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A Scandal In Belgravia vs. A Scandal In Bohemia

Sunday’s Sherlock Series 2 premiere on PBS was packed with everything fans love about the show. Afterwards, I decided to read the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story to figure out what was the same and what was different. 

Most of the changes from canon to television concern Irene Adler. It is interesting to note that in the story, Watson is married. So far, the miniseries shows Watson as single with occasional attempts at dating. 

The first difference is right in the title of the episode. The original story is called “A Scandal In Bohemia”. Bohemia no longer exists as an independent political entity and it is now known as the Czech Republic. Although Belgrade (the capital of Serbia) is to the east of historical Bohemia, it is more in the public consciousness than Bohemia. Belgrade has connections to the Kosovo War, immigration to Western Europe and the UK, and global terrorism/counter terrorism. The latter is the most important, especially given the criminal activity in the episode.

Irene Adler in both versions is “The Woman” who bested Sherlock Holmes. She lives and works outside society’s boundaries of decency and respectability. She is beautiful as well as cunning. Although Adler in both versions had romantic and sexual encounters with wealthy men, her occupation was radically different. Irene in canon  was a singer and adventuress. Television Irene is a dominatrix to the rich and powerful. Sex workers today are scandalous in the way singers and performers would have been in Doyle’s day.  

Another major difference between the story and the show is that Moriarty and his agents were never mentioned in connection with Irene Adler. She was a antagonist with motives and actions independent of other established villains. Having Irene under Moriarty’s influence was a necessary change given the more global scope of the crime

Sherlock Holmes in the original story was hired by the King of Bohemia in disguise as a nobleman. He assisted various European royal houses in the past and was considered trustworthy enough to handle this case. Mycroft and his associates do not appear in the stories.  

Although technology changes, Irene’s secret keeping remains the same. In the story, she dated the King of Bohemia. She kept the love letters and photographs even though they broke up and the King was set to marry another woman. The smartphone files in the television show were just as likely to have personal and political consequences if leaked.

Only minor changes were made to Sherlock’s attempt at entering Irene’s house in A Scandal In Begravia. Both versions of the story featured Sherlock in a clergyman’s uniform and a staged mugging. However, actors were hired by Sherlock to fight in front of Irene’s house in the original story. Watson alone beat him up on television. In both versions, Watson created a fire inside of Irene’s house. Since the story was written before the invention of indoor smoke alarms, Watson had to throw a flammable object inside of the house. Once the fire started, Irene rushed to safeguard her secrets.

Irene in both instances was able to escape Sherlock and manipulate events in her favor. In the story, Irene sends Sherlock news that she is happily married and the secrets are safe. In contrast, on television Sherlock continues to crack the code of Irene’s smart phone as well as her personality. At the end of the episode, Irene manipulates Sherlock into helping her escape. 

Overall, the first 35 minutes of A Scandal of Belgravia stick fairly closely to the original story. The rest of the episode’s plot moves towards the foiling of Moriarty’s latest plot. Most of the changes are related to either changes in technology, society, or changes made to accommodate the new plot points of the episode. 

Check back next week when I pit The Hounds of Baskerville against The Hound Of The Baskervilles!