Format

A brand-new reality competition series is set to air in the UK soon: Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock: The Detective Academy (working title), in which real-life contestants will follow in Holmes’ footsteps.
This project is the result of an exclusive deal between Banijay-owned Remarkable Entertainment and The Arthur Conan Doyle Estate to develop an unscripted TV format set in the world of Sherlock Holmes. The prodco didn’t divulge much info about the show beyond saying it will ‘test players’ powers of deduction and logic as they attempt to solve puzzling crimes from the world of Sherlock Holmes.
The format follows the ‘From Scripted To Unscripted’ trend, i.e. transposing scripted IP in the format world, as demonstrated by the recently announced Netflix competition series The Golden Ticket, which is based on Roald Dahl's novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (see FE 28 March).
Conan Doyle created 60 original Sherlock Holmes stories between 1887 and 1927 and the IP remains one of the most depicted characters in print, film and TV. The Sherlock Holmes character and most of his stories are now in the public domain worldwide, meaning anyone can use the character and earlier works without permission or royalties. However, by teaming up with The Arthur Conan Doyle Estate, Remarkable Entertainment will avoid a potential legal dispute over its use of IP and benefit from being officially endorsed by the estate while shopping the unscripted format.
It will be the first unscripted show based on the world of Holmes, who has been the inspiration for numerous films and TV dramas over the years, including the hit BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatch. We'll see if the unscripted version lives up to (or at least doesn't disappoint too much) the novels and fictions that came before it.
Axel Fiacco
To read about the other two brand-new formats for becoming a Shaolin Master or becoming your ‘real self', go to go to: https://cmmespresso.substack.com/p/becoming

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