Jeremy Brett: The Definitive Holmes

There have been many great actors who have graced the threshold of 221B Baker Street in the role of Sherlock Holmes. And some awful ones as well. Everyone has their favorite. Their definitive. From Basil Rathbone's sharp, upbeat, and energetic portrayal to most recently Benedict Cumberbatch's more moody and melancholy take on the character.

For me it was Jeremy Brett.

The series he did for Granada Television (shown in the States on the PBS Series Mystery!) was really the first time both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson were portrayed the way Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had written them. Watson especially who had, with the exception of a handful of films, had always been depicted as a blithering old idiot.

This all changed when David Burke took the role of Watson. Most every production that followed, have depicted Watson very much the way the Granada series did.

In many of those early episodes, I feel as though Jeremy Brett and David Burke resembled Sidney Paget's artwork so much, you would almost think they walked right out of a copy of the Strand Magazine.

Much of the brilliance in Jeremy Brett's portrayal comes from the actor's own personality. In real life, Brett suffered from manic depression. Much of this you can see in his take on Holmes. Having read Conan Doyle's original stories, this is the way I could see the character. Moody, manic, swinging from happiness to anger at the drop of a hat and taking drugs to stave off accute cases of boredom.

Although, in real life, Jeremy Brett actually wrote Lady Jean Doyle (the daughter of the late Sir Arthur) and asked her permission to have Sherlock Holmes kick his addiction to cocaine when he found out children in England looked up to the character and considered him to be a superhero of sorts.

The character is seen emptying a phial of cocaine and burying his needle on the beach in the episode The Devil's Foot.

This was also the first time I feel we also saw in my opinion the definitive portrayal of Holmes's arch-nemesis Professor James Moriarty in the form of Eric Porter.

Although the character remains in check, you do get the feeling that he could become unhinged at any moment with this face twitch Eric Porter would use as the character.

I've gone on the record (and got my fair share of grief) for saying I am not a fan of Andrew Scott's "Jim" Mortiarty from the Benedict Cumberbatch series. Which isn't a shot at the actor himself. I haven't seen enough of him to draw a conclusion of his skills as an actor. But I just don't like the whole "goofball" element they added to him.

To be honest, I liked Jared Harris's take on Moriarty in the Robert Downey Jr. film better. However, I like the Benedict Cumberbatch take on Holmes better.

With that said, I'm not going to ridicule you just because I didn't care for the Moriarty from Cumberbatch series. Or leave nasty notes about it on Steven Moffat's Twitter account telling him how much I dislike the way he has interpreted the character.

That would be stupid.

If you're new to Sherlock Holmes and have become interested in the character because of the Benedict Cumberbatch series, I would highly recommend you check out the series starring Jeremy Brett. Although, it may not be as high-octane as some of the current interpretations of the character, it is highly enjoyable.

Elementary, my dear Watson. It's going to be awful!

What made Sherlock a success is what's going to make Elementary a disaster. Writing! Let me start out by saying I like Jonny Lee Miller as an actor. He's very good. But seeing CBS's teaser for their version a modernized Sherlock Holmes living in America, I thought the series looked awful. Syd and I watched in on her iphone and we sat there rolling our eyes and shaking our heads at the lines Sherlock Holmes was given. None of which we could ever imagine Sherlock Holmes EVER saying.

One of which when he discovers the dead body in the safe by rolling a ball bearing towards a safe to discover a body and then utters "Sometimes I am sorry when I'm right" Or apologizing to Dr. JOAN Watson (played by Lucy Lui) about wrecking her car. Both of us just felt Sherlock Holmes would never do that!! He would never apologize for his actions. Especially if he felt the ends justify the means. I suppose it's American television's attempt to give Sherlock Holmes some humanity and humility. Make him a flawed hero.

I'm not buying it.

In all of his incarnations. From Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, Robert Stephens, Peter Cushing and most recently with Benedict Cumberbath and Robert Downey Jr. the thing that has made Sherlock Holmes's character great is the fact he's so unapologetic. Actually, he's just a downright jerk. Probably Rathbone's portrayal of Holmes is by far the warmest and most sympathetic of all the Sherlock actors mentioned.

They even got that right in House. What made Hugh Laurie's character so popular is the fact he was such a jerk.

