Comparison Essay

Get a Clue: A Comparison of the BBC’s “Sherlock” and Doyle’s “The Final Problem” The British often enjoy bringing mystery stories to the small screen, like “Agatha Christie’s Poirot” and “Miss. Marple”. However, they keep these stories in the setting and time period of the original novels (for example, the Poirot novels span the time period from the early 1920's to the later 1940's, as does the series that ran from 1989 - 2013). In 2010, the BBC’s “Sherlock” series, starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role and Martin Freeman as Dr. Watson, premiered. This series is not set in the late 1880's, as the original stories are, but rather they are set in present-day London, England. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle composed Sherlock’s “Final Problem”

In the original stories, Holmes always wore his deerstalker hat, and in the episode a deerstalker hat is gifted to him for his work (though he is quite ungrateful). As well, in the original stories, Holmes is known to be rather passionate about music. He is an accomplished violinist, even owning his own Stradivarius. Just before Moriarty pays a visit to Holmes’ flat in the episode, Sherlock is seen playing a violin (and, yes, it is a Stradivarius). This gives the audience a nice little homage to the character’s love for music. One last direct connection to the original story of which the episode is based upon, is the incident with Dr. Watson near the finale of the story. In the original story, Watson is called away to the hotel where there apparently is a sick woman who needs medical attention immediately. During Watson’s absence, Holmes and Moriarty get into their famous scuffle, ending with Moriarty and presumably Holmes plummeting to their deaths. It turns out that it was a hoax, and no woman was actually ill at the hotel. Upon return to the falls, Watson sees no sign of his friend and is left to presume that he has died. In the episode, Watson is telephoned and is given news that Mrs. Hudson has been shot (the look on Sherlock’s face is evidence that he has concocted and fabricated this story himself). During Watson’s absence (where he finds Mrs. Hudson completely safe), Holmes and Moriarty get into a scuffle on the rooftop of the hospital, ending with Moriarty shooting himself. Upon return, Watson finds Sherlock on the roof, and proceeds to plummet to his “death”. As one can tell, the episode enjoys using the post-modern technique of allusion. The episode also uses the post-modern technique of metafiction, in the first episode of the third series. The episode opens with an imagined scenario of what actually happened when Sherlock