Sherlock Holmes (2013 TV series)

Sherlock Holmes (Russian: Шерлок Холмс, tr. Sherlok Kholms) is a Russian television crime drama series[3] based on the Sherlock Holmes detective stories by Arthur Conan Doyle and aired in November 2013.[4][5] Some of the stories have never been adapted before. It stars Igor Petrenko as Sherlock Holmes and Andrei Panin as Doctor John Watson. Eight episodes were produced.

Sherlock Holmes
Official poster
Шерлок Холмс
Sherlok Kholms
GenreCrime drama
Created by
Written by
  • Andrey Kavun
  • Leonid Porokhin
  • Igor Pogodin
Directed by
Starring
ComposerGary Miller
Country of originRussia
Original languageRussian
No. of series1
No. of episodes8 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer
  • Ruben Dishdishyan 2.3
CinematographyCentral Partnership
Camera setupDolby Digital
Running time704 minutes
Production companies
BudgetAbout $ 650,000,000 US
Release
Original network
Original releaseNovember 18 (2013-11-18)[1] –
November 28, 2013 (2013-11-28)[2]

This is the last film role of Andrei Panin, who died before he was able to complete the dubbing of his lines as Dr. Watson.[6] However, they were able to finish the film almost entirely using the sound recorded on set, with only a small contribution by another voice actor.

Background

London in the 19th century is a grimy, dirty, dangerous place. Twenty-seven-year-old Sherlock Holmes (Igor Petrenko) meets with Dr. John Watson (Andrei Panin) - a veteran Army doctor who has just returned from the war in Afghanistan. They both live in cramped rented rooms in central London at a boarding house run by Mrs Hudson (Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė). Considering his young detective friend to be a genius, Watson decides to write about the detective's talent, and discloses the mysteries to the whole world in his stories, which often embellish events, based on the cynical advice of a veteran Publisher (Alexander Adabashyan) with a keen sense of what sells.

The real Holmes is an awkward, intense, nerdy younger man. His violin playing sounds terrible, and he is neither a martial arts expert nor a crack shot Dr Watson makes him out to be. In fact, he doesn't even own a gun. Sherlock Holmes smokes cigarettes, but Watson comes up with the idea of the famous pipe for effect. The trademark Sherlock Holmes hat and cape were made up by Watson, as was Holmes' upper-class background. Neither of them is well off.

The two are often invited to take part in investigations by an inspector from Scotland Yard, Inspector Lestrade (Mikhail Boyarsky), whose search for the perpetrator often comes to a standstill. The genius investigator and the Doctor confront extraordinary villains: Professor Moriarty (Alexei Gorbunov), charming Pesutova Baba (Lyanka Gryu), and others.

Plot

The story begins when Dr. Watson, newly arrived and in search of lodging in London, runs into Holmes at the scene of a fatal accident, which Holmes immediately recognizes as murder. He ends up renting a room at Mrs Hudson's, next door to Holmes. Mrs Hudson is a younger and more attractive woman than Watson makes her out to be. She has taken a liking to Watson, but has a problem with Holmes who has no clear occupation and disturbs other tenants with his violin playing and science experiments.

Dr. Watson shortly gets involved in his new friend's life full of exciting and dangerous adventures and becomes his loyal sidekick. He is also trying to build a private medical practice, and to make a name for himself as a writer. His heroic war poetry is turned down by the publisher who convinces him to focus on writing detective stories instead.

Production

"Holmes and Watson are characters which were screened, are screening and will be screened. I must say without exaggeration that this is like Hamlet. However, a director should venture upon this with something new of his own. Sherlock Holmes is literature for young people. Traditionally films are engaged in a search for the meaning of life, but this is a pure detective genre, adventure. In short, this is a direct test for professional self-determination"

Andrei Kavun[7]

The idea for a new Russian TV series about Sherlock Holmes was first announced in 2009, shortly before the release of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. But the choosing of the director and actors was much delayed, and the première was therefore put off for 3 years. The official production of the series only began in 2011.

Andrey Kavun, who is known for his work on the film "Kandahar", was appointed director.[8][9] Igor Petrenko was chosen for the role of Sherlock, and Andrei Panin was cast as Dr. Watson. For the role of Inspector Lestrade, Mikhail Boyarsky was chosen.

All surveys of Victorian England were held in eight months of filmings Russia, and the filmings were held in the vicinity of St. Petersburg - Vyborg, Kronstadt, Pushkin, Gatchina and Ivangorod. In total, the work on Sherlock Holmes, launched in September 2011, lasted 161 days of shooting. The filming was completed in May 2012 and the production was completed in late October 2012.

Influenced by Guy Ritchie's film, the role of the heroine, Irene Adler, was also expanded on during the show. Her love affair with Sherlock Holmes is one of the series' main storylines. She was portrayed by actress Lyanka Gryu. Kavun has also said he only plans to use the motives of the original stories, but will recreate the stories almost from scratch. The series will also assume that Watson's descriptions of the crimes have been embellished. Later he will try to adjust reality to his fantasies. As an example, Holmes' famous pipe will be replaced by cigarettes.[10]

Unlike most adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock in this adaptation is younger than Dr. Watson by 15 years.,[11][12] and the series was aired on channel Russia-1.

Cast

Episodes
No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date Domestic viewers
(millions)
1–2"221B Baker Street"Andrey KavunIgor Pogodin, Leonid Porokhin ()TBA

Dr. John Watson, a former military and medical officer, has just arrived in London after having been wounded during his service in Afghanistan. Alone without friends and family he starts looking for a flat, but he soon meets a stranger, a young man who seems to disturb the work of the local policemen from Scotland Yard as well as their chief, Inspector Lestrade. The young man describes himself as a private detective named Sherlock Holmes, together he and Watson decide to share a flat at 221B Baker Street. Watson however soon realises that he might be putting his life in danger by sharing a flat with his new friend.