I should probably state that Sherlock Holmes is public domain. Which means ANYONE can do something with the character. My gripe is that the whole series seems very lazy and this is just American Television capitalizing on the success of something Steven Moffat, wife Susan Vertue and Mark Gatiss worked very hard to create. A modernized Holmes HAS been done in the past. But not nearly as successfully as team Moffat/Vertue/Gatiss has done. And this just feels... well... really lazy.

I understand Moffat and Company's irritation with the American series. They've worked really hard to cultivate this idea and make it a success. As a spectator looking in from the outside, all it seems like to me is CBS just riding on the coattails of Sherlock's success. And doing so in the most contrived and unoriginal sort of way.

However, I do not agree with Moffat's statement that this series will somehow ruin the brand if it's a distaster. Honestly, I don't think it will make his series any less of a success. As a matter of fact, I think just the opposite will happen. I think people who view in on this Americanized Holmes in the Fall who are familiar with the BBC series will just say, "I think the British version is better".

If CBS had any sort of imagination (it's obvious that they DON'T) then they would do just the opposite and create a Sherlock series with Jonny Lee Miller in the States. BUT have it set in the 1890's. Larry Millett did a series of Sherlock Holmes novels set in the states. Why not use that.

Or they would pick another literary character to adapt. If they were smart (see above) they might consider being clever (again, see above) and do a series with Jonny Lee Miller based on A.J. Raffles. A character created by E. W. Hornung.

But I suppose Sherlock is more lucrative than Raffles. And it's easier to rehash something someone has already done than to take a chance and do something completely original.

I won't be watching Elementary this fall. Well, I might tune in on the first episode just to see if the rest of the show is as bad as the previews for it looked.

Either way, I see this making "Show Being Axed" list.

My Great Big Delusional Doctor Who Blog...

Although most of the time I try to restrict my blog posts, to upcoming projects, new artwork, what I might be doing or cooking (or having cooked) for dinner or the occasional ranting about someone who had been nasty to me in traffic or at the register in a store.
Once in a while I like to aid and abet my own personal delusions.

And this is one of those blogs. And you can complain and ridicule me all you like for doing so. But it comes down to one thing. It's my blog and I can write whatever I like. If you don't like it. Don't read it.

Nobody has forced you to read this so go be miserable somewhere else.

Okay! Now that I have done that bit of house cleaning lets get back to my blog.

The people who know me know about my love for a little show called Doctor Who. I don't take the show seriously. I just enjoy it. It's a lot more fun to watch than to argue about on messageboards.

It's one of those shows that can keep evolving with every new actor and every new producer as evident from the 1970's how the tone of the show changed with each of the producers that came onboard from Barry Lett's to Philip Hinchcliffe to Graham Williams.

And you can see what happened when one person ran the show throught the 1980's with John Nathan Turner how it sort of eventually burned itself out. But to be fair to JNT he wanted to leave several times during the 1980's but wasn't allowed.

I think we may see that return to the 1970's where the tone of Doctor Who will change with every producer who takes the helm. We can already see that with the transition of Russell T. Davies to Steven Moffat. And I think it will happen again when Moffat finally decides to leave.

So, that got me thinking quite a bit of how I would run the series. Which would start first with the redesign of the logo. As you can see at the top of this blog.

I've always really liked the logo they used for the BBC Webisode Death Comes to Time and I would love to utilize that design.

It seems as though the RTD series used something similar to the fisheye design but I always loved the diamond logo created for the end of Jon Pertwee's time and thoughout most of Tom Baker's time as the Doctor. So I would love to create something similar to that.

Next up comes who would be the Doctor.

I like Matt Smith and have enjoyed his portrayal. For the most part of this blog I will go on the assumption that he's still playing the Doctor. However, here's my choice of people I would cast if he bowed out before or during the yearly Christmas Special.

Samuel West would be on the top of the list for me.


Ewen Bremner is another one after seeing Death at a Funeral.


And Ian Hart because we really haven't had a Doctor under 5'9" since Paul McGann and I really liked how he played angry in an almost William Hartnell way in the first Harry Potter movie.


Most of the people I've chosen are all over 40 and I wouldn't mind seeing an older actor as the Doctor again. It's really weird to know I am officially older than the Doctor... in an Earth sense ;-)

I envision the Doctor's costume being based on Sir Alec Guiness's character from The Man in the White Suit. The other accessory to the costume would be a Roll-Up Panama hat.


The idea is the Doctor always looks like he's on Holiday because in fact the Doctor is the ultimate tourist. Always traveling.

Up next: redesigning the TARDIS control room and console.

