I wouldn't change a thing about it actually. BBC Sherlock is perfection. 

I have just seen the unaired pilot and wanted to get my thoughts out. 

The overall look, sound and feel of the pilot - My daughter who saw bits of it as she passed by me said that it didn't look as good and sounded weird. I explained to her that this was never aired and that it was the equivalent of a first draft. There was no post-production work done on it to fix errant lighting, or filter sounds, or pick the perfect background sound effects etc... I'm no expert in that field, but I do know that post-production takes almost as long as the actual shooting. The opening credits had a temporary feel to it. If the BBC had wanted to take the pilot as it was I am pretty sure that we may well have ended up with the more composed opening sequence we see in the series. 

The overall feel of the pilot was darker and grittier, but that again may have more to do with it being pre post-production.

The story and much of the dialogue is very much the same, taking minor turns here and there with the most notable divergence being when Sherlock gets in the cab after being drugged. There was an aspect of that scene that I liked rather a lot actually. Seeing Sherlock drugged and essentially abducted right in front of his friends who were watching had a gut wrenching feel to it, however, I believe that the final solution of having Sherlock go willingly with the cabbie was better. There is something to be said for "drugged Sherlock". I thought that Mr. Cumberbatch's drugged scene with the cabbie in the pilot was actually better than the drugged Sherlock scene in SiB. 

The addition of the scene running through the streets and rooftops of London to catch up to the cab in the final version gave the entire episode a more action/adventure feel to it. That can be good or bad depending on your perspective. It certainly pointed out the physcho-somatic nature of John’s limp more clearly.

Anderson looks different with the facial hair. He actually looks less like a dick with that hair because it hides some of the actor's facial expressions. He is a much more convincing arse hole when clean shaven. 

As for Sally Donovan, I am somewhat confused. The outfit in the pilot - did that make her more of a beat cop than a sergeant. In SiP she dresses the way we would see a homicide detective here in the states dress. The uniform is reserved for the more public face of the beat cop. 

I liked Lestrade's performance in both equally well. 

Mrs. Hudson is just that, Mrs. Hudson. Loved her both times in both sets. (I'll get back to the sets in a minute)

John Watson - Naturally Freeman delivers his lines wonderfully in both versions. That being the case how could anyone not prefer the SiP version better. We get more background, and more insight into the man. John is clearly more traumatized from his war experience in the final version, starting out with his nightmare, the addition of his hand tremor, the moment when we see him sitting alone in his flat staring off into space. He seems so very lost and lonely in that sequence, much more so than in the very abbreviated sequence in the pilot. 

I do think it was an interesting choice to have John and Mike chat in a restaurant over lunch and a pint rather than on a park bench with a cup of coffee. The thing is, the first version of that interaction actually fits the dialogue better than the bench and coffee. Doesn't Sherlock say in both versions that after telling Mike in the morning that he would be a difficult man to find a flat mate for, Mike returns "after lunch" with an old friend just home from military service in Afghanistan? 

Part of me missed not seeing John take the shot killing the cabbie in the pilot, but that also had its effect. If I had never seen SiP I would most likely have assumed that it was one of the police who took that shot. In the pilot version, you as a viewer realize that it was John about the same time Sherlock does. That I believe was more effective than the final version. The shot itself was more graphic and closer to something you would see in American TV with blood spatter on Sherlock's face. 

I also much preferred John's answer to Sherlock's query of "Are you okay? You did just kill a man." in the pilot. It didn't have the comic relief of the final version, but killing someone is a serious matter and I found the first version's answer far more authentic. Oh I almost forgot, there is a moment in the pilot when John first sees the pink suitcase and he looked genuinely frightened. I am actually glad that they toned that down a bit in the final.

Sherlock - Where to begin. I'm not sure I like the shorter hair actually and that is surprising. I generally like men to look like men, and long hair on a fellow only works on a few guys. The funny thing about that is the fact that my husband had longer hair than me for the first 7 years we were married! 

The biggest difference I see between the two performances is in Sherlock's speech patterns. The first time I watched SiP, I have to admit to needing to back the recording up and watch it a few times. For me this was necessary because the lines are delivered so quickly that I simply could not catch all the words the first or even the second time round. In the unaired pilot he spoke far more conversationally and for me that worked so much better. I could actually make out everything the man was saying! Now having said that - the faster speech pattern does have a dramatic effect on the way Sherlock comes off. I liken it to the difference between a child with ADHD to a child without it. Sherlock's mind is moving so quickly that the words just tumble out of his mouth in rapid succession in an attempt to keep up. I understand the change in speech pattern and it does make sense. It is just harder for someone like me with a hearing issue to follow, but then again my parents have taught me to watch these episodes with the subtitles on. That was quite helpful in catching what was being said during one of his manic and long explanations. 

