Written Jan 2016
2 minute read
If there is one thing the BBC seems to pride itself on, it is a Christmas Special. These episodes offer a lighter tone and a way to tide fans over until a new series begins. This year, Sherlock received this ‘Doctor Who’ treatment; a chance to enjoy an era of crime-solving befitting the famous deerstalker so grudgingly worn by Holmes. These being uncharted waters for this darling of British broadcasting, there was a question mark over whether a novel festive twist might clash with the high standards of storytelling the show holds itself to. Unfortunately, this proved to be the case.
While the writing is as hilarious as ever, and endlessly quotable, the much-heralded shift to a Victorian setting quickly gets old, with little to tease the brain outside of the main plot. The conclusion to this, the mystery of the Abominable Bride, is predictable and twee, despite dealing with a pertinent social issue. This is followed by an extremely self-indulgent string of false endings, all framed as if to say ‘see what we did there?’. The writing team of Moffat and Gatiss clearly enjoyed themselves in creating this one-off episode- possibly too much, with much of the hour and a half runtime falling on the wrong side of confusing, and even pretentious.
Yes, all this was to be expected- a light-hearted, throwaway dose of Holmes and Watson before their true return later in the year. But, upon viewing, it is clear that this was always the aim. There was no attempt to 
provide anything more than some good-natured, shallow filler.
This was, at its heart, a slice of fan service that can be seen as the culmination of many slight changes made to Sherlock, particularly throughout the last series. Moffat and Gatiss have slowly but surely replaced style with substance, with flashy visual tricks and acerbically witty dialogue replacing actual plot and character development. There was once a good balance- the show has always been bitingly funny and the characters eminently likeable (though it is still crying out for a new set of fringe characters), but the Sherlock of today knows its strengths, and plays off them to such a degree that its weaknesses are exaggerated. Sherlock remains, despite each series’ brevity, one of the best shows on TV- but one that is in danger of forgetting its roots.
Another Thought's Hat 