I would actually love to have the control room Mike Tucker proposed for what would have been Season 27 of the show if it had not been cancelled in 1989. I liked this version of the Console which was not being supported by a pillar.

But I would expand upon it adding the look and elements from the original design of the control room. Only much bigger than the series could have ever realized that design from 1963 until 1989.

Next up the new companion. I'm not sure who I would cast but I would have it be an earth girl. Probably early 20's who the Doctor either meets in the Christmas special. If the Doctor happens to regenerate, then it would be in the last episode of the previous series.

Since the Doctor regenerating alone has been done with David Tennant, it would be nice to have the Doctor regenerate in front of a complete stranger. Someone who you really don't realize WILL become the companion until they actually enter the TARDIS.

Either in a regeneration story or not, I'd love there to be an element where the audience THINKS another man or woman will become the new companion the entire episode but it ends up being the person you least expect. However, if the Doctor doesn't meet the companion until the Christmas story, then I'd still go that same route.

As for the feel of the series, I would much rather have the feel of the self-contained stories like in the classic series with perhaps a few small arc's. I haven't really been a fan of the series long arc's they've been doing in the series since 2005. But with that said I have still enjoyed the current series and will keep watching it.

But I do have a little bit of a long game planned. But more on that later and who is involved.

Okay now very importantly: THE WRITERS!!

I would really love to go with writers who have not written for the current series and writers I really love. So here's my list and the baddies I would have return for the new series. Explanation will follow after list.

CHRISTMAS EPISODE: Written by Paul Magrs (which would feature some sort of Christmas baddie, especially since Paul wrote a particularly nasty one for his Brenda and Effie series, the Zygons, Iris Wildthyme and Panda.)

The first real story arc would be adapting the Cat's Cradle books(which were originally intended for the original series) into episodes. Ever since I saw the adaptation of Human Nature for television I've been itching for more of these books to be made into episodes.

Shortly after the Doctor and companion leave Earth at the end of the Christmas episode he finds that the TARDIS console had been damaged. We only realize that because as the Doctor begins to walk away from the console to show his new friend around the TARDIS we zoom in on the pull-down screen which reads some sort of critical warning blinking. But nothing happens until the next episode. Which is somewhat a nod to the original Dalek series where Susan reads that the radiation levels are normal but once they've walked away we see they are anything but normal.

EPISODE ONE: Cat's Cradle: Time's Crucible by Marc Platt
EPISODE TWO: Cat's Cradle: Warhead by Andrew Cartmel
EPISODE THREE: Cat's Cradle: Witchmark (in this episode the new TARDIS Control Room would be introduced. Although it is still repairing itself from the events that have taken place in the Cat's Cradle Arc.
EPISODE FOUR: Paradise in Chains by Rupert Booth and Lee Paterson
If you are unfamilar with the story, a lovely little independent company called Timebase did a series of Doctor Who video's starring a rather nice chap named Rupert Booth as the Doctor. Despite the scathing reviews of Doctor Who Magazine I thought the productions were really well done and I really enjoyed this episode in particular. And I think it would be a nice lead out episode from the Cat's Cradle Arc with the Doctor and his companion finding the still weakened TARDIS has dragged them into another strange little parallel world. And to be honest, I think the companion introduced in this episode would be either good as a one off character or someone who continues her journey's with the Doctor and his other new companion. Watch the original below. I think it's a very clever episode.

EPISODE FIVE: Written by Terrance Dicks. He's someone I have wanted to see return to the series for some time. I've enjoyed his books like Timewyrm Exodus and the Players. Perhaps something with the Ice Warriors or the Players.
EPISODE SIX: Written by Kate Orman and Jon Blum. Either Vampire Science or Time Rift. Or something new by them.
EPISODE SEVEN: Which would be All-Consuming Fire by Andy Lane. The Doctor finally meets Sherlock Holmes. It would be a nice little twist to have a Victorian era Holmes and Watson played by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.
EPISODE EIGHT: Written by Bert Coules.
EPISODE NINE: Written by David A. McIntee
EPISODE TEN: I would love to adapt Christopher Bulis's novel Imperial Moon. I would fit in with the ongoing indea throughout the series of the parallel worlds slowly reopening due to what happened to the TARDIS in the Cat's Cradle arc.
EPISODE ELEVEN: Which would be Killing Grounds by Steve Lyons. A small arc of sorts since this features the Cybermen on a planet in the far far far future. I would love to have more elements from David Banks book about the history of the Cybermen used. I also like the Bronze Knights introduced in the story as well as adding this whole element of perhaps a Cyberman civil war which all the factions (including the ones from the parallel world) are fighting.

