Doc Martin & Sherlock around the world

If you’re in the UK or in the States, you know of the brilliance that is Sherlock and Doc Martin. While Sherlock (BBC) and Doc Martin (ITV1) have been extraordinarily successful franchises in the UK, it’s no different in America with each series finding both critical acclaim while attracting a large and loyal following on PBS stations around the country.

Interestingly, the worldwide success for both series has been achieved in completely different ways with the original Sherlock series being acquired and dubbed into the native language while Doc Martin has found success in countries like Spain where the television network, Antena 3, bought the scripts, recast the series and shot virtually every scene identically from the ITV1 original.

Doc Martin = Doctor Mateo in Spain

Fans of Doc Martin will recognize this scene from the first episode of the series when Doc encounters Louisa on the train on his way to a job interview. Besides Spain, there are also German, Russian and French versions of the curmudgeonly doctor.

Sherlock in Italian, Russian, Spanish, French

Taking a bit of a different route to worldwide success, the Sherlock franchise has been acquired in its original form in over 180 countries around the globe and dubbed to the native language. Taking a scene from the original “A Study in Pink” where Sherlock first meets John Watson, seeing these few examples that were expertly put together by The Telegraph, my initial thought was you’d think that since the world’s greatest detective was so brilliant and Benedict Cumberbatch portrayed him perfectly, there would be no need to dub as not only are we dealing with the ‘universal language of crime fighting’ after all, but surely Sherlock Holmes knows all the languages of the world anyway so why the need to dub? But then I came back to the real world and remembered that ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’ airs tonight on PBS’ Masterpiece series so, all is well. Cheers.

Wallander 3 set for September 2012 on PBS

Word from PBS World Headquarters is that the newest series of Wallander now has a September 2012 broadcast transmission date set. The greatness that is Sir Kenneth Branagh will return as Kurt Wallander for another three installments of Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell’s classic detective series. Written by Peter Harness, who is known to PBS and BBC audiences for the “Case Histories” series starring Jason Isaacs, the three new installments will be “Dogs of Riga”, “Before the Frost” and “An Event in Autumn”.

What will I possibly do between now and September?

Not to worry. Besides plenty of PBS Masterpiece Mystery! brilliance between now and then if you are in the States, BBC4 has recently transmitted the latest in a consistently getting longer line of Nordic noir thrillers called The Bridge if you need a bit of DVD viewing options.

The Bridge features a pair of Swedish and Danish detectives who investigate the discovery of a woman’s body exactly halfway across the Oresund bridge, which links their countries. Saga Norén, the socially awkward female Swedish police officer is paired with Martin Rohde, a laid-back Danish cop, on the trail of a killer who believes his actions are defensible for social reasons. For fans of Wallander, The Killing and the Danish political drama, Borgen, this is a great way to ‘bridge’ the gap between now and September.

In a bit of an interesting twist on the re-make front, Kudos, the independent production company behind shows such as Life On Mars, Ashes to Ashes, The Hour and Spooks, is giving The Bridge a UK makeover in the not-too-distant future. While not a huge fan of remakes, I’m thinking that, given Kudos’ track record, this will be one worth checking out.

It’s never too early to plan that Downton Abbey 3 watching party

With the welcome thought that, no matter where you find yourself in the UK or in America, every day that passes is one day closer to the premiere of Downton Abbey 3. Writer Julian Fellowes had me with just the thought of the first Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith)/Martha Levinson (Shirley MacLaine) Kodak moment. Don’t really need any more series 3 story line hints at this point.

So far, we have followed the lives of the Crawley family and their staff beginning the day following the sinking of the Titanic, through the flu pandemic of 1918 and the Great War, ending with Christmas at Downton Abbey in 1919. With series three to be set in the Roaring Twenties and will pick up not long after series two ended, executive producer, Rebecca Eaton has hinted that “…a couple will get married, a baby will be born, a well-known character will die, and that there are good scenes between Shirley MacLaine and Maggie Smith.”

Downton Abbey 3 Watching Party – An Upstairs or Downstairs affair?

With September 2012 just around the corner for the UK premiere on ITV1 and January 2013 a bit further down the same road, but still around the corner, for the U.S. premiere on PBS, it’s time to begin planning your Downton Abbey 3 Watching Party. Food is a central theme and whether its breakfast downstairs or dinner upstairs, the important ingredients are planning and preparation.

While I’m guessing you won’t be sitting down with the cook to plan your watching party menu, if you want to emulate ‘upstairs’, be prepared. A minimum of six courses would be provided for each evening meal and sometimes as many as 22 were served for a particularly special occasion. Starting with soup, you’ll need to plan for about 8 courses. Most important, don’t forget that it is imperative that a different alcoholic drink would be served with each course! Then the ladies would take coffee in the drawing room, while the men would enjoy port, brandy and cigars.

While I always felt the downstairs inhabitants had much more fun, I’m thinking I’d like to live downstairs, but eat upstairs. The downstairs is not quite the salmon and sirloin circuit but, rather a more traditional English diet of steak and kidney pie and roast lamb.

If you’re leaning towards a simpler ‘downstairs’ watching party, ITVFood has provided everyone with a few Edwardian-era cooking recipes to get you started. Whichever you choose, don’t forget to let me know the date and time and what I can bring….

Downton Abbey III adds to cast

Feeling a bit neglected this week given the premiere of Sherlock on PBS (which, btw, premiered to an amazing 3.2 million viewers not including DVR or online viewing), Downton Abbey is back in the news this week with a bit of an update from the filming of series 3. In addition to the already well-documented news of the addition of Shirley MacLaine to the cast, other names are starting to surface which may hint at the direction the storyline is taking.

According to Digital Spy, the most recent additions to the cast are Ed Speleers (Eragon, Love Bites, Echo Beach) will play a footman named Jimmy, Cara Theobald and Lucille Sharp who will play maids and War Horse star, Matt Milne, who has also been added as a footman who’s also the nephew of the is-she-or-isn’t-she-evil lady’s maid O’Brien.

Speaking of Shirley MacLaine, who plays the mother of Lady Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern), evidently, she charmed the cast during filming the last several months.

Penelope Wilton, who can be seen in the upcoming Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with Dame Judi Dench and Bill Nighy and plays Isobel Crawley, recently told Vulture, “Shirley was wonderful“. She’s so marvellous. She’s in the first two episodes, and we loved her.” Wilton also revealed that MacLaine “fell in love” with her co-star Jim Carter (Carson).

“She thought he was heaven. How could you not?” laughed Wilton.

Not that this will hold you until the UK premiere in September 2012 or the U.S. premiere in January 2013, but we’ll try to satisfy the separation anxiety every chance we get. Cheers.