This was very good and very watchable television. Moving it into the modern day didn't feel strained or forced. The plot was intelligent and it was well written with believable dialogue, something that's needed when you are talking about a super genius such as Sherlock Holmes.
Speaking of Holmes. Benedict Cumberbatch (or whatever) was a very well acted and interesting Holmes, despite a silly name. He worked well, showed the good mix of warmth and frigidness that is Sherlock Holmes. Touched upon his sexuality in a subtle way (well not VERY subtle). He could be a very capable Sherlock, an eccentric man, who for a genius, can be an absolute idiot at times.
Martin Freeman was excellent, as I think he always is, as Watson. Being a device for exposition, the new man on the block, was quickly done and over with, and whilst his moving in with Holmes was reasonably close to lightspeed, he did his job with a superb bit at the end. You can see the relationship between the two developing and his background in Afghanistan is intriguing. I'm more interested in Watson than Holmes, and that's hard to do, but perhaps is the right thing to do. Who can relate to Holmes?
They went down the
route at the end, which is a bit annoying, but not exactly avoidable. The other villain of the episode was well thought out and seemed to be a tolerable rival to Holmes. I'm glad we didn't get an answer at the end either. The more overseeing villain was good and I'm wondering where it will go, as he doesn't exactly seem to be a bad person. Not a typical one anyway.
This did feel a bit like Doctor Who. Obviously with the same writers as Doctor Who and a similar main character, that cannot be helped. The Doctor and Sherlock Holmes are INCREDIBLY similar characters. Not a lot can be done, but this show was a lot more grounded (in some ways), but suspension of reality is needed. I could see Cumberbatch as the Doctor to be honest. Would he be better than matt Smith? Don't care.
9/10 for the episode. Looking forward to the rest of it. Not sure if I prefer this to the recent movie, but the movie has Robert Downey Jr, who can do no wrong. Jude Law must be replaced with Martin Freeman.