I would somehow love to use the concepts of both Lance Parkin's story The Infinity Doctor and Marc Platt's Doctor Who Unbound Story Auld Mortality with my own twist to make it fit the current series. It might run like this.
EPISODE TWELVE: The Auld Mortality story by Marc Platt as Part One.
and
EPISODE THIRTEEN: The Infinity Doctor story by Lance Parkin as Part Two.

And this would be my long game of sorts. Everything that has happened over the course of the series leads to now. But I didn't want to do it in a Bad Wolf/Cracks in Time sort of way. I don't want people to realize this until part two of the story arc because I want people to be able to drop in on a story after Cat's Cradle and be able to enjoy it without having to feel like they had to see the previous one.

Even though the Doctor is beaten and weakened in the events of Killing Grounds, we are given every indication that he's okay and nothing's wrong at the end and reassures his companion of this they just talk like they're going off on another adventure.

As PART ONE of the finale begins we don't see the Doctor or hear is voice. We just hear the voice of someone who sounds a lot like the companion urging him to wake-up. As everything comes into focus we come to find the the Doctor is in a room on Gallifrey. And the person who is waking him up isn't the companion but his Granddaughter Susan who is seen in Prydonian gown and funny collar. But we don't see the Doctor. Even though she calls him Grandfather we assume that it's the current Doctor. Until the camera swings itself around and finally reveal the Doctor's face.

But it is not the Doctor. At least not the Doctor we have come to accept in the current series.

It is a version of the First Doctor played by Peter O'Toole.

The Doctor looks outside and reveals he is in the domed cities on Gallifrey.

Gallifrey was never destroyed and the Doctor is still in his first incarnation. Because he never left his home planet. Everything that had happened from 1963 till 2011 was all just a dream. Fantasies written by the Doctor.

Cue intro music.

Throught the episode we see the faces of many Timelords from the Doctor's past make cameo appearance's like Romana, Borusa, The Rani, The Celstrial Toymaker, Cancellor Goth, Hedin, Azmael and the Master. Perhaps once again portrayed by Sir Derek Jacobi but more along the lines of his Professor Yana.


Another thought would be having the Doctor's past selves appear as other Timelords in this version of reality such as Tom Baker as President Borusa, Peter Davison as Hedin, Colin Baker as Azmael and Sylvester McCoy as Chancellor Goth. With his further selves in various Timelords roles. Either Castellans, Cardinals or members of the Cancellory Guard.

Except for his current incarnation. Who appears as only as brief visions to the Doctor.

I want people watching to almost believe this episode to be real for the most part For a great deal of the first episode. Almost right till the middle of it. But as time goes on the Doctor sees flashes of his current incarnation everytime he sees his reflection. But always briefly trying to reach out to him.

The Doctor tries his best to suppress this as nothing more than age and his mind playing tricks on him but the arrival of a young earth girl has complicated everything. The High Council of Timelords is mystified how an human could appear on Gallifrey. They have imprisoned and interrogate her. She demands to see one man.

The Doctor.

When the Doctor sees her he sees brief flashes of their adventures together. He sees a brief glimpse of the two of them in the TARDIS right after their encounter with the Cybermen in Killing Ground. He sees the the shadow of a figure with them. But everything is foggy like a dream.

His companion reveals she somehow was able to escape and find her way here. She says she and the Doctor were heading to Earth when they were attacked. Which the Doctor replies he's never been to Earth. The companion insists that she is trying to save the Doctor. He responds, "You foolish child! Why on earth would I need saving?" which she retorts "Why on earth would you say why on earth since you say you've never been to earth?" It is right at the end that she reveals that this world is not real and he is not really the Doctor.

PART TWO: The "Doctor" is taken aback by this information. She begins to tell him how the Doctor, her Doctor, the REAL Doctor is trapped. Someone is trying to undo his past and has been trapping his previous incarnations one by one. Taking them out of time causing the real Doctor to be unwritten. And somehow this being has created this new version of the First Doctor. Giving the Doctor everything he ever wanted. Gallifrey never destroyed and as the Doctor remembered.

We find out the companion was actually saved by Iris Wildthyme who is in the process of freeing the current Doctor. She somehow found a way to pop the companion into this version of the Doctor's reality in order to somehow get his help.

