Sherlock

Sherlock Holmes, the iconic detective character. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has managed to create a character that withstands the test of time, and, in recent years, seems to only be growing in popularity. From the Blockbuster starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law (an impeccable match) or the BBC modern day series simply titled 'Sherlock' starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, the Memoirs and Adventures of Sherlock Holmes live on.

Having recently read a large number of the iconic stories, I must admit, it makes sense to see so many of the plots adapted to screen - they are intriguing riddles which lend themselves far better to film than to print. Because really, being told in point-by-point factual reports of the minute details which lead to discovery is not entirely suspenseful or exciting. Sure, there is interest and intrigue and most definitely a sense of awe, but it's a report. It's not a... story.

So it seems that it is the mystery of how Sherlock can be so effortlessly observant, the question of the character himself rather than each individual storyline. We are captured by him, and his unusual character and, in turn, the humourous relation between himself and Watson, far more than we care to know 'who-done-it'. And thus, Sherlock becomes the perfectly malleable, transient character. You can move him through time and era effortlessly, changing crime and mystery to fit. Because that's not the part the matters to us. We, like Watson, simply want to watch the genius at work.