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My presentation on "Re-imagining Moriarty for the Modern Age" for the "New Directions in Sherlock" Conference held on Friday 11 April 2014 in London. The presentation compares Conan Doyle's Canon Professor Moriarty with BBC Sherlock's Jim Moriarty, played by Andrew Scott. #NDSherlock. copyright © Rakshita Patel 2014
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Re-imagining Moriarty
by Rakshita (Raks) Patel
Re-imagining Moriarty
for the Modern Age
Conan Doyle Canon Moriarty vs
BBC Sherlock Jim Moriarty
Villain Essential – Crime or Detective Drama
Inspire Fear – Chills up and down your spine
Worthy Opponent
Jim: “Every fairytale needs a good old-fashioned villain”
Series highlights – Sherlock and Jim meetings
Sherlock and Jim Set Pieces
Swimming Pool, Tea Party, St Barts Rooftop
Moriarty: Canon vs BBC Sherlock
Conan Doyle Canon Moriarty• Age? - Paget• Extremely tall and thin• Good birth, excellent
education• Professor Moriarty –
Maths Professor • Looks and acts like a
professor• Extraordinary mental
powers• Genius, Philosopher,
Abstract Thinker• Brain of the first order
Conan Doyle Canon
Moriarty• Hereditary tendencies of
the most diabolical kind• Criminal strain ran in his
blood• “Napoleon of Crime”• Central organizing power• Numerous agents• Pervades London• Most dangerous criminal
in Europe
BBC SherlockJim Moriarty• Young • Stylish “Westwood”• Handsome (dates
Molly!)• IT wizard/geek, tech
savvy• Psycho / Mad• Funny • Irish• Consulting criminal:
“specialist” arranging crimes
Reptilian“His face protrudes forward, and is for ever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian
fashion”
Jim Moriarty, Consulting Criminal
Mad, bad and dangerous to know
Psycho “Mad”Terrifying, Risk-taker, Unpredictable, Exciting,
Evil Sherlock “You’re insane”
The Devil• Temptation
• Eve, Serpent, Garden of Eden, The Fall
• Sherlock “on the side of the Angels”
• Jim “I owe you a Fall, Sherlock”
• Apple inscribed with I O U
Humour / Light relief
• I gave you my number I thought you might call
• Is that a British Army Browning L9A1 in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?
• The flirting’s over Sherlock, Daddy’s had enough now
• Westwood!
• Staying Alive ringtone
Jim is fun!“Honey, you should see me in a Crown”
Spider and its Web
Moriarty the Spider Conan Doyle Canon
“He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them”.
BBC Sherlock
Jim Moriarty is a “Spider”
“A spider at the centre of a web, criminal web, with a thousand threads, and he knows precisely how each and every single one of them dances”.
Moriarty’s WebMoriarty “pervades” London and is behind all the crime in London
Canon: Moriarty’s first appearance is in “The Final Problem”
In BBC Sherlock:
A Study in Pink: Taxi driver’s dying scream of “Moriarty”
The Blind Banker: M is behind the Chinese gang and Shan (gang leader) is assassinated by a sniper sent by M at the end of the episode
We (the audience) learn to fear the name of Moriarty way before he makes his first on-screen appearance – builds suspense “who is he?” and rachets up tension
The Great Game: Jim Moriarty only appears in closing scene (final 10 mins of Series 1) – Moriarty always used sparingly
Modern Day “Evil”
• 9/11 New York, US
• 7/7 London, UK
• Most horrifying crime today =
terrorist bomb / suicide bombers
• The Great Game
Yin and YangHolmes and
MoriartyOpposite/contrary forces are interconnected and
interdependent in natural world
Physical manifestations - natural dualities: light & dark, hot & cold, fire & water, life & death, sun & moon, male & female
Yin and Yang: Sherlock and Jim
Consulting Detective – Consulting Criminal
Intellectual equals: Using brain for good or bad?
Holmes - Fights crimeDeduction and DetectionConsulting Detective
Moriarty - Perpetrates crimeCriminal MastermindConsulting Criminal
Interconnected & Interdependent
The Great Game: Sherlock is “bored, bored, bored”. Without work, his brain rots
The Hounds of Baskerville: Sherlock sees Jim in the fog – Sherlock’s “Hound” is Jim
The Hounds of Baskerville: “Sherlock” inscribed on Jim’s cell walls
The Reichenbach Fall: “Get Sherlock”, Cat and mouse game
His Last Vow: Jim is in Sherlock’s mind palace and brings him back from the dead by telling him John Watson is in danger
His Last Vow: “Miss Me?” Jim’s “return” saves Sherlock from certain death as he is recalled to UK
Sherlock’s “Hound”: Jim
Jim’s Cell
“Get Sherlock”
Gay kiss
Onscreen chemistry between Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott Shared scenes electric
Jim’s Return?
“Did you miss me?”BBC Sherlock needs Villain, Sherlock
needs Jim