The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate 2

18th March 201212:00 GMT

Introduction

• Since 1887 – 125 years and going strong• Conan Doyle is ‘the father of crime fiction’• Sherlock Holmes is the most recognised

fictional character of several generations• There has never been a better time to be a fan

BBC, Warner Brothers, CBS, etc

The Holmes Audience is Global………

• The first debate had fans from 23 countries • Over 10 million page impressions• The 2nd Great Debate is live from London

– Dozens of Sherlock Holmes experts in person– More experts and fans live from around the world

Hosted by MX Publishing, the world’s #1 Sherlock Holmes publishers

The Cause…..

Save Undershawwww.saveundershaw.com

The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate 2 has a goal to help SaveUndershaw reach 10,000 fans on Facebook. Do your bit and 'like' their page. This is the most important piece of Sherlock Holmes heritage in the world – let’s preserve it for future generations.

Team 1 – BBC Sherlock

Team Captain – The Baker Street Babes (Kristina and Ardy) [Podcast]

Team MembersSherlockology (Jules and Emma) [fan site]

Roger Johnson [Sherlock Holmes Society of London]

Charlotte Walters [author, Barefoot on Baker Street]

Dan Andriacco [author, No Police Like Holmes, Holmes Sweet Holmes, Baker Street Beat]

Kate Workman [author, Rendezvous at The Populaire, I Will find The Answer]

Tracy Revels [author, Shadowfall, Shadowblood]

Team 2 – Warner Brothers

Team Captain – I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere (Burt Wolder) [Podcast]

Team MembersGerry O’Hara (film director/author, Sherlock Holmes and The Affair in Transylvania)

Better Holmes and Gardens (Jamie Mahoney) (blog)

Kieran McMullen (author, Watson’s Afghan Adventure, Sherlock Holmes and the Irish Rebels)

Gerry Kelly (author, The Outstanding Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes)Tim Symonds (author, Sherlock Holmes and The Dead Boer at Scotney Castle)

Matthew Elliott (Riff Trax, author Sherlock Holmes On The Air)

Fred Thursfield (author, Sherlock Holmes and The Discarded Cigarette)

Team 3 – The Traditionalists

Team Captain - Nick Briggs Big Finish, 'Voice of The Daleks'.

Team MembersMartin Montague (Big Finish, Writer/Producer/Presenter.)

David Ruffle (author, Sherlock Holmes and The Lyme Regis Horror, Lyme Regis Legacy, Sherlock Holmes - Tales From The Strangers Room)

Phil Growick (author, The Secret Journal of Dr Watson)

Vida Starcevic (Historian)

Paul R Spring (Historian, author Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle and Devon)

Alistair Duncan (Historian, author, Eliminate The Impossible, Close To Holmes, The Norwood Author, An Entirely New Country)

Marino Alvarez (Historian, author A Professor Reflects on Sherlock Holmes)

The Fans

Morgan Britt       USAYui Manabe       JapanHelene Colin       FranceWie Ping Young   SingaporeMike Hogan         ThailandClaire Ellull         MaltaChloe Smith         UKCourtney Brown     OhioPauline Ricablanca     CanadaCarlina de la Cova       USA

The Debate Format

Part 1 – BBC Sherlock vs Warner Bros Sherlock‘Which adaptation is contributing more to the Sherlock Holmes legacy?’2 x 10 minute presentations40 minutes open debatePre-Debate Fan Voting

Part 2 – The Future‘The challenges facing all the adaptations in 2012’Short introduction from ‘The Traditionalists’Open debate until we run out of time…….

BBC vs WB – the final confrontation

*A big thank you to all the fans that entered the poster competition

Team 1 - Summary

• The 21st Century’s Sherlock Holmes• Sherlock Series 2

– A Scandal In Belgravia– The Hounds of Baskerville– The Reichenbach Fall

• Sherlock: Love, Fear, & Death• BBC Sherlock’s Popularity• #BELIEVEINSHERLOCK• Series 3

BBC Sherlock: The 21st Century’s Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock is the ultimate proof that as long as you treat classic characters with complete and total respect, it doesn’t matter where you place them in time. They will endure. So really, what better way to contribute to Holmes in the 21st century than an adaptation set in the present day that thus focuses on the characters, rather than the era in which it is set?