Since at the moment he is the real Doctor and the real Doctor has been pushed into the depths of his mind. But they must free the Doctor's past selves in order to make the actual Doctor whole again.

A lot of exciting stuff happens when the "Doctor" finally comes face to face with his real self. Even though this "Doctor" is torn because if he helps the companion he will never exist. Gallifrey will be nothing but dust and a memory. But what would be great would be to get the former living Doctors to appear encouring this parallel Doctor by showing him all the wonderful adventures and places he has gone by leaving Gallifrey. That even the destruction of Gallifrey had to happen in order for everything to come to pass.

To add another twist, Gallifrey finds they are being threatened by a race known as the Daleks. Since the Doctor did not travel and did not somehow interfere with the Daleks in various stages of their evolution, the Daleks are more powerful and more cunning than ever. And Gallifrey has no way of defending themselves against this.

At the end of all the real Doctor comes back into reality and comes face to face. The alternate Doctor is saddened because he feels he is nothing but a lie. But the Doctor (the real one) tells him that it's not true and that much like his previous selves this version of him actually exists too in his mind. A great concept created by Paul Cornell for both the New Adventures series and used in the Seventh Doctor audio play Shadow of the Scourge. And this Doctor is possibly a future incarnation of himself. Many possibilities exist in his mind what he may look like or what he might look like.

Out of the shadows, other alternate Doctors emerge in the forms of Peter Cushing's Doctor Who, Mark Gatiss, Rowan Atkinson and Richard E. Grant's Doctor's. Maybe lookalikes in their guise. Especially Peter Cushing who is no longer with us.

I also thought fan Doctors crop up like Nicholas Brigg, Tony Garner and Rupert Booth to name a few.

That's when it is revealed another possible future self. The one behind all this. The Valeyard.

We find out that the Valeyard was one of the abominations that was born during the Time War. He had managed to free himself from the Doctor's current Eighth incarnation. But the way he got to the Timelords was subtle and cunning. He was the one who helped corrupt them with this insane idea to destroy all of creation and become beings of pure thought.

When the Doctor finally uses the Moment, he traps the Valeyard in the TARDIS. The Valeyard can only exist as a shade. Doomed to wander the corridors of the TARDIS unable to do any damage.

During the events of the Cat's Cradle arc, the Valeyard is set free. Still in a weakened state he bides his time, blending himself into the Doctor's own shadow. But only able to follow him in the confines of the TARDIS. Hiding in the darkness when the Doctor leaves.


CUTS TO what we didn't see in the TARDIS where the Valeyard disguised as the Doctor's shadow engulfing him and sucking him into the parallel world he created.

He admits that he had already once unsuccessfully tried to take over the Doctor in the form of the Dreamlord. The Doctor admits despite the different appearance he knew the Valeyard was the Dreamlord.

But with the Doctor still in a weakened state after facing the Cybermen he was able to finally strike and trap the Doctor deep within his own mind. In a fantasy world. With the Doctor pushed into the back of his mind the Valeyard would possess the Doctor's current physical form causing a forced regeneration. From there he would take control of the TARDIS and reshape the universe in his own likeness. Which would consist of freeing Gallifrey from the Timelock and flood the universe with all the creatures that were born from the Time War.

The appearance of the Daleks was his final plan, with the Doctor trapped inside his mind he would finally use this form of "mental attack" to finally destroy him. The Valeyard would take over the Doctor's mind completely as well as the Doctor's physical form. The Doctor as we know him would be dead and the Valeyard would become the Doctor.

The Alternate First Doctor has heard enough and tells the Doctor to concentrate in all of his incarnations. With the Valeyard in a weakened state the alternate Doctor gives up the possiblility of ever becoming real by sacrificing himself in order to trap the Valeyard.

Something very Reichenbach Falls with the two falling deep withing the chasms of the Doctor's mind.

The Doctor and his companion awaken in the TARDIS to find Iris and Panda enjoying Martini's with a bottle of booze sitting on the console. Her TARDIS is parked right outside. Eventually he (begrudgingly) thanks both Iris and Panda who leave and embark on their own adventures leaving the Doctor and his companion alone.

The whole series leads up to the parallel worlds being reopened. Which the Doctor doesn't see as a good or bad thing. Just one of those "Wait and see" sort of things. He doesn't know how much damage the Valeyard's tampering has caused by opening the doors to the parallel dimensions.

