I have seen most of the film and television adaptations of Sherlock Holmes: Rathbone, Brett, Eille Norwood, Langella, Plummer, Heston, Ronald Howard, Lee, Cushing--on and on. I have enjoyed and recommend the radio shows from the early 1930's onwards, beginning with a brief recording of stage star William Gillette. There's a lot of good fun out there.

This BBC series gives us the twist of updating Holmes to the present day. And after the shock of seeing him expertly using a smartphone, we realize it's okay. As the producers said in their commentary track, of all the interpretations out there, they most enjoyed Rathbone's and Bruce's depiction of fighting Nazis. Why shouldn't Holmes combat terrorists and drug pushers now? In short, it works. And most importantly: it's fun. Gone are the painfully accurate depictions of Victorian days--those are great but, after all, a good story outlasts current mores. There are so many fresh ideas here that almost every minute is a pleasure. Highly recommended.

The production is really stunning, and the directing and editing are absolutely brilliant. Mr Camberbatch is a great young actor, with honest instincts; and I believe I like what Mr Freeman and the writers have done with Watson better than anywhere else in the pantheon. When mixed together, these two are dynamite--as it should be. For future productions I urge the writers to avoid too many plot devices to fill in their time--like their Golem, for instance--but I do appreciate no reference to cocaine.

Finally, it is exciting to think what people will be watching fifty or a hundred years from now. What will Holmes be investigating? Interplanetary crime? Will Lestrade be pulling in to the Baker Street space station to whisk him away to a moon of Mars? The point is, of course, why not?