Based on "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" (1913)
You have to hand it to the BBC, it takes guts to let a programme go out with Jimmy Saville as the villain, after being institutionally culpable for his continued crimes. That said, the character played by Toby Jones, Sherlock's version of canonical villain Culverton Smith, isn't especially like Saville. He simply occupies the same niche: a man who is continually able to commit grotesque crimes due to his beloved public persona. He's a showbiz charity darling, in spite of being, on the face of it, utterly revolting and sleazy. The Lying Detective wouldn't work half as well as it does without Jones's repellant characterisation of Smith, and we wouldn't believe Smith's acceptance and success if we hadn't already seen Saville manage it in reality.
As far as Sherlock episodes go, The Lying Detective sticks reasonably closely to the story that inspired it, keeping the main shape of "The Dying Detective." It changes pretty much all of the cosmetic elements, of course, and even the villain is very little like the original; the literary Culverton Smith was merely an implied murderer, not a boastful serial killer. Equally, Holmes is suffering from a disease in the short story, rather than crippling drug addiction. Still, the spirit of the story remains, albeit adapted to the ongoing Sherlock/John/Mary emotional triangle, and the denoument of the story remains essentially the same. Although in the case of The Lying Detective, the episode carries on after the story finishes in order to set up the next instalment of the ongoing series.
This is a standout episode for Cumberbatch, who absolutely sells Sherlock's descent into addiction. Admittedly, we've seen this before on the series, but this is a deeper descent, and the fact that it has all been prompted by Mary's posthumous demand that he "go to hell" to save John doesn't negate this. Whatever kind of plan Sherlock has, there is no way that someone pushes themself to this level without having genuine problems. His friendship with John is what holds Sherlock together; without that, he's one step away from becoming a true obsessive who can only moderate himself through drugs.
The direction in this episode is superb. Nick Hurran is the perfect choice for an episode that revels in confusion and hallucinatory. He has a wonderful knack for the arreting visual. Beyond Cumberbatch, the cast is uniformly excellent, with Martin Freeman, as always, beyond reproach. I'm overjoyed that we haven't seen the last of Amanda Abbington as Mary, even if she is relegated to the faintest of supporting roles. Louise Brealey and Mark Gatiss both get some excellent moments, but it's Una Stubbs who steals this episode. For an episode that is so wound up in the Sherlock-John relationship, it's Mrs Hudson who absolutely steals the show. This series would be a shadow of itself with Stubbs.
The Lying Detective is, if not a stand-out episode of Sherlock, at least a return to form. This is a fine example of the series doing what it does best: a combination of mystery, character drama and arresting visuals.
Stray throughts:
Would anyone, honestly, allow someone to drug them before imparting a confession, just so they could unload themselves without repurcussion? How does Smith find these people? What is wrong with them?
Sian Brooke puts in a wonderful performance as the faux Faith Smith, protraying her as a kind of female equivalent of John Watson, stick and all.
Also a treat to see Tom Brooke back as Bill Wiggins, however briefly.
Strangely satisfying to have a reference to H. H. Holmes, one of the earliest documented historical serial killers, and someone who was a contemporary (albeit in the USA) of the original fictional Sherlock Holmes.
You have to hand it to the BBC, it takes guts to let a programme go out with Jimmy Saville as the villain, after being institutionally culpable for his continued crimes. That said, the character played by Toby Jones, Sherlock's version of canonical villain Culverton Smith, isn't especially like Saville. He simply occupies the same niche: a man who is continually able to commit grotesque crimes due to his beloved public persona. He's a showbiz charity darling, in spite of being, on the face of it, utterly revolting and sleazy. The Lying Detective wouldn't work half as well as it does without Jones's repellant characterisation of Smith, and we wouldn't believe Smith's acceptance and success if we hadn't already seen Saville manage it in reality.
As far as Sherlock episodes go, The Lying Detective sticks reasonably closely to the story that inspired it, keeping the main shape of "The Dying Detective." It changes pretty much all of the cosmetic elements, of course, and even the villain is very little like the original; the literary Culverton Smith was merely an implied murderer, not a boastful serial killer. Equally, Holmes is suffering from a disease in the short story, rather than crippling drug addiction. Still, the spirit of the story remains, albeit adapted to the ongoing Sherlock/John/Mary emotional triangle, and the denoument of the story remains essentially the same. Although in the case of The Lying Detective, the episode carries on after the story finishes in order to set up the next instalment of the ongoing series.
