BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Mark Gatiss' answer to an undiscerning critic | The Guardian

**Posted by besleybean** January 4, 2017 7:50 pm

It was a bit James Bond.
I guess the jury is out on whether that is a bad or good thing.
As Mark so eloquently points out, Holmes was the action hero of his day.

**Posted by SusiGo** January 4, 2017 8:07 pm

ewige wrote:
I know that, but I'm also a fan.
I think critics write their reviews based on watching the episode once. I loved Mark's witty response too, but I still feel the criticism was justified.

They did not just write it after having watched it once, they also wrote it without having seen the other episodes. Benedict stated expressly that you need to know all three, that they are closely intertwined and that the reward at the end will be enormous. These are no stand-alone episodes.

**Posted by besleybean** January 4, 2017 8:13 pm

Sensible Benedict.

**Posted by SolarSystem** January 4, 2017 8:22 pm

But that's how tv reviews work. Nobody wants to read a review about TST three weeks after it first aired on tv. At least nobody who's not a fan. People are watching it on sunday and wanna read about it on monday or tuesday.
Of course the author could have mentioned that there's more to come and some things might make more sense once you've seen all three. Nevertheless, I totally agree with the James Bond comparison... and I'm pretty sure that the scenes which for me felt like James Bond from the start will still feel like James Bond in two weeks.

Last edited by SolarSystem (January 4, 2017 8:23 pm)

**Posted by besleybean** January 4, 2017 8:24 pm

I agree on that.
Mark is a huge Bond fan.

**Posted by tonnaree** January 4, 2017 8:30 pm

*waving from the shallow end of the pool*
I thought the fight was sexy.

**Posted by besleybean** January 4, 2017 8:32 pm

I could hardly watch it...I am so petrified of water and the torture seasons were just brutal.

**Posted by Lis** January 4, 2017 8:57 pm

Love Mark's response!

**Posted by Liberty** January 4, 2017 9:07 pm

tonnaree wrote:
*waving from the shallow end of the pool*
I thought the fight was sexy.

Well, I'm not averse to seeing two goodlooking guys having a bit of a tussle . I just liked the way it became funny at the end - I was laughing out loud at the attack by jacuzzi and whatever that other water feature was!

I did feel there were James Bond allusions, but didn't mind them. I was pretty sure this was going to be an episode with Bond-style elements. I wondered if Mary might actually be the Bond character, which she kind of was for a while.

**Posted by ewige** January 4, 2017 9:19 pm

Oddly fitting:

JOHN: Give the people what they want.
SHERLOCK: No, never do that. People are stupid.
MARY: Uh, some people.
(Sherlock leans over to look into the camera.)
SHERLOCK: All people are stupid. ... Most people.

(http://arianedevere.livejournal.com/86813.html)

Last edited by ewige (January 4, 2017 9:20 pm)

**Posted by besleybean** January 4, 2017 9:21 pm

Yes.

**Posted by nakahara** January 4, 2017 9:47 pm

Ehm....

Sorry, but Bond is the most famous fictional spy not just in Britain, but all around the world - when MG introduced the plot centered around espionage into Sherlock story, how come he was not aware of a risk that this story will be likened to Bond by critics... the comparison just offers itself to them on its own?

Also, casual audience is still an audience. If both them and dedicated fans were confused by an episode - and yet the author of the story did not intend to cause this effect - would it be better to reflect how to engage the audience better next time rather than to write poems to the newspapers?

That aside, Mark´s response was witty. But two can play that game - and the journalists won´t be affected by the poem anyway, just the opposite:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2017/jan/04/is-sherlock-worse-for-too-much-action-mark-gatiss-sends-his-verse-reaction#comments

**Posted by besleybean** January 4, 2017 9:50 pm

What is it about comments sections?
How are these people in their real lives?!

**Posted by SusiGo** January 4, 2017 9:57 pm

Nakahara: The Skyfall parallels are interesting and I noticed when I watched the film at the cinema. As far as I know, however, TRF aired before Skyfall. And Bond faked his death and fell from a great height.
I know that the pic is from TEH but we first got Sherlock on the roof in TRF. There are also parallels between Sherlock and Spectre. I think there has been some counter-inspiration going on.

**Posted by ewige** January 4, 2017 10:02 pm

nakahara wrote:
Also, casual audience is still an audience. If both them and dedicated fans were confused by an episode - and yet the author of the story did not intend to cause this effect - would it be better to reflect how to engage the audience better next time rather than to write poems to the newspapers?

Yeah, that...

On the other hand, Mark, Steven, AA and I think even Benedict commented to the effect that they were not sure they could pull "it" off. Maybe this is the reason why. The idea is too grand and difficult to present in three 90 minutes chunks.

**Posted by nakahara** January 4, 2017 10:03 pm

SusiGo wrote:
Nakahara: The Skyfall parallels are interesting and I noticed when I watched the film at the cinema. As far as I know, however, TRF aired before Skyfall. And Bond faked his death and fell from a great height.
I know that the pic is from TEH but we first got Sherlock on the roof in TRF. There are also parallels between Sherlock and Spectre. I think there has been some counter-inspiration going on.

I would not be surprised if this was a case of counter-inspiration indeed.
But then why deny that certain Bond influence is here?

**Posted by nakahara** January 4, 2017 10:05 pm

ewige wrote:
nakahara wrote:
Also, casual audience is still an audience. If both them and dedicated fans were confused by an episode - and yet the author of the story did not intend to cause this effect - would it be better to reflect how to engage the audience better next time rather than to write poems to the newspapers?
Yeah, that...

On the other hand, Mark, Steven, AA and I think even Benedict commented to the effect that they were not sure they could pull "it" off. Maybe this is the reason why. The idea is too grand and difficult to present in three 90 minutes chunks.

Yes, the episode had a lot of content - it would suffice to fill an entire season, in fact.....

**Posted by ewige** January 4, 2017 10:07 pm

nakahara wrote:
Yes, the episode had a lot of content - it would suffice to fill an entire season, in fact.....

...And then people would moan in comments that the show became too slowly-paced!

**Posted by nakahara** January 4, 2017 10:13 pm

Of course.

**Posted by SusiGo** January 4, 2017 10:23 pm

nakahara wrote:
SusiGo wrote:
Nakahara: The Skyfall parallels are interesting and I noticed when I watched the film at the cinema. As far as I know, however, TRF aired before Skyfall. And Bond faked his death and fell from a great height.
I know that the pic is from TEH but we first got Sherlock on the roof in TRF. There are also parallels between Sherlock and Spectre. I think there has been some counter-inspiration going on.
I would not be surprised if this was a case of counter-inspiration indeed.
But then why deny that certain Bond influence is here?

I think Mark did not want to deny so much that there is Bond influence but that SH is not a man of action. That it would be against Canon to have him fight baddies and become very physical.