The companion then asks: "What about Gallifrey and the Time Lords? You mentioned something about a Timelock (which the Doctor might tell her at some point in a prior tale). Is there a chance..?" which the Doctor immediately says: "No. As much as I would love to see the Timelords of old reinstated it just cannot be. If the Timelock were removed, the all is lost".

The Doctor is saddened by the death of this incarnation. But he happens to look up at his reflection. Either in the translucent central column or in a mirror. He sees the other Doctor briefly who smiles at him. The Doctor smiles and he and his companion set off on more adventures.

Sherlock (9x12 pen and ink artwork)

Inspired by my new favorite series starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and produced by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss who are the brains behind the current Doctor Who series.

Illustrated with Pelikan Tusche A Black Drawing Ink with Crow Quill Pen and Brush on Canson 9x12 Smooth Bristol Board.

Available for purchase on E-Bay. Click on the image above to place your bid today!!

Jim Moriarty

I love the series Sherlock! Despite what I have said countless times in the past about my dislike towards modernizing Sherlock Holmes both Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss won me over!! They created a thoroughly enjoyable series that is fast-paced while still retaining everything I love about the original Sherlock Holmes stories.

And the cast is great. Benedict Cumberbatch IS Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman is an excellent Watson. I've also enjoyed show co-creator Mark Gatiss as Mycroft Holmes. Not quite as corpulent as the stories describe him. But he works well in the role.

However, they did not win me over with their re-imagining of Professor James Moriarty.

Okay, not entirely true. I liked their concept of Moriarty until the very last episode. I enjoyed how they had him lurking in the shadows only communicating through either instant messages or using his innocent victims as his unwilling mouthpieces to convey his cryptic messages to Sherlock Holmes before they met a terrible end.

I actually found that to be very frightening and a really good concept...

...that is until they introduced Moriarty in the flesh.

I haven't seen enough of Andrew Scott to make a fair judgment on his acting skills. So, my critique remains solely on the portrayal of Moriarty rather than the actor playing him.

I just do not like the irritatingly cocky/arrogant way they represent "Jim" Moriarty in this production. From a writers perspective, I think I understand what they're trying to do.

They want you to hate Moriarty (mission accomplished) and therefore they are making the character ooze with arrogance as he delivers his lines in this jokey/taunting manner blending in lines from The Final Problem with a modern twist to them.

That way you've been hooked because now you will tune in when the series returns hoping to see Sherlock Holmes lay the smackdown on Jim Moriarty's punk ass.

It just doesn't work for me. And instead of being scared of Moriarty, I just find myself annoyed by him. And the frightening lines like "That's what people do" after Sherlock says "People died" and "I will burn the heart out of you" really lost their punch.

I still think they are great lines though :-)

For me, the best portrayals of The Napoleon of Crime is when it's subtle and subdued. Eric Porter from the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series is still my favorite portrayal of Professor Moriarty:

I will be eagerly waiting for the return of Sherlock. But sadly, I found the introduction of Jim Moriarty to be a bit of a let-down to what has been a really fantastic new series. And a fantastic twist on Sherlock Holmes. I'm not going to completely write off a series just because I found only tiny element of it to be less than satisfying.

Sherlock

For those who know me know I am a Sherlock Holmes purist. And I have mentioned in the past how I am not crazy about the Basil Rathbone series that placed Holmes and Watson in the 1940's or liking anything that takes the character out of the Gaslight Era. So, with a brand new series being produced by BBC Wales which plonks Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson right down in current day London (or Cardiff where it's filmed), you're probably thinking I'm going to proceed to rip this new series to shred complaining about the way they've modernized Sherlock Holmes.

Well, I'm not.

The new series Sherlock produced by Doctor Who show runner Steven Moffat and Doctor Who/League of Gentlemen writer Mark Gatiss which is currently being shown on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery! is great!!

I wasn't able to catch the first episode, but my fiancee Sydney and I were able to catch the second episode. And we really enjoyed it!! Both Mofatt and Gatiss have done a really great job not only modernizing Sherlock Holmes but also giving the episode we watched a fast pace while still maintaining a level of mystery.

Something that was lacking in the Robert Downey Jr./Guy Ritchie film. Imagine that!! Here I am a Sherlock Holmes snob who loves a contemporary Holmes while disliking a period piece. It's like I've stepped into a parallel reality. Ha ha!!

That's the other thing. Benedict Cumberbatch is an upgrade at Holmes. Not on a Jeremy Brett level, mind you. But apart from his Tom Baker hairstyle, I find him to actually be very good as Holmes.

