I know what you mean about ITV. These days I barely watch anything of their output [maybe the MotoGP highlights on ITV4]. Mind you, in searching on behalf of a relative who watched the last series of Downton Abbey and loved it, I came across a website which has every episode from the start of series one. In the end, out of curiosity, I watched the very first episode and, to my complete surprise, it wasn't utterly crap. Not good enough to get me to watch anymore, but not bad. I can certainly see how some people might become hooked on it.
I watched And then there were none and thought it was pretty good as well but then I like whodunnits especially Agatha Christie. I read the book many years ago and was trying to remember the outcome. Of course Aiden Turner was an added bonus
I want to watch And then there were none as well. Spoiler: Sherlock Without wanting to ruin it for anyone interested, the ending was exactly, and I mean exactly the same as Hot Fuzz, of all things. Where a secret cult murders people, and instead of one bad guy a load of them dress up the same to make it easier to get away with. I couldn't believe it as it was happening. Also the whole premise of getting drugged up and using dreams was a rip-off of Inception. . War and Peace wasn't great to be honest, there is loads going on and none of what was happening was that interesting. It also made me feel very uneasy the way people went about getting engaged. But maybe it did happen like that I don't know.
I lost interest in Sherlock the minute he woke up on the plane, I agree the brand's strong enough to have a stand alone special without having to connect it in to the modern version, it ended up being overly complicated and as a device I found it bloody annoying.
In various years, the BBC have produced one-off Holmes adventures, sometimes writing new ones, sometimes going over old stories. The two standout ones I can remember from recent times were an excellent version of The Hound of the Baskervilles [an over filmed Holmes adventure if there is one] which breathed a lot of new life into the old story. Richard Roxburgh and Ian Hart were very good indeed as Holmes and Watson. The other one was a really good new story called The Case of the Silk Stocking, which this time had Rupert Everett playing Holmes and Ian Hart reprising his Watson role excellently again. Both of these BBC TV films were a lot, lot better than the latest adventure to be honest, the Silk Stocking story especially so. What they didn't do was screw around with the essential framework that Holmes is the best detective ever and he will eventually get the case solved and/or justice done. What they lacked in TV technical wizardry and [thankfully] smart-alec writing, they more than delivered in solid story line and good acting.
Just watched my own recommendation of the BBC TV film The Hound of the Baskervilles [2002], starring Richard Roxburgh and Ian Hart. It really was as good as I remembered. If you wish to give it a go: http://putlocker.is/watch-the-hound-of-the-baskervilles-2002-online-free-putlocker.html Roxburgh's Holmes is a good balance of Holmes from several of the canon. He occasionally takes Watson for granted, but is never disrespectful. Everything is aimed at the case, and it's a good 'un of course. He's not the leanest Holmes, but he's fine in every other respect. Hart's Watson is intelligent, brave and passionate, just like the Holmes from the books. It's a good pairing.
It's not the original line up, Axl's voice has gone to **** and he'll pull the same old crap he always has in the past. It's got Clusterfuck written all over it
I would have been a bit more excited for it if they had managed to persuade Izzy, as much as I admire Slash as a lead guitarist it was always Izzy that held it all together.