Loosely adapted from "The Adventure of Black Peter", "A Scandal in Bohemia", and "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton".
3–4"Rock, Scissors, Paper"Andrey KavunIgor Pogodin ()TBA

Peter Small, an old friend of Dr. Watson, dies while visiting Watson in his flat at Baker Street. Holmes tries to find the murderer, but begins to believe that Small was connected to a Band of Cabmen that have been committing crimes without ever being caught. The only clue to them is an old picture that was taken years ago, during their studies. But after Sherlock Holmes is visited by a young woman named Irene Adler comes in his flat, the picture is gone.

Loosely adapted from The Sign of Four and "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax".
5–6"Clowns"Andrey KavunLeonid Porokhin ()TBA

A photographer is killed by bomb explosion in central London, and Holmes has to find the connection between the stolen picture and the bombing. He soon learns of the kidnapping of Irene Adler and understands that he has to sacrifice something in exchange for her release.

Loosely adapted from "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" and "A Scandal in Bohemia".
7–8"The Mistress of Lord Maulbré"Andrey KavunLeonid Porokhin ()TBA

Four women have been murdered and while the police arrest a suspect and prepare to bring him to court, Holmes and Watson work around the clock to prevent his death.

This is an original story.
9–10"The Musgrave Ritual"Andrey KavunLeonid PorokhinNovember 25, 2013 (2013-11-25)TBA

Holmes's friend, Sir Reginald Musgrave, asks for help. He is scared and on the verge of a nervous breakdown due to the fact that he is 33 years old which means he needs to pass a mystical rite of passage after which he would become the full owner of the entire heritage of the Musgrave family. Reginald's father was murdered during this same ceremony. In Musgrave Castle in Northern Scotland, Holmes and Watson discover an encrypted key to the treasures of Charles I of England which according to the legend lies hidden in the castle.

Loosely adapted from "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" and The Hound of the Baskervilles.
11–12"Halifax"Andrey KavunLeonid PorokhinNovember 26, 2013 (2013-11-26)TBA

After Watson has published his memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, he as well as his partner become more and more famous in London. Nevertheless, Sherlock and Watson are soon facing eviction from their apartment in Baker Street. Meanwhile, a redheaded Lord who has learned about Holmes's abilities decides to ask for help. On the same day, a remarkable incident occurs at the National Bank when a man named Ebenezer Buckley comes to trade a suitcase of banknotes for pure gold. When Buckley comes out of the bank, the police suddenly appear and kill him. Holmes makes the assumption that there is a direct link between the redheaded Lord and Mr. Buckley's death, and that the happenings are only part of a bigger, cunning plan of someone who wants to undermine the economy of the British Kingdom.

Loosely adapted from "The Red-Headed League".
13–14"Holmes's Last Case"Andrey KavunLeonid PorokhinNovember 27, 2013 (2013-11-27)TBA

During a Christmas party taking place in the estate of Count Brachear, the organiser is killed under unknown circumstances. Holmes and Dr. Watson are called in to deal with the case. Watson is extremely surprised when Holmes manipulates the evidence and sets Inspector Lestrade on the wrong track. During the investigation Holmes receives a message from a mysterious woman, in fact it is a call for help from Irene Adler. Ignoring Watson's warnings, Holmes goes to find and rescue Irene, even though he knows that it could be at the cost of his own life.

Loosely adapted from "The Final Problem".
15–16"The Baskerville Hound"Andrey KavunLeonid PorokhinNovember 28, 2013 (2013-11-28)TBA

Three years after Holmes's death, Dr. Watson is married to Mrs Hudson and his stories about the famous detective have been successfully reissued. A small memorial museum has opened in the house on Baker Street. But life is boring without incidents and cases. So when the doctor is approached by a young girl with a request to find out the reason for the death of her lover, Watson tries to solve the case. Soon he discovers that the murder was committed after the disappearance of secret documents. Watson realises that he needs a reliable partner, and surprisingly he finds one.

Despite the title of the episode, it is not an adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles. The episode is primarily a loose adaptation of "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" and "The Adventure of the Empty House".

Reception

Kim Newman, reviewing the series for Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, described Petrenko's Holmes as looking and acting "more like a revolutionary poet than a detective."[13] While Newman notes where the series diverges from Doyle's canon, he sums "at the end, after all the reimagining, we come back to what is for this version - as for almost all other versions - the heart of the story, the comradeship of two admirable, difficult men in a world of crime, betrayal, love, honour, diabolic cunning and basic decency."[13]

See also

References
  1. Russian report: There is a lot of new in "Sherlock Holmes" (the date for premier is written in the beginning of the report)
  2. Official Homepage, Russian
  3. Sherlock Holmes filming in Saint Petersburg, RIA Novosti report (including pictures)
  4. Andrey Kavun in interview about Sherlock Holmes, Russian
  5. Russian answer to the British "Sherlock"
  6. Russian source: Panin did not have time to voice a series about Sherlock Holmes
  7. "Sherlock Holmes Russian-style". April 2012.
  8. Andrei Kavun is directing his own version of Sherlock Holmes Archived 2013-09-23 at the Wayback Machine, Information from Kavun's personal website (in Russian)
  9. Andrey Kavun hopes to direct the new Russian TV series about Sherlock, An interview with Kavun (in Russian)
  10. Sherlock Holmes smokes cigarettes and loves beautiful women (in Russian)
  11. Russian Sherlock Holmes younger than Dr. Watson ... (in Russian)
  12. Russian report
  13. Newman, Kim. "Screen of the Crime: Sherlok Kholmes". Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine. 1 (22): 9–15.
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