I noticed the difference in wardrobe. Sherlock or should I say Mr. Cumberbatch looked fabulous in dungarees. He doesn't were things like that in the series, too bad. I get it, I don't disagree with it, I just really liked those jeans he wore in the pilot. 

The little square nicotine patches looked funny in the pilot. The larger circular one made for a much better visual. 

Sherlock does seem more polite in the pilot - to a point. There are things that we don't get to see in the pilot that we do in the final version that have changed our perceptions about how he portrays the character. I guess I want all of the great qualities of the Sherlock we see in the series, with a slower speech pattern! Oh well.

The sets: 
I must say that I prefer the newer sets to the ones in the pilot, but that may very well be due to the fact that I didn’t see the pilot until after I saw both series 1 and 2. I did notice that in the pilot there was a winged back chair in the flat. In the final version it is a leather tub chair. The chair that John sits in is also different in the pilot and I think that the change is for the better. Everything seems so much more modern in the final version, but for Angelo’s restaurant I think I liked the pilot better. It was so much cozier and less diner like.

Over-all I have to say that I do prefer the final series better but the pilot had very definite positives to it. I’m glad I found it and was able to watch it. Now that I have all this out of my head I’ll have to go back through this thread and see what everyone else thought of the pilot as compared to the series.

Enjoying the discussion...but the aired episodes are 90 mins!

miriel68 wrote:

In the final version it takes Sherlock a bit too long to realize that the killer is a cabby driver - in the pilot he nailed it very nicely, while in the final version he must have it literally thrown at him,

I agree completely! Didn't that point make it into my post? Oops. I remember thinking the first time I saw SiP that it seemed to be taking an awful long time for Sherlock to cotton on. I figured that was done to help viewers who needed the extra time to figure it out. Heck I knew it was a cabbie when Sherlock and John were walking to the diner and Sherlock was asking John who is there but never seen, who do we trust without knowing them at all, and who hunts in a crowd. 
I am not saying that I am super smart or anything, I just have a good sense for that kind of story telling. That's all, so please no one take offense for none is intended.

 

Last edited by AliceI (February 15, 2013 12:18 am)

Two things I ADORED about the pilot:

1.  Seeing Sherlock answer his email.  In fact, I liked the computer lab better as the location of John/Sherlock's first meeting.

2.  The long-legged, black-jeaned, tousle-haired coltishness of Sherlock in the scene with the pink case at the flat.  When I think of Gatiss' comment about how young the 'boys' are in this series (or was it Moffat?), that they have a long way to go together, I think I might have enjoyed an entire season with Sherlock this young.

besleybean wrote:

Well I think he's the same age...just dressed differently!

There must have been some gap of time between the making of the pilot and the starting of series one. And Ben has been busy getting older-looking all along, something that happens to everyone in their 30s. OK by me, I think he'd delicious at any age, so whatever, right? Right.

Oh me too.  But I still think the aired version is the better one.
2 words= Paul McGuigan.

besleybean wrote:

2 words= Paul McGuigan.

??????

SusiGo wrote:

Regarding the cabbie scene: Benedict played it very well, nevertheless I prefer the aired version for a simple reason - in this he's much more active, he makes his deductions, he seems superior, which is all in character - and then he does this thing with the pill. They show his strengthts and his weaknesses in one and the same scene. Brilliant. 

I agree with you both. I much preferred the pill scene with a sober Sherlock. That was a bit that I think they improved with the final version. Playing mind games with drugged people isn't clever at all. Really? So yeah, the final version of that idea worked really well. I just really liked BC's drugged performance. It's too bad they couldn't figure a way to use that.

See that's just it, there are bits and pieces of both versions that I really liked. John's answer to Sherlock's question - is he okay, he did just kill a man was far superior in the pilot, as was the concept of not knowing right away who shot the cabbie, but having Sherlock go with the cabbie willingly was better than him being drugged and abducted.

The chase scene in the final version was better than John dashing after the cab for half a block. The cute little bistro in the pilot was better than the diner like atmosphere in the final version, but the rest of the sets in the final version were better than in the pilot.

There is just so much to like about both. It's like being a kid in a candy store with enough to buy only some of the stuff you want and having to pick and choose.
 
 

erunyauve wrote:

I'm happy to watch them paint the wall in 221B...

That was a joke in the pilot, right?  A reference to the title?  A study in pink?  Because the flat is where John and Sherlock do their thinking and writing, like a boarding school study?

erunyauve wrote:

No, I'm referring to the current work Arwel Wyn Jones and crew are doing on the set in preparation for Series 3...
 

Hey, what's up with that? [Please redirect me if this is being discussed in another thread.]  Why do they have to rebuild 221B?  Didn't they keep the set from series 2?