Liked it a lot; I don't think I've ever laughed in delight so much at a Holmes film/TV show since Without a Clue, which I love. I think how you feel about that film will predict whether you like this episode. For me one of the best things about Billy Wilder's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is the opening ten…

Thanks! On reading my original post through again I'm kind of amazed at myself. A shame I can't apply this sort of thinking to more mundane things in my life, like where I left the car keys or why, exactly, I came down to the garage.

Thanks! On reading my original post through again I'm kind of amazed at myself. A shame I can't apply this sort of thinking to more mundane things in my life, like where I left the car keys or why, exactly, I came down to the garage.

It didn't cover series 1 when it began airing on BBC America early in 2013, and I suspect the best we can hope for with series 2 is a single overall TV review looking at the entire run, not an episode by episode TV club series. Which would still be better than nothing, but the series is so rich and involving that it…

A good place to mention Ripper Street again, as a period show that does it right in terms of introducing real historical figures naturally and organically (and without the clumsy exposition you often get, of the 'I say, look who's just turned up, it's Sir Arthur Sullivan, who writes those clever operettas with Mr.…

Yes, Giamatti was a wonderful addition to the show as Harold, and his scenes were about the only ones that sparkled. I loved the way he was set up as a bit of a loser, and then turned out to be very clear-eyed and canny about what was going on with Lord Allsopp and his daughter Madeleine. The growing relationship…

Isobel and the Dowager Countess, and their relationship - hateship is a good word for it - are one of the few genuinely interesting and engaging things about the show now, largely because Penelope Wilton and Maggie Smith are fine actresses who manage to sell the lines, and find some real emotion there. Wilton, in…

Yes, the growing friendship between Molelsey and the new lady's maid, and Molesley becoming something more than just a punching bag, was one of the welcome surprises of series 4.

And the way Mary went from 'He's not on our side'/giving him the cold shoulder to 'Why didn't you tell me you were stinking rich'/dancing with him made me groan. So you're really just a gold-digger at heart, Mary? Sheesh.

Holy cats, I'd completely forgotten I wrote this - well, it has been two years - and I'm amazed at how close I was; didn't get the blue air bag/bouncy castle thing or the stiff that looked like Sherlock, but otherwise I'm not far off. Hey, maybe years of reading murder mysteries is finally paying off!

Holy cats, I'd completely forgotten I wrote this - well, it has been two years - and I'm amazed at how close I was; didn't get the blue air bag/bouncy castle thing or the stiff that looked like Sherlock, but otherwise I'm not far off. Hey, maybe years of reading murder mysteries is finally paying off!

Yes, 'The Lost Special' and 'The Man With the Watches' are often considered part of the Sherlockian apocrypha, in that in both stories an unnamed but well-known amateur detective of the time ventures a solution to the mystery, phrased in a way that's almost identical with Sherlock Holmes's voice, and in both cases is…

I love the little canonical references Moffat and Gatiss throw in. From memory, yesterday's included:

I got a number of Criterion DVDs for Christmas, purchased direct from Criterion when they had a surprise half-price sale back in October. A couple of days ago I went to watch Tunes of Glory, and when I took the plastic wrap off the shell case and opened it up there was no disc inside. I sent an e-mail to the orders…

Oh yes, I was watching it and mentally editing lots of lovely little canonical nods and character moments out of it, so that PBS can fit in all the sponsor bits and still only use up an hour and a half (sighs, remembers those lovely Vincent Price filler bits on Mystery back in the day, feels really old).

HBO and GoT is a great example. The thing that gets me is that it isn't rocket science; almost anyone who takes a minute to think about it can look at most present day models of TV show presentation, regardless of who manufactures it, and see what's wrong with how they're distributing it. Heck, my mother - who's 72,…

No spoilers, but a nice indication that someone is at least aware of the existence of Sherlock slash fiction, and what one of the most popular pairings is (allegedly).

I think it depends on funding. PBS - via WGBH Boston - is a co-producer of Sherlock (along with Hartswood Films and the BBC), so gets first dibs on broadcasting it in the States.

I don't work in entertainment, but while I'm sure PBS is fully aware of how soon torrents go up, it's still trying to grapple with the changed entertainment landscape. They had a model that worked fine, whereby they could air British shows on Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! months - even years - after they'd aired in…

Avoiding spoilers for the third series of Sherlock - if you're not in the UK - is going to be difficult, since PBS isn't airing the series for almost three weeks. You'd have thought that the hype surrounding the show - especially the cliffhanger from 'The Reichenbach Fall' - might have persuaded them to make more of…