‘Sherlock’ wins Best TV movie in big Emmy shocker
The Abominable Bride won the Emmy for Best Television Movie topping Jay Roach’s LBJ biopic All The Way in a major upset compared to the expectations from the “experts.”
A fan favorite, the Masterpiece/PBS series stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a modern version of the iconic Arthur Conan Doyle character, opposite Fargo, Hobbit star Martin Freeman’s Watson.
HBO’s critically-lauded All The Way had been the favorite to win the Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie, which surprised fans and critics alike. All The Way starred Bryan Cranston as the 36th president, who was sworn in hours after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
In the Masterpiece special, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, Holmes and Watson find themselves cracking mysteries in 1890s London, focusing in on the case of the “Abominable Bride” — in contrast to the 21st century London setting of the contemporary series.
Sherlock executive producer Steven Moffat said that to him the most important things about Sherlock Holmes has always been Holmes’ “demonstrated intelligence” as well as the “eternal friendship of absolute opposites” that is Watson and Holmes.
It is “sweet friendship and pure reason,” Moffat said. He added that no version of the Holmes story is the correct one: “It’s not about being definitive, it’s about taking your won perception and doing your own thing with it.” The only definitive Sherlock, he added is “definitely the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”
The Abominable Bride also starred Una Stubbs as Mrs. Hudson; Rupert Graves as DI Lestrad; series writer Mark Gatiss as Mycroft Holmes; and Andrew Scott as Moriarty.
In addition to All The Way, Sherlock beat out HBO’s Confirmation, starring Kerry Washington as Anita Hill and Wendell Pierce as Clarence Thomas; BBC America’s Luther, starring Idris Elba; and Netflix’s A Very Murray Christmas, starring Bill Murray with help from myriad big names including Miley Cyrus, George Clooney and Chris Rock.