In the 2002 UK comedy drama Cruise of the Gods, Steve Coogan plays a British actor who has sold out his career and former fellow actors for a US series called ‘Sherlock Holmes in Miami’. The title says it all, but little did they know that ten years on, life would imitate art in Elementary (SVT4, Mon 21:00), a new series starring Johnny Lee Miller as the British sleuth stateside.
In New York seeking rehab, his handler is Joan (Lucy Liu), Dr Joan Watson to be exact, and so the fun and games begin. So far it’s been popular, garnering 73 on Metacritic, mainly thanks to Miller’s charm, although the critics tend to agree that it’s not as good as the British version, Sherlock.
“There’s enough room left in the genre for another modern pairing, and Mr Miller and Ms Liu bring something memorably new to each character,” praised the Wall Street Journal. “Along the way, Elementary should prove rather conclusively that it’s a solid cousin to Sherlock and will give fans of the character more chances to see him solve crimes,” chimed The Hollywood Reporter.
The Huffington Post disagreed, citing another, perhaps less obvious choice, as its preferred Holmes US hit. “The two leads lack any kind of chemistry, platonic or otherwise, and the storytelling lacks the smarts and insight of one of TV’s best Sherlockian creations, House,” it said.
Not sure if Gil Mayo Mysteries (BBC Ent, Sat 13:50 & Sun 14:00), starring the impressionist Alistair McGowan is Sherlockian, but in all, you can watch four episodes of it this weekend. And then there’s the entire three hours of Crime and Punishment (BBC Ent, Sat 20:30), scripted in 2002 by Tony Marchant and starring John Simm.
Elsewhere, there’s another chance to see the first ever episode of Luther (BBC Ent, Sun 23:15); Mozambique (BBC World, Sat 18:30) reveals how the southern African country has become the continent’s top tourist attraction; The Spies who Fooled the World (BBC World, Sat 20:10) details how WMDs became an even uglier phrase than the one that kills thousands of people; and don’t forget the five-episode, nearly ten-hour miniseries The Bible (SVT1, Thu-Mon 22:00), which is screening over Easter.
