SHERLOCK HOLMES has never been so popular. First, we had the hugely successful films directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jnr as Holmes and Jude Law as his sidekick Watson.
They stayed reasonably true to the original setting of Holmes – keeping him in Victorian times and in London. They were punch-a-second, action-packed and generally good fun.
Shortly after, along came Sherlock, the big-money BBC recreations starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Watson.
Highly-acclaimed and award-winning, this was a BBC drama which sought to play with the mind of the viewer while unravelling fiendishly difficult plots.
Two seasons in and, as I've written here before, this 2012-set Holmes is in danger of eating itself, as the solution to any sticky situation appears to be for Holmes to say, “I'm Holmes, I can get out of anything”.
There's arrogantly brilliant, and then there is just farcical.
So do we really need a third take on Holmes at the moment?
In the eyes of the terrestrial TV schedulers, probably not, which may be why Elementary (Sky Living, Tuesdays 9pm) has ended up on Sky Living rather than one of the Big Five.
That said, I've probably done an injustice to the TV pickers at Sky – they more than hold there own when it comes to landing the big US imports.
Elementary lacks the fight and punch of the films and the intricate thinking of Cumberbatch's Sherlock, but more than makes up for it in other ways.
Johnny Lee Miller plays Holmes and Lucy Liu is Watson. This Holmes is set in New York.