What BBC Sherlock does is prove Sherlock Holmes is a character that translates to an audience no matter what time period he is presented in. Anyone who watched BBC

Sherlock knows, even though it's set in 21st century London, it's still Sherlock Holmes. The man who sees things no one else can. It's the stories ACD wrote over a hundred years ago that people are enjoying. It doesn't matter where it's set.

Sherlock Series 2How The Bee Gees Saved London

Ah! Ah!

Ah! Ah!

The Woman

The Hound

The Fall

A Scandal In Belgravia

"He disappeared into his bedroom, and returned in a few minutes in the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist clergyman. … It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to carry with every fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime."

- A Scandal In Bohemia

For the first time we see the clients coming to Baker Street, seeking the aid of Sherlock Holmes. We also get "The Geek Interpreter" and "The Speckled Blonde," which are obvious nods to The Greek Interpreter and The Speckled Band.

The Woman

"It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. ... And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable memory. "

- A Scandal In Bohemia

"To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex."

- A Scandal In Bohemia

"And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a woman's wit."

Regardless of the controversy over the episode's ending, Irene plays both Holmeses for fools and nearly brings down the British Government. Sherlock's arrogance ultimately

leads to his own demise.

The Woman

The Hounds of Baskerville

The Great Grimpen Mine Field: In HOUN, the place of danger is the Grimpen Mire. The villain tries to flee across the moor and ends up sinking and dying there—at least, that’s what’s implied.

"If you value your lives, keep away from the moor" is a reference to a note Holmes and Watson get in HOUN. It reads "As you value your life or your reason, keep away from the moor."

The Hounds of Baskerville

"It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your debt." - The Hound of the Baskervilles

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

- Probably Holmes’ most famous Canon quote. It appears in a couple of stories,

though not always in the exact same wording.

"…we had no means of foreseeing the terrible and paralyzing spectacle which the beast presented, nor could we predict the fog which enabled him to burst upon us at such short notice."

- The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hounds of Baskerville

Further references can be found in Ardy’s phenomenal Annotated "The Hounds of Baskerville" found [HERE]

The Devil’s Foot is all about a poisonous plant extract that "stimulates those brain centres which control the emotion of fear", exactly like the drug that H.O.U.N.D. created in The Hounds of Baskerville.

The Reichenbach Fall

"I was sitting in my room thinking the matter over when the door opened and Professor Moriarty stood before me."

"If you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me, rest assured I shall do as much to you."

- The Final Problem

"He is the organiser of half that is evil and nearly all that goes undetected in this great city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them."

- The Final Problem

The Reichenbach Fall

While we do get the physical fall associated with The Final Problem (despite the fact Holmes didn’t actually go over), the “fall” in Sherlock’s case is the fall of his reputation, destroying his credibility and straining his relationships.

As in the canon, Moriarty dies while Holmes survives. Instead of a physical struggle to the death, however, this time it was a mental one.

The Reichenbach Fall

"…him whom I shall ever regard as the best and wisest man I have ever known."

- The Final Problem

"Believe me to be, my dear fellow, very sincerely yours…"

- The Final Problem

Sherlock: Love, Fear, & Death

Series 2 sees Sherlock coming to terms with the emotional repercussions of his actions. Moriarty threatened to “burn the heart out of” Sherlock. He ends up doing exactly that in FALL, but not before Sherlock learns that he has a heart to burn.

BBC Sherlock’s Popularity

• Viewing Figures: UK (iPlayer + repeat viewings NOT included)– A Scandal in Belgravia: 8.8 million– The Hounds of Baskerville: 8.2 million– The Reichenbach Fall: 7.9 million

Series 2 is currently airing worldwide and will continue to do so for the next year.

• Fan Community– Sherlockbbc Community on livejournal: 8503 members (from 6,606)– Sherlock category on fanfiction.net: 11,998 stories (from 5,714)– Sherlock Facebook Pages: 347,656 collective members (from 247,422)– Sherlock fans on tumblr: Estimated between 8,000 and 13,000– Sherlockology web traffic: Over 1 million website hits– Baker Street Babes podOmatic web traffic: Over 128,000 hits

iPlayer figures won’t be ready for a few more months. Projected figures will be around the 10 million mark. A Scandal In Belgravia broke iPlayer records after it first aired, and The Reichenbach Fall has the RECORD for most repeat viewings on iPlayer.

