Sherlock Holmes is Back!

About every five years or so, I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories again. And when I think of the actors who have portrayed him best, Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett are tied for that honor in my mind. These actors showed us the immortal Holmes as true to Conan Doyle's master of deduction as closely as possible.

Right now, I'm happy to say, there is a new Holmes on NPT. Made in Britain of course, the title of the series is Sherlock! The hero is a young Holmes in modern-day London. He calls himself a consulting detective and lives at 221B Baker Street. His comrade is Dr. Watson, who is just back from Afghanistan. The series is shot in London so the milieu is stunning with its huge old buildings and red buses. The friends have strange murder cases to solve; Lestrade (oh, he is there too) is frank to admit that he depends on Sherlock for help with especially grotesue and puzzling crimes. We've even met Holmes's brother Mycroft, who of course, is as brilliant as Sherlock. The actor who plays the detective, Benedict Cumberbatch, LOOKS LIKE a Sherlock Holmes, with an intelligent, sensitive face, high forehead, upward-slanting eyes, and the rather pasty complexion of a man who spends a lot of time with his books and chemistry experiments. Nevertheless, he is still the athletic Holmes of the stories.

Go to the BBC Sherlock web site for more information. Warning: there have only been three episodes made so far, and the third and last will be this Sunday evening on NPT.