Genre and Target Audience Research - Sherlock

Sherlock is a BBC One contemporary crime drama series, an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Sherlock has had 3 series aired so far, with the first episode airing on the 25th July 2010 and the latest episode airing on the 12th January 2014. There are three episodes per series, therefore 9 episodes have been produced so far. Sherlock is played by Benedict Cumberbatch, and Martin Freeman is Doctor John Watson. On the 2nd July 2014, Sherlock was renewed for a fourth series, with the three-episode series being aired in early 2016, following on from a Christmas airing in December 2015.

There are two main recurring themes in the Sherlock series: the science of deduction, and loyalty. With the science of deduction, Sherlock repetitively shows how you can discover and uncover a lot of information from even the smallest of things. Holmes can decipher information from almost any object, from personal appearance to personal items. Loyalty is the other key theme, and this particularly links to Sherlock and Doctor John Watson's relationship. This is an important theme to the series as Sherlock and Doctor John work together to solve the crime, as they are both equally as clever but their personalities couldn't be any more different, creating tension between them sometimes. I think that loyalty isn't a typical theme for a crime drama, as normally it's focussing on key issues like abuse, drugs, discrimination and so on, but the relationship between Sherlock and Doctor John is almost like a married couple like they're against everybody (including the MI5 and the Police) and working on their own, and so it's a key element to the series and the story lines.

I would say that the target audience for Sherlock are anybody over the age of 14. This is because the story lines can be complex and there is a lot to take it, therefore children under the age of around 14 might struggle to keep up with the storyline. Furthermore, the story lines can be nerving for younger people because some of the characters and plots can appear creepy. After 14, it is really suitable for anyone who is interested in Sherlock Holmes and crime dramas in general. However, it is a very modern adaptation to Sherlock Holmes, so older viewers who are used to reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories may not like it as much.