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Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century is a 26-episode animated television series placing Sherlock Holmes in a science fiction setting. Some episodes are direct rewrites of the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle--such as "The Empty House", "The Speckled Band", "The Five Orange Pips", "The Red-Headed League", and "The Engineer's Thumb"--while others are drastically different from the stories they're supposed to be based on. The series itself seems to be a sci-fi pastiche. Sandy Ross, a Scottish Television executive, came up with the concept while skiing in Aspen. The show was a 1999 co-production by DiC (then an affiliate of Disney) and Sottish Television. In 2001, it was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Special Class Animated Program. (The second season didn't air in the US until 2001.)
In New London, the spacescrapered London of the 22nd Century, Inspector Beth Lestrade of New Scotland Yard is chasing grotesquely deformed French rogue geneticist Martin Fenwick, when she realizes that his companion is none other than the 19th century criminal mastermind, Professor James Moriarty. (His clone, actually, created from cells taken from his corpse, which Holmes had buried in a Swiss ice cave.) Famous biologist Sir Evan Hargreaves (who looks just like Doyle) has just invented cellular rejuvenation. So Beth, who knows that Holmes survived and actually lived to a ripe old age, and further that his coffin is sitting in the basement of New Scotland Yard with his honey-preserved corpse inside, takes the body to Sir Evan. Honey does not rot and has been an ideal method for preservation since ancient times.
The strong-willed lieutenant convinces Hargreaves to bring Holmes back to life so he can deal with the warped and discredited mathemetics genius. As a descendant of the original Inspector Lestrade (though it never quite says how she was related or how she managed to keep the family name 200 years later) Beth has also inherited Dr. Watson's journals. When she has her law enforcement compudroid (whom she calls Watson) read them for information about Holmes, it ends up emulating the original Watson's personality. Holmes also ends up getting his old Baker Street rooms back (they'd been preserved as a museum).
Lestrade's compudroid assumes the name, face, voice, and mannerisms of Dr. Watson to assist Holmes in his crime-solving duties and his difficult assimilation to England in the 2100's. During the series, Holmes and Watson often work on retainer for New Scotland Yard, with Beth Lestrade as their supervising officer and Inspector Greyson as hers, but they also work for private citizens. They are often assisted by the new Baker Street Irregulars: black soccer player Wiggins, the Liza Doolittleish Deidre, and the paraplegic Tennyson, who communicates through electronic beeps only Holmes seems to comprehend (ironically). The primary villains are Moriarty and his henchman Fenwick, but they only appear in about half of the episodes.
The world of the 22nd century includes lots of flying cars, monorails, and speedy journeys to resorts on the Moon. But it also includes crypnosis (brainwashing criminals not to want to commit crimes), prison starships, and organlegging. Not your average kiddie cartoon, the show is more cerebral and better-animated than than much of DiC's mid-eighties output.
This show's method for preserving Holmes and bringing him back to life should not be confused with the cryogenic method used by the 1987 Michael Pennington/Margaret Colin TV movie/failed pilot, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, or the suspended animation in the 1993 Anthony Higgins/Debrah Farentino Sherlock Holmes Returns TV movie.
External links
- Homepage (http://www.dicentertainment.com/shows/index.php?show=101) at DiC
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