Friday, July 20, 2012

Be Sherlock-ed A Second Season on beTV


Sherlock season 2

Recently honoured by the Guinness World Records as the ‘Most Portrayed Literary Human Character in Film & TV, Sherlock Holmes, the world’s most famous ‘consulting detective’ has been played by more than 75 actors on screen for over 250 times. Yet, a TV adaptation has still emerged to surprise and it is none other than the groundbreaking and ingenious Sherlock.

A British contemporary update to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s adventures of the great sleuth, Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch (War Horse) as Holmes and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) as his sidekick, Dr. John Watson and cleverly brings the duo from the 19th century to modern day London, with present day technology and forensic science complementing the amazing detective work. And Sherlock is back for a second breathtaking season on beTV!

Premiering 23 July, airing on Mondays at 10:55pm first and exclusively on beTV, Sherlock Season 2 continues the gripping series based on three of the most famous Sherlock Holmes stories. In the premiering episode, ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’ – just as the original ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ story – Sherlock and John get embroiled in the plans of the dangerous Irene Adler (Lara Pulver, Spooks). The woman who outwits Holmes, Irene is a scheming, seductive dominatrix in possession of compromising photographs of a member of the royal family. Finding himself intellectually tested against this intriguing foe, Sherlock has to choose between head and heart when the case progresses beyond royal embarrassment to a matter of international security.

In the second episode, ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’, Sherlock and John find themselves in the wilds of Dartmoor where traumatized Henry Knight, played by Russell Tovey (Being Human), comes to them in horror of finding fresh monstrous footprints where he witnessed his father die many years ago at the jaws of a terrifying and huge hound. The duo navigate the depths of the mysterious Baskerville Research Facility, contend with locals with secrets to hide, and even test their own friendship to discover if there is a monster lurking...

And in the final episode, ‘The Reichenbach Fall’ based on ‘The Final Problem’, Sherlock and John are already heroes in the eyes of the British public for solving a string of tough cases. But their nemesis James Moriarty (Andrew Scott, Lennon Naked) returns to pull off the crime of the century by breaking simultaneously into The Tower of London, The Bank of England and Pentonville Prison. Taking nothing, Moriarty’s seeks to destroy Sherlock’s reputation in everyone’s eyes. Sherlock must face Moriarty's final problem alone, but how can he beat an insane rival when the only clear solution is his own death? Indeed, the concluding episode of Sherlock Season 2 promises a cliffhanger ending of epic proportions that has already gotten fans on both shores of the Atlantic buzzing with fevered speculation.

Created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss of Doctor Who fame, Sherlock has been a ratings hit in the UK drawing some 8 million viewers per episode through both series, representing a considerable 30 per cent of the audience share in Britain. The show has also won universal acclaim from critics, including lavish praise from American daily ‘USA Today’ calling it, “TV pleasure at its most intense, without even a shade of guilt.” Indeed, the debut season of Sherlock won the ‘Best Drama Series’ honour, while Martin Freeman and Andrew Scott won ‘Best Supporting Actor’ at the 2011 and 2012 BAFTA Awards respectively, the British equivalent of the Emmy Awards.

Indeed, the first season of Sherlock proved so popular that the volume fan enquiries drove British garment manufacturer Belstaff to put back into production its discontinued, US$2,150 coat that Sherlock was dressed in. Even Speedy’s, the sandwich bar below the London apartment filmed as Holmes and Watson’s iconic 221B Baker Street residence in Sherlock reported a sharp hike in customers including tourists from Asia who recognize it from the show. The series even rejuvenated interest in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books, with publishers enjoying a 180 per cent increase in sales during the broadcast of the first season. The popularity of Sherlock also assured that seasons 2 and 3 were both commissioned at the end of season 1.

As TV drama’s greatest surprise of 2010 return in a second season that is set amaze and baffle, sit tight and follow the world’s greatest sleuth in 21st century London, through three dramatic and suspense filled instalments of Sherlock this July, only on beTV.

Sherlock Season 2 premieres on 23 July
Airing Mondays at 10.55pm (SG, MY, PH, HK) / 9.55pm (JKT)
First and exclusively on beTV
Sherlock Season 1 is currently re-running on Mondays at 10.55pm on beTV

**Press release from beTV

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