BBC Sherlock’s Popularity: The Canon

"The first series of Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s modern-day reworking, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the great detective, aired in 2010. That year, sales of Sherlock Holmes books increased by 53 per cent – from around 57,000 copies to 88,000 – compared with 2009. 2011 saw a further increase as fans looked ahead to the second series…" – Radio Times [x]

"This increased interest in Holmes and Watson has led to more people discovering the detective's origins it seems, with sales of Arthur Conan Doyle original Sherlock novels written at the turn of the 20th century doubling. Melanie Harris of Waterstone, said: 'The BBC's stunning adaptation has succeeded in making Holmes relevant to a new generation of readers.'"

- Metro [x]

#BELIEVEINSHERLOCK

- Original #BELIEVEINSHERLOCK post by earlfoolish

The Believe In Sherlock movement has spread world wide, popping up in schools, places of work, and along the streets of cities and

towns. The campaign has gone completely viral and has been reported on numerous blogging sites and now even The Radio

Times. Fans are finding one another through the movement as well, going to tumblr to try and find original posters of the fliers and

artwork. It’s bringing the Sherlock community together, promoting the show, and including the fans into the universe of BBC Sherlock.

And it’s all fan made.

"So… I guess you all have heard/read/seen the news. It’s been pretty hard to miss it - the death of Sherlock Holmes. I’m gutted but I’m doing my best to keep it together. I don’t know about you guys, but I refuse to believe it. That he was a fraud. He just can’t have been, can’t have! I saw him at a crime scene once, I had followed the sound of sirens in hope it’d be one of his cases, and there is NO WAY he was a fake. You can’t make that sort of shit up, he was too good! He was an inspiration for all of us to be more observant in our every day lives, and I won’t accept the so called truth about Sherlock that is all over the media. I know you feel like I do, and now it’s our turn to show that we haven’t lost faith in him. Sherlock might be gone, but I won’t sit silent!"

London

New York CityUSA

MelbourneAustralia

Hong Kong

Malta

See you for Series 3…

"My dear Watson," said the well-remembered voice, "I owe you a thousand apologies. I had no idea that you would be so affected."

- The Empty House

Many thanks to The Baker Street Babes (Kristina, Ardy, Maria, Kafers), Sherlockology (Emma, Jules, & David), Dan Andriacco, Charlotte Walters, Roger Johnson, Tracy Revels, and Kate Workman for their amazing help and arguments.

- Sherlock screen caps from http://sc.aithine.org/sherlock

The Warner Series: Extraordinary, Global Contributions to Sherlock Holmes

• Films designed for a 21st century, global audience• Collectively grossed more than $1 billion USD• “Holmes-o-Vision” shows Holmes’ thought processes as flashes of vision and

insight – unique creative accomplishment• Victorian London is a major character in the Canon and the films• Jude Law brings extraordinary depth to Watson, the friendship and the films• Made with reverent attention to the Canon• The connection among movies, awareness & popularity is well documented• Introduced Holmes to the largest global audience: more than 100 million

people worldwide have seen these films

Holmes-o-Vision: That’s Entertainment!

Worthy adversaries – Holmes’ powers shown…

As they did in "Sherlock Holmes," Rousselot and Guy Ritchie utilized a high-speed digital camera called the Phantom, which enabled the director to change the pace of the action in varying ways. Ritchie used the Phantom to create what was dubbed "Holmes-o-vision," revealing Holmes' split-second mental calculations of what are about to be physical altercations.

Nevertheless, Ritchie clarifies, "I never want to repeat myself, so there's a variation to the Holmes-o-vision in this film. This time things don't necessarily play out exactly as Holmes envisions them, so he has to adjust his thinking.”

The director adds that they put a twist on the technique in the climactic confrontation between the film's central protagonist and antagonist, mirroring Holmes' strategy with Moriarty's counterstrategy.

Ritchie comments, "It gave us the perfect opportunity to convey that both Holmes and Moriarty are operating on the same intellectual plane. But he's still a very physical Sherlock Holmes."

“Canonicity”

Informed by the fabric of Conan Doyle…

Canonicity

People we know well, in a re-imagined 19th century London….