This is a standout episode for Cumberbatch, who absolutely sells Sherlock's descent into addiction. Admittedly, we've seen this before on the series, but this is a deeper descent, and the fact that it has all been prompted by Mary's posthumous demand that he "go to hell" to save John doesn't negate this. Whatever kind of plan Sherlock has, there is no way that someone pushes themself to this level without having genuine problems. His friendship with John is what holds Sherlock together; without that, he's one step away from becoming a true obsessive who can only moderate himself through drugs.
The direction in this episode is superb. Nick Hurran is the perfect choice for an episode that revels in confusion and hallucinatory. He has a wonderful knack for the arreting visual. Beyond Cumberbatch, the cast is uniformly excellent, with Martin Freeman, as always, beyond reproach. I'm overjoyed that we haven't seen the last of Amanda Abbington as Mary, even if she is relegated to the faintest of supporting roles. Louise Brealey and Mark Gatiss both get some excellent moments, but it's Una Stubbs who steals this episode. For an episode that is so wound up in the Sherlock-John relationship, it's Mrs Hudson who absolutely steals the show. This series would be a shadow of itself with Stubbs.
The Lying Detective is, if not a stand-out episode of Sherlock, at least a return to form. This is a fine example of the series doing what it does best: a combination of mystery, character drama and arresting visuals.
Stray throughts:
Would anyone, honestly, allow someone to drug them before imparting a confession, just so they could unload themselves without repurcussion? How does Smith find these people? What is wrong with them?
Sian Brooke puts in a wonderful performance as the faux Faith Smith, protraying her as a kind of female equivalent of John Watson, stick and all.
Also a treat to see Tom Brooke back as Bill Wiggins, however briefly.
Strangely satisfying to have a reference to H. H. Holmes, one of the earliest documented historical serial killers, and someone who was a contemporary (albeit in the USA) of the original fictional Sherlock Holmes.
I remember some people thinking John apparently flirting with another woman and Sherlock reacting calmly to his confession to be out of character for both men. Sherlock, who respected Mary, even when she turned out to have had a double life, should have been taken aback and disgusted by John cheating. Plus, we know the backstory of John as when they're trying to make this big surprise. Notwithstanding that the flirting was a ruse by the sister, John has zero, absolutely zero motivation to have cheated on his wife because there's zero explanation why he did it or why he doesn't like his home life enough to want to do it. John might as well have not HAD a family before this, that's actually believable.
ReplyDeleteWhen you write a cheating subplot, you should be writing WHY you do it. If the affair seems to come across a non-entity in the entire product, there's nothing to cheat on from the viewer's perspective.
" ...it takes guts to let a programme go out with Jimmy Saville as the villain, after being institutionally culpable for his continued crimes"
ReplyDeleteIn 2023, we had Steve Coogan playing Savile in a BBC drama.
I wonder if some American reviwers are aware that Culverton is so blatantly modeled on Jimmy Savile? Viewers outside of the UK might not be aware of Savile; the chracter here is a definite case of art imitating life.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Dan Davies' in his book on Savile, the man's final month was in ill health and suffering from pneumonia. During a cruise on the MS Queen Elizabeth for its maiden voyage around Britain in September 2011, Savile had been taken ill and was forced to leave the ship in Liverpool. He was admitted to hospital where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and four of his major organs were failing. In the week before he died, Savile checked himself out of hospital and returned home where he gave his final interview to Alison Bellamy on October 25 and Simon Hulme took the final picture of him. Frail and poorly, Savile acknowledged he was in ill health and suffering from pneumonia, stating, "It was a foreign virus. 'I've got a bounce back-ability, but this time I don't seem to be bouncing back." Mick Starkey described him as "very tired...I’m sure he knew the end was near.’ Alan Franey phoned Savile and dsecribed him as ‘very tired and short of breath’. He described Savile as being mentally alert but resigned to his fate. ‘I’m coming to the end of the tunnel,’ he’d said. On October 28, Savile cancelled the Friday Morning Club meeting stating he was unwell and confined to bed. Later that evening, Alistair Hall phoned him to suggest he should return to hospital. Savile replied, "If I’m no better tomorrow I will go." The next morning, October 29, Savile was found dead, reportedly with his fingers crossed. He was two days shy of his 85th birthday. The cause of death was given as cardiac arrest, heart failure, ischaemic disease and renal failure.
ReplyDeleteWhile Savile died without facing any justice for his wicked crimes, there is one shred of hope. Savile firmly believed in Catholic faith and himself, on the topic of sin, in a one-line postscript to his autobiography, added, "I hope he really does take it easy on sinners". He gave indirect hints in his interviews that he would "be going downstairs" rather "than up".
ReplyDeleteSo in seems he had a twisted sense of fear that he was going straight to hell was genuine - which might explain why, when his body was found, the fingers were crossed.
There’s a chance he died in torment. We can but hope.