reality television viewers, at the expensive of those true fans who loved the intelligence of this BBC drama. At this moment it would appear that all the convoluted writing effort is going into Doctor Who, another sticking point with fans. All we wanted was a continuation of Sherlock not to be downgraded.

The series three nemesis was mean to be Charles Augustus Magnussen, but we saw so little of the character that was meant to be Sherlock's one truly despised enemy, it seemed hardly worth it. Instead relegated to to be the stop-gap for Moriarty's return



Fun facts the last Doctor Who ( Matt Smith ), auditioned for Steven Moffat for the part of John Watson. But was deemed too batty and too similar to Sherlock as a character


Sherlock's parents in the series are played by Benedict Cumberbatch's real parents (Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton).

The young Sherlock in 'His Last Vow' was played by Steven Moffat's son Louis Moffat, and his wife Sue Vertue produces the show.

Lastly just for fun, this disturbingly epic video of Sherlock Season 3 by AVbyte on Youtube, simply outstanding!