It was always going to be difficult, taking an existing character and updating it for a contemporary series. When that character is one of the most popular in literature with a cannon of stories that have been filmed countless times, the task looks almost impossible. Not only did Steven Moffatt and Mark Gatiss manage to make Sherlock work in the 21st Century, they created one of the cleverest and most entertaining television series of the last decade. Clarifying exactly what makes it so is not easy but here are some reasons why they managed that.
10. DI Lestrade
In Sherlocks arrogant mind, Scotland Yard are nothing more than a bunch of imbeciles. (When the police are out of their depth, which is always, they consult me.) He is of course a better detective than anyone at Scotland Yard and the police (represented by Anderson and Donavan) resent him for it. It is Lestrade though who truly understands the genius of Sherlock, he needs his methods and the rest of the force just have to put up with his awkward, superior manner to get results. The police here are not idiots, its just that they see crime fighting as a job and not a game like Sherlock does.
9. Transposing To The Modern Day
Sherlock Holmes is as Victorian as... well, Queen Victoria so why try and displace him to the modern day. The team behind Sherlock knew that the stories were as relevant and exciting today as they were 120 years ago and, whilst the world has changed, a Sherlock in any time period would adapt to life. So instead of horse drawn carriages we have black cabs; instead of telegrams we have e-mails and text messages; instead of urchins from the workhouse we have the homeless network doing Sherlocks leg work. And you know what, it all works!