Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Sherlock: Season One 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

The Sign of the 4K.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III September 1, 2024

Running for four seasons between 2010-17, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat's BBC series Sherlock successfully brought Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic detective stories into the modern era. Featuring great casting led by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Watson as well as solid scripts, terrific production design, and long-form structures more akin to full-length films, each season consisted of just three episodes; a one-off special, "The Abominable Bride", was also produced between the third and fourth season. The easiest way to get everything in one fell swoop is via WB's complete series Blu-ray set... but a year after that box was released, the studio shrewdly re-released the first season in 4K UHD with upgrades to its audio, video, and extras. It presumably didn't sell well enough to continue, but can still be found for pennies on the dollar and is thus a solid buy for format enthusiasts and newcomers alike.

For a synopsis of this first season -- which includes the feature-length adventures "A Study in Pink", "The Blind Baker", and "The Great Game" -- please see Kenneth Brown's 2010 review of the stand-alone Blu-ray edition. This newer UHD set is more or less identical in overall form factor, comfortably squeezing everything onto a pair of 100GB discs with a surprisingly nice collection of bonus features... some of them new and presumably exclusive to this release.

Sherlock: Season One 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE: As this release does not include a Blu-ray, these screenshots were sourced from the 4K disc and downsampled to 1080p/SDR. For that reason, they're not an accurate gauge of the true UHD presentation.

Sherlock's first season was released to Blu-ray all the way back in 2010 in 1080i, a format rarely seen on HD home video but one that nonetheless scored decent marks in our review linked above. One might expect that this 4K edition's 2160p/HDR upgrade would be a night-and-day difference, but the source materials native 2K resolution and particular aesthetic doesn't lend its to visual revelation. Even so, the upgrades are clearly there: largely in the form of fine detail and disc compression, as the UHD format's more efficient HEVC codec and more ample real estate -- roughly double, in this case -- means that "just an upscale" shouldn't be damning with feint praise. What's more is that it also features high dynamic range and thus shows a much greater and more refined variant in contrast levels and depth on both ends of the brightness spectrum; this frequently bolsters the show's shadowy cinematography, not to mention its generally muted but nonetheless particular color scheme which typically runs quite cool. Bit rate follows suit, again often more than doubling the numbers seen on the older Blu-ray edition, which results in fewer noticeable compression artifacts such as posterization and macro blocking. As usual, the Blu-ray still holds its own on smaller displays... but everyone else can and will notice the differences here and it'll probably harder to "go back" than you expect.

Sherlock: Season One 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warner Bros. had the bad habit of sticking with lossy audio tracks for years after Blu-ray's debut in 2006 -- not to mention other related audio issues that only began to go away a few years ago -- so it's no surprise that Sherlock: Season One's 2010 Blu-ray edition featured a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track. This beefier DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix obviously ups the ante but again not to a transformative degree, obviously offering an improved dynamic range and a better-balanced sonic footprint without venturing into full-bodied Atmos territory. No matter: what's here still gets the job done, and to decently stronger degree, as Sherlock features some very nice atmospherics and other appreciated elements such as Victorian-era music by series composers David Arnold and Michael Price, as well as plenty of discrete activity to ensure that the front channel doesn't have to do all the heavy lifting. It's a nicely-refined effort overall, and one that I'm certainly glad got the upgrade -- somewhat frustratingly, WB also saddled Sherlock's second season Blu-ray with Dolby Digital audio back in 2012, making it the only one of the lot still stuck in lossy audio land.

Much like Season One's Blu-ray counterpart, optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during all three episodes.

Sherlock: Season One 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc release ships in a rather nondescript dual-hubbed eco keepcase with recycled cover artwork and no inserts; you may or may not get a slipcover. (I didn't.) The bonus features are spread across both discs and, as mentioned earlier, are mostly recycled from the older Blu-ray edition with a few nice additions.

DISC ONE

• Audio Commentary for "A Study in Pink" - Featuring writer/executive producer Steven Moffat, executive producer Mark Gatiss and producer Sue Vertue.

DISC TWO

• Audio Commentary for "The Great Game" - Featuring executive producer Mark Gatiss along with actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

• Pilot Episode: A Study in Pink" (57:35) - A condensed pre-broadcast version of the first episode.

• Unlocking Sherlock (33:59) - A well-made production documentary featuring the cast and crew.

• NEW! Interviews - This series of lightweight 2010 video interviews -- which, for whatever reason, aren't mentioned at all on the keepcase packaging or even the BBC's own product page -- are largely promotional in nature and collectively feature a handful of familiar cast and crew members. A belated audio commentary for "The Blind Baker" would've been great too, but these are at least worth a once-over.

• Breakfast Interview with Benedict Cumberbatch (8:58) - No bacon and eggs here. This light conversation was recorded for the BBC morning news magazine show Breakfast just four nights before Sherlock's UK premiere on July 25, 2010. It's led by show hosts Charlie Stayt and Kate Silverton.
• Newsnight Interview with Steven Moffat and Mark Ravenhill (7:56) - The countdown to Sherlock's UK premiere continues with this like-minded conversation hosted by Gavin Esler for BBC's Newsnight.
• Andrew Marr Interview with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman (8:22) - Jumping ahead to the morning of Sherlock's premiere, this piece was recorded for the Andrew Marr Show.
• Breakfast Interview with Steven Moffar and Sue Vertue (8:36) - The only true retrospective conversation of the bunch, this last interview -- led by the morning show's hosts Bill Turnbull and Sian Williams -- aired on August 10, 2010, only two days after Sherlock's Season One finale.

Sherlock: Season One 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat's BBC series Sherlock was well-received during its initial four-season run in 2010-17 and has also left its mark on home video, which is perhaps best represented by Warner Bros.' complete series Blu-ray set. Soon after, the studio shrewdly released Sherