Elementary

Dan and Ali are not Sky fans on principle.  Sadly that doesn't stop Dan subscribing.  Thus we had the privilege of watching the first episode of 'Elementary', which viewers would be forgiven for not knowing was a modern American take on Sherlock Holmes.

Whereas the recent BBC revival/reboot was simply an update, with the traditional stories given a clever, stylish twist, this is essentially 'CSI' with the geek in the lead.  Jonny Lee Miller is a recovering addict who has decamped from Scotland Yard to the NYPD.  Aidan Quinn is his Lestrade and Watson is a disgraced female surgeon (Lucy Liu) who has been sent by Homes Senior to be Sherlock's rehab buddy.  The plot, which raced past at such speed it's amazing any scene was in focus, involved a husband training his mentally imbalanced client to kill his wife in order to inherit her money.  Conan Doyle is not a million miles away in this respect, but in all others he's nowhere to be seen.  Holmes has sex with prostitutes, presumably because there's an assumption that American audiences can't accept a male lead who isn't interested in sex.  Watson doesn't represent the viewer as (s)he does the reader by being Holmes's questioner.  Instead she is, of-course, feisty, sassy etc. etc.  Not bad at all, but not Watson.

Likeable performances aren't enough to lift a so-so script and a production with no panache.  If you set out your stall under a brand name, you'd better make sure yours is at least a passable fake, if not the genuine article.