BBC Sherlock Age Rating

[SH/LotR/Zelda Fan]

Ok, so basically, I do not own the DVD (although I would soooo want to!) but I have aSiP on my iPad. And I want to be able to watch it at school (we're allowed to watch films on the last day of school). But my school is sooo annoying, and we're only allowed U and PG ratings. And that's only SOME PGs. I want to know what the age rating is, because I don't want to take the iPad to school, not use it AND risk it getting damaged/stolen etc.

 

I'm assuming the age rating is on the DVD...

[Carol the Dabbler]

We have the American DVD of Season 1, which has no age rating on the package, but the listing on Amazon UK says "Suitable for 12 years and over."

 

[SH/LotR/Zelda Fan]

Thanks! Awww...too bad then at least I can rewatch tHoB later today...20:30 UK time BBC 1. If you have BBC in America...I think from somewhere I heard you don't...

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

We do have BBC America that can be had either through cable or satellite. Some can even get it on their ipads, Iphones, or right over the computer.

[Carol the Dabbler]

But BBC America doesn't carry Sherlock, so we don't get the new episodes when you get them on the BBC.  We get them later, on PBS.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, right -- it's Friday again!  Be sure to watch for the next title word!

 

[Pawse]

Sherlock is rated 12.

[Redbeard]

When we watched it on BBC Canada (they had a marathon a couple of months ago) every episode had that warning that goes something like "The following contains mature subject matter and is intended for mature audiences only.   Parental discretion is advised".  I thought that was a bit heavy-handed for Sherlock!?    I hope it didn't scare anyone away from enjoying a wonderful show.

[Arcadia]

I don't recall that PBS had any viewer warnings but they put it on pretty late, which is an indication it's not intended for really young viewers. I think the swearing would put it in that category, if nothing else. Some of the violence would not be considered suitable for younger viewers here in the States, either.

[Carol the Dabbler]

The PBS versions of Series 1 and 2 had a good bit of the "language" removed, though (e.g., when Mycroft tells John that Sherlock had accepted the cigarette, and John says "Shit!").  And I don't offhand recall any actual "bad words" in Series 3 -- the juxtaposition of Sherlock's "F-" and John's "Cough!" is allowable on American broadcast television because there is an innocuous interpretation (in addition to the other one).

 

But you're right, the show does often deal with themes that I wouldn't consider appropriate for a child (even though most kids nowadays have probably seen more shows of that sort than I have).  Take "Scandal" just for starters!  And Sherlock torturing the dying cabbie in "Study."  And so on, including pretty much all of "Last Vow."

 

[T.o.b.y]

But you're right, the show does often deal with themes that I wouldn't consider appropriate for a child

 

Hmmm... I do wonder how I'd have reacted to the series if I had somehow come across it when I was little.

 

On the one hand, I disliked a lot of the stuff that grown-ups do consider "appropriate for children", on the other hand, I was very easily scared. I don't think I could have sat through The Blind Baker, for example. Or The Great Game. Or The Hounds of Bakskerville. That last one still isn't something I watch alone in bed before trying to fall asleep...

 

I guess twelve is a pretty good age rating for Sherlock in general. I read my first Holmes novel when I was thirteen and I loved it, so yeah.

 

I do wonder whether most kids like Sherlock, though. He has these childlike and adolescent qualities, I can imagine him appealing to a younger audience. And the best friend as the most important relationship in one's life is also very characteristic for the pre-puberty years. I never understood why so many kids films have a classic romance at the center. I think that's probably more for the parents' benefit. Not that I think it's inappropriate, there's nothing wrong with love, but it wasn't something I could empathize with very well as a child...

[Arcadia]

I think most of it would have gone completely over my little head! I would have loved the chase scene in ASiP, though. Wait: it still does, and I still do. Hmm, haven't matured much, have I?

[Carol the Dabbler]

I was reading mostly adult books by age 12 (though not what they call "adult" books nowadays).  But our local library apparently didn't include genre fiction, because I had no idea there was any such thing as science fiction or detective stories -- so who knows how I might have reacted to Conan Doyle's Holmes stories.

 

Sherlock would have been quite a shock to me, I'm sure!  But then, Sherlock is very much a current-day program, whereas I was a back-then kinda kid.

 

[Arcadia]

Yeah, me too, and yeah, they were pretty tame by today's standards. I remember when "hell" and "damn" was enough to include a book in the adult section.

 

Aren't librarians wonderful people? They were the ones who encouraged me to check out books from the "adult" section, among many other wonderful encounters I've had with them through my life. They let me check out all 3 volumes of LOTR at once, and encouraged me to try sci fi. Librarians rule!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Wow -- I'd have liked your librarians for sure!

 

We must not have had any sf or fantasy (or detectives) in our library, because I read pretty much everything they had, and I don't remember any of that.  And our librarians were more likely to say, "Wouldn't you rather check out something that you can read yourself?"  Grrrr!

 

[Arcadia]

Well, I do think I was extraordinarily lucky in that regard, we always lived near a really good library. Still do! Everyone should have that good fortune.

[SH/LotR/Zelda Fan]

I do wonder whether most kids like Sherlock, though.

Well, I know 5 people who are my age at my school who watch Sherlock and really like it, and one of them apparently watched it when it first came out. 2 of them only started watching after series 3.

 

I remember watching tBB when it came out and I was 7 and being pretty scared. And also confused because I only started watching halfway through . When I watched it last year when I was 10 though, I found it amazing and not scary (and also not as good as aSiP)

[Caya]

Wow, you were way tougher than I was at 7 (I would've been scared to death by the scenes in the museum and the tunnel). Also, can I say how much I envy you growing up with this series? ^_^

[T.o.b.y]

I was thinking today, during unexpected and blissful, too-good-to-be-true phases of nothing much to do at work, about how actually, Sherlock sends so many wrong messages in so many ways and I not only don't give a damn about that, I actually like it.

 

For example, the drugs thing. The writers like to claim that it's okay, because he's not really addicted, he just uses drugs to get some excitement when cases are slow. But that is actually worse than having a hero who's a junkie. "I'm not addicted, I just take drugs once in a while for fun?" Oh come on. That is so dangerous an idea, I can't believe they're getting away with it. It's very true to the original, though. And one of the may ways in which Sherlock is better-than-real. What does he care about the limits of ordinary mortals?

 

Nearly anything Sherlock says of does probably needs a "don't try this at home" warning / disclaimer. But the show does not insult it's audience's intelligence by inserting those in any way. I love that. I love that my favorite series just revels in the fun of a fictional alternative universe where people like Sherlock can shoot creeps who threaten their best friend's wife and insult anybody within earshot. Where John can keep his gun and use it if he likes, and money is never a problem. Where you can keep body parts in your fridge, and you can shoot your wall if you like, and turn your kitchen table into a lab. If, if you are Sherlock Holmes, of course. The big if.

[Arcadia]

I ponder this every so often, then remember the reason they get away with it .... it's played for laughs. If they were presenting these traits as laudable, I wouldn't be watching the show, I suspect. But because it's presented as ridiculous, it's fun. With enough drama thrown in to keep it, uh, dramatic.