Rent Elementary: Series 1 (2012)

....my dear Watson - Elementary: Series 1 review by JD

Basil Rathbone would have raised an eyebrow at this novel approach to Conan Doyle's character. The emphasis on Holmes's drug addiction seems to be a distinctly American fondness. Having a drug addiction "sober companion" is a crude method of making Dr Watson a live-in but less approachable female. It twists the emphasis to narcotic recovery so much that you wonder how he manages to concentrate. Having a female Dr Watson raises the constant possibility of romance. It was too contrived, as was the plot which frequently makes ludicrous suggestions to emphasize Holmes's deductive powers e.g. I thought you were a surgeon because you use hand cream...

Having said that the acting is good and most of the plot races along at great speed. There are so many points of observation that after an episode or two it is difficult not to see the world in a new light. The observations are generally believable and more frequent than the book which is ponderous by comparison. I much prefer the Cumberbatch/Freeman version although this one is more thought provoking.