I'm so excited. As some people may remember, I'm a big Sherlock Holmes fan (but, no so much actually reading the books, that's - like - loo much hard work) so this excites me enormoulsly. Especially as I'm hearing it's a back-door-pilot for another 13 part series to run in the early Saturday evening slot.
My thoughts are in red.
Sherlock Holmes' spin-off for Beeb
BBC1 is to make a new family version of Sherlock Holmes.
The Sunday teatime show will star Jonathan Pryce as the detective and Scottish actor Bill Paterson as Dr Watson.
It will be called the Baker Street Irregulars and will focus on the gang of street urchins who helped Holmes out with errands. [Yay!]
The two-part drama airs in the spring and also features Four Weddings and a Funeral actress Anna Chancellor.
The BBC has put the emphasis back on family viewing following the runaway success of Doctor Who. [Darn right!]
The sci-fi show's Saturday night slot is currently being filled by the new adaptation of Robin Hood.
Viewing figures have dropped since episode one but BBC1 controller Peter Fincham said he was happy with the show - although he has yet to commission a second series. [No Second Series yet?]
"The audience fell off a bit in the second episode but that's not unusual - it happened to Doctor Who," he said.
Fincham is planning to recommission The One Show, the successor to Nationwide hosted by Adrian Chiles and Nadia Sawalha. [Why?]
Other shows in the pipeline include the return of Harry Enfield to BBC1 in a new sketch show co-starring Paul Whitehouse. [yay! Harry's been away far too long]
Another is Play It Again, which will feature celebrities reacquainting themselves with the musical instruments they learned as children. [Bangs head repeatedly on wall screaming. Why do they spoil everything with this cheap, pointless, "celebrity" tat? Move over to ITV1 you celebrity tat, it's where you belong!]
I hope that this will be commissioned into a full series! I've always liked Sherlock Holmes, but I've always felt that previous incarnations (especially the ITV version) were always lacking something. Hopefully the Beeb will insert a bit of something into them.
If they're anything like the one of special they did a couple of years ago, technology could add something to them. Imagine something along the lines of the CGI werewolf from Doctor Who as the Hound of the Baskervilles!
Hopefully Sherlock won't be wearing a hoodie though, like the current trash that occupies the Saturday night family spot!
