Ok, so the feedback from the production company is that there were elements of my pilot outline that they really liked, but the mystery I chose (with Viscount Snowden and his wife) was not one of them.
So, back to the drawing board we go!
The ‘notes’ as they are called in TV-land are that the thing they love about Portia is her outsider status – as a Canadian in London, as a woman in a man’s field, that kind of thing. They would like the first case she takes on to be demonstrative of that lens.
What kind of cases would Portia be attracted to given her background?
What observations would she make because of her outsider lens?
What crime would seem important to her and the subjects because of their shared experiences?
I’ve also been thinking about my personal connection to Portia (thanks to my friend Kathryn for suggesting it) and the whole idea of ‘passing’ for white. Maybe I can incorporate that into the pilot as well.
So here I go again my friends, into the breach. See you on the other side.
Well, if you want to play up the outsider angle, you might want to look into the victims being outsiders. Or perhaps someone who is an outsider in high society is accused of a crime, but Portia sees something that the investigators don’t that convinces her of the accused’s innocence. Actually, I like that better. Not only is she a woman and a Canadian trying to prove to herself to a English male police force, but to a society who has already found its culprit and doesn’t want to hear evidence to the contrary.
And maybe Sherlock Holmes can make an appearance too, as an anonymous source who feeds info or tips to Portia. He could be scoping out his granddaughter, seeing how she’s inherited his personality and abilities and is encouraging them without revealing who he is.
That might be a bit much, but it would be cool.
Does any of this stimulate your imagination?
That’s kind of where I was going in my head, so yes, it stimulates and fortifies. Unfortunately, one of the notes back from the production company was for this show to set itself apart from the other Sherlockian shows, Sherlock would have to be dead.
That’s a departure from the books!
Tell me about it. As the production company rightfully reminds me, this is an adaptation of my books. There’s a lot of changes.
Well, perhaps in a future episode you can have flashbacks to a Holmes case. Perhaps a case that Holmes was unable to solve at the time for whatever reason.
Wouldn’t she solve crimes specifically committed by other outsiders, such as killing out of jealousy or revenge from being excluded (like killing your former bully) or maybe someone lonely kidnapping a child who then accidentally dies, or something? And couldn’t the psychological “thread” throughout the episodes be that she is always a little bit too sympathetic to the perpetrator? Or too fascinated by them?
I have that thread idea in there, for sure, to play up the Watson side of her brain. But the crimes perpetrated by outsiders is an interesting angle. Thanks!