Exclusive interview with author Nikki Stafford and a review of her book about the BBC television series Sherlock
Rating: Four stars
by Gabrielle Pantera
“In past adaptations of the stories, Watson is always the bumbling sidekick and Holmes is the brilliant detective,” says Investigating Sherlock author Nikki Stafford. “I was always a fan of Sherlock, but going into this book I didn’t realize just how loyal the show was to the original books and stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock showrunners Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss chose to follow more closely what Doyle’s original vision was and make Sherlock the detective who’s very smart but not very sociable, and John the long-suffering friend who gets his revenge by writing about his rude friend’s exploits.”
Investigating Sherlock is the ultimate guide to the great detective. The book delves deeply into the BBC version of Sherlock. Holmes acts aloof, but whenever Watson’s life is in danger, the detective falls apart. Despite the bickering between the detective and the doctor, there’s a deep friendship between the two that’s evident in the TV series and in Doyle’s stories. Investigating Sherlock compares the original stories and each episode. Included are biographies of stars Cumberbatch and Freeman and Arthur Conan Doyle.
“The original stories of Arthur Conan Doyle are suspenseful and very well written,” says Stafford. “But above all, my favorite thing about them was their humor. Watson’s narrative is always very amusing…with Holmes coming off looking like a grade-A jerk half the time. You realize that Doyle was creating this very tongue-in-cheek narrator who was often annoyed by his friend, so he wrote his stories to make him even more annoying.”
Stafford’s primary research was to sit down with all 56 of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, the Penguin complete edition, and read them from cover to cover. “Until then, I’d really only read The Hound of the Baskervilles in high school and liked it, but didn’t love it. Had I read A Study in Scarlet as my first Sherlock Holmes story, I think I would have been a lifelong fan. The story is fantastic, and it’s as relevant today as it would have been when Doyle originally wrote it.”
Stafford also studied previous film and TV adaptations, as well as parodies and pastiches. While an episode of Sherlock may be based primarily on one or two of Doyle’s stories, the series writers know his canon inside-out, and often drop a single line from a completely different story into the dialogue.
“It was up to me to figure out where each line came from so I could list them off to the readers,” says Stafford. “There are several moments in the series where the mind palace scenes, where Sherlock is searching through the rooms of his memory. That can be a bit convoluted, so I pieced all of those together to give a more down-to-earth explanation of just how brilliantly the writers were showing the development of Sherlock as a person throughout the seasons.”
Stafford has written books about Xena: Warrior Princess, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Alias. She wrote a five-volume series on the TV show Lost. For Xena, she researched Greek mythology and linked the original myths to how they were changed for the show. For Buffy and Angel, she dissected vampire and werewolf lore. In the case of Lost, a very complicated show, Stafford explained the references to philosophy, history, political science, literature, religion, quantum physics and psychological methods. She writes about Game of Thrones at length, with weekly blog posts of 5,000+ words, whenever a new season is airing.
Sherlock Holmes, solver of mysteries, and his friend doctor John Watson are a classic odd couple. If you’re new to the BBC Sherlock series, Stafford’s book will get you up to speed on the series, characters and actors. A great reference for fans.
Stafford is based on London, Ontario, in Canada, where she grew up.
Investigating Sherlock: An Unofficial Guide by Nikki Stafford. September 15, 2015. Paperback, 240 pages, Publisher: ECW Press (September 15, 2015), Language: English. ISBN: 9781770412620 $18.95
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