I wasn't completely convinced of his performance when I first started watching. But by the end of it, I found myself really taken by his performance. And his voice which I was wracking my brain throughout the entire episode trying to think what he sounds like.

"Alan Rickman!" Sydney suddenly said as we were watching. My eyes brightened and I said aloud "You're right!" as I listened to his voice again and he did indeed sound like one of my favorite actors out there right now.

That was one of the things I always liked about Jeremy Brett and even Robert Stephen's performances as Holmes. They had interesting voices that weren't like how most people portray Holmes. And I'm finding that's what I like about Benedict Cumberbatch's performance. The Alan Rickman sounding voice really fits this version of Holmes.

And that's what I like about the Holmes Moffat and Gatiss are presenting over what Guy Ritchie is. They found the right actor instead of a big name actor to fill the role.

As I said in the past, this is in no way a knock against Robert Downey Jr. as an actor. I like him a lot. He's brilliant and a talented actor. He's just NOT Holmes for me.

If he's Holmes for you, that's fine. Don't ever let my opinion jade your enjoyment of that film. Save your angry responses because I'm not knocking anyone for having their own opinion.

And I'm getting the distinct impression since Steven Moffat is the producer of Sherlock, this could possibly mean he's grooming Benedict Cumberbatch to be the next Doctor on Mr. Moffat's other show Doctor Who when Matt Smith decides to hand over his TARDIS key and hang up his bow tie.

There has been a history in the past of the current producer hiring on an actor they worked with in a current series. In the 1980's then-producer John Nathan Turner hired Peter Davison. Someone he worked with on All Creatures Great and Small. And in the current series, former show runner Russell T. Davies hired both Christopher Eccleston and David Tennent. He had worked with both actors on past series's of his. Eccleston with the miniseries The Second Coming and Tennant on Casanova.

So, it would not surprise me in the least in the next couple of years if I happen to pick up a copy of Doctor Who Magazine and see Benedict Cumberbatch IS The Doctor! on the Doctor.

He seems to have all the right qualities to play the Doctor. Not to mention the most unique and distinctive voice I've heard with the Doctor since either Tom Baker or Sylvester McCoy!!

But since I am enjoying Matt Smith as the Doctor right now and Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock, I don't mind if something like that doesn't happen anytime soon!!

Well, with all that said I give a big thumbs up to Sherlock!! If you have not caught the series just yet I highly recommend you check it out!

Doctor Who news!!

My love for the classic science-fiction show Doctor Who has been well documented (mostly by me) and trust me it takes a lot to pull me away from the television on a Friday night to miss an episode.

Yes, I am that sadly rabid of a fan.

But for all of you who are fans of the show like myself have probably heard the news that series producer Russell T. Davies is stepping down from his role as producer and handing the reigns over to Steven Moffat.

Which has been done many times in the show's history with the moves from Barry Letts to Philip Hinchcliffe to Graham Williams to John Nathan Turner.

I suppose the transition from John Nathan Turner to Philip Segal's 1996 Anglo/American production of Doctor Who with Paul McGann can fit somewhere in there too. With that you had a good actor as the Doctor, good set design for the TARDIS and good special effects for the time.

But a really lousy script.

Nevertheless, each producer has brought something new to the table. Good or bad. And what Russell T. Davies did in his time is brought Doctor Who back and made it a hit. Without having it so mired in the past that the show is stale and not having it so far removed from what the show was about that it alienates older fans.

That made him perfect to bring the show back. However, many of the stories he wrote were far from that. But he is such an oddity when it comes to his writing. He can write some scripts that are absolute clunkers and then he would make a complete about face and write an episode that would leave me all wide-eyed and excited!!

Probably one of the best "season finale" writers in my humble opinion.

And now he's leaving the series in the very capable hands of Steven Moffat. Steven is no stranger to the world of Doctor Who. He wrote the very funny (and well written) Children in Need sketch in 1999 The Curse of Fatal Death starring Rowan Atkinson (along with Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and Joanna Lumley) as the Doctor. And he has written some of my favorite Doctor Who episodes in the current series The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances and The Girl in the Fireplace.

And lastly but not leastly Time Crash which was the first multi-Doctor story on television since The Two Doctors with Colin Baker and Patrick Troughton.

So, I will be very eager to see where he takes Doctor Who when the show returns for a full series in 2010.