Masterful

Master of Disguise

Rebooting the Characters

Each generation rediscovers Holmes and Watson, and makes them their own…

Ultimate Moriarty

Watson Supreme

The Game of Shadows

A game of chess, chance and destiny – tarot, chess board, the black and white squares of the dance floor …

For more than 100 years, films have boosted awareness and discussion of Sherlock Holmes

Death ofConan Doyle

‘39Hound

Rathbone1942-1946

HammerHound (‘59)

7% Solution

Jeremy Brett1984 - 1994

The Warner Series: Extraordinary, Global Contributions to Sherlock Holmes

• Films designed for a 21st century, global audience• Collectively grossed more than $1 billion USD• “Holmes-o-Vision” shows Holmes’ thought processes as flashes of vision and

insight – unique creative accomplishment• Victorian London is a major character in the Canon and the films• Jude Law brings extraordinary depth to Watson, the friendship and the films• Made with reverent attention to the Canon• The connection among movies, awareness & popularity is well documented• Introduced Holmes to the largest global audience: more than 100 million

people worldwide have seen these films

Discussion

Which adaptation is contributing most to the Sherlock Holmes Legacy?

Pre-Debate Voting

GSHD2 FacebookWarner Bros Sherlock 40BBC Sherlock 820

Radio TimesCBS Sherlock 30Warner Bros Sherlock 80BBC Sherlock 2,170

*End of day 17th March

The Future – More Holmes

And then there were three (actually, 4, 5, 6,……..)

But what challenges face the adaptations in 2012?

BBC Sherlock

• A bar set very, very high– Great response to series 1 and 2– Tough challenge to handle the ‘Empty House’

• Are we worried? – Not with Gatiss and Moffat at the helm“Stephen and Mark have provided bewilderingly complex adaptations, because,arguably, our world is now far more bewilderingly complex than the world that Holmes originally inhabited” Paul Spiring

– The downside is we will have to wait for quality………

Warner Brothers Sherlock

• Marketing of ‘Bigger Better Funnier’ for Game of Shadows unfortunate

– what’s next ‘Even Bigger

Better and Funnier…….’ ?

Warner Brothers Sherlock

• Game of Shadows played two new ‘Aces’ – Mycroft and Moriarty – can’t do that again

• With limited cards left in the deck, what hand will Guy Ritchie play in the next film?

The Challenges For CBS

• History shows us that at any one point, only one Holmes dominates in one medium

• RDJ has the big screen sewn up, Cumberbatch the small screen

“The biggest challenge for anyone wanting to adapt Holmes for the screenright now is patience. You are not going to unseat RDJ in the cinema orCumberbatch in our homes (excuse the pun). Until one of these hangs up thedeerstalker there simply isn’t, in my opinion, a vacancy.” Alistair Duncan

Displacement = Complexity

“Displacing Holmes contextually, sort of robs him of his original‘remarkable-ness’, if you like. Which is why, I guess, Stephen and Mark have really had to crank up the ‘odd-ball’ nature of Sherlock in their brilliant series.” Vida Starcevic

Guy Ritchie minimises displacement and Victorian England endures. BBC Sherlock pull it off through meticulousness. CBS will have a tough time doing it in their timescales….

The ‘other’ Challenge for CBS

US Legacy – to say that previous US attempts at Holmes were bad, is beingvery generous…… CBS faces being condemned before the crime is commited

Big Finish Case Study

First, a confession……….

“I’m not an expert. I’m an actor, a writer and a producer who’s had a passion for Holmes since I was a child... but a passion that came about because of Basil Rathbone... Peter Cushing... Christopher Plummer... Robert Stephens and yes, even Stewart Granger!”

Going Back To The Canon

In the case of the first releases of our second series - my dramatizations of The Final Problem and The Empty House hardly qualify as adaptations at all. They are very nearly just the original text with the ‘said he’s’ removed. The main adapting involved breaking the text up into new paragraphs, to emphasize changes of thought for the actors, and audio stage directions which gave hints at the emotional content – especially of Watson’s decision finally to break the silence and speak out about Moriarty.

Cutting, without cutting

Hound of the Baskervilles needed more work, but only because it was over 60,000 words long and we knew our script had to be 20-odd thousand words to happily fit onto two CDs of drama. As much as we possibly could, we left Conan Doyle untouched.

I found that when you go back to the original texts, you think, why have people ever felt the need to mess about with this? Probably because Watson’s narration is removed for the sake of dramatic variety... but on audio, your audience welcomes narration and you can keep Watson’s narration if not entirely, then almost entirely in tact!

Discussion

What challenges face the adaptations in 2012?

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