Sherlock Season 1 - DVD

Content: The idea is as simple as it is ingenious: what if Sherlock Holmes didn't go on a crime spree in the late 19th. and early 20th century, but in the present day, in the age of cell phones, Google, and C.S.I. to hunt down criminals? Steve Moffat, who has already transported a classic tale into the modern age with Jekyll and is enjoying great success with the remake of the cult series Doctor Who, has worked with Mark Gatiss to turn this interesting premise into a magnificent reimagining of the familiar material.

Probably the most difficult task was to stand out from the countless interpretations of the material imagined by Arthur Conan Doyles. Precisely because Guy Ritchie had only recently successfully conquered the cinemas with his Sherlock Holmes, the task was to create a completely independent, original version of the legendary investigator from Baker Street. This undertaking, it can be said without a doubt after the first three episodes, has more than succeeded.

With Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman, Bilbo Baggins from Peter Jackson's Hobbit films, as Dr. John Watson, the makers have cast a great leading actor duo. The chemistry between the two is perfect, with both doing a very good job of filling their characters with traits from the classic original and modern set pieces. The humor, suspense, set and effects are all well worth watching and make Sherlock a special kind of TV treat. In particular, the way Sherlock's powers of deduction have been visually realized is extremely well done. The only downside: after only three 90-minute episodes, the first season is over. But the next adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are fortunately already in the making. Until then, you can enjoy the following cases:

Season 1: A CASE OF PINK

The first episode, which closely follows the Holmes novel A Study in Scarlet, tells of how Holmes and Watson meet and form an unusual two-person flat-share. And Watson immediately gets to enjoy his sometimes somewhat arrogant roommate's unique powers of deduction, as Holmes investigates a series of strange suicides that have the whole of London on tenterhooks. But Holmes is certain: this is the work of a particularly cunning killer.

Highlights of this first episode are, of course, the first encounter between Holmes and Watson, but also the very special duel Holmes faces at the end of the case. A more than successful debut, which also testifies to the great respect of the creators for the literary model.

FOLLOW-UP 2: THE BLIND BANKER

The second case begins with the mysterious murders of a journalist and a bank employee. It seems that the victims were warned before their demise by strange graffiti, leading to the suspicion that this is the work of a murderous gang. Soon Holmes, who is called in on the case by an old college friend, discovers connections between the murders that lead him to Chinatown.

The Blind Banker is clearly based more loosely on several of Doyle's stories. Even if the second episode is the weakest case of the first season, Holmes` once again very special investigation and Watson`s not quite happy ending date are real highlights, which also make this episode absolutely worth watching.

EPISON 3: THE BIG GAME

Episode 3 confronts Holmes with his most dangerous adversary: Moriarty! Whereas he was merely mentioned in the first two episodes (directly in episode 1, only indirectly at the end of episode 2), the ingenious villain makes his first real appearance here - even if his identity is only revealed at the end.

Until then, Holmes not only almost becomes the victim of a bomb attack, but also the pawn in a murderous game in which Holmes` skills are severely tested. For should he fail, it will cost the lives of five innocent people.

The third episode ends with a huge cliffhanger. It's nice that these first three episodes have been successful enough that there will definitely be a sequel - for which Martin Freeman even took a break from filming The Hobbit. (The original version will also feature Benedict Cumberbatch working on the Tolkien adaptation, lending his voice to the dragon Smaug). This is what good and exciting TV entertainment must look like. Gladly more of it!

Picture + Sound: Technically, the DVD conversion of the series is on a very good TV level. The picture is clean, the overall sharpness is at a good to very good level and the rather subtle colour scheme captures the atmosphere of the series perfectly. The audio action is primarily dominated by the dialogue and soundtrack, but some well-used sound effects and atmospheric ambient noise add a bit of movement in the surrounds. Good!

Extras: There are very interesting and good humoured audio commentaries on episodes 1 + 3 by writers and producers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat with producer Sue Vertue (ep. 1), and actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman with Mark Gatiss (ep. 3) respectively. The commentaries are informative and occasionally quite amusing, but are without subtitles, so only fans with a good command of English will enjoy this.

A good command of English is also required for the rest of the bonus material. While there are subtitles here, they are only available in English. This is a pity, because both the half-hour making of and the original, hour-long version of the pilot are absolutely worth watching.

In the case of Sherlock, the comprehensive booklet must also be rated as a further extra, because it offers a lot of interesting information and also pleasantly critical of the overall very successful German dubbed version. With German subtitles, there would have been for the bonus material undoubtedly a very good, but so it is only enough for a good!

Conclusion: Sherlock is a great crime series, the Sherlock Holmes myth perfectly and consistently shifts into the present. With great actors, an endearing take on the literary template and clever scripts, this BBC series is simply fun and offers crime entertainment at its best. The double DVD with the three episodes of the first season is technically on a good level and also has extras worth seeing, where only the missing German subtitles are negative. Overall, however, there is a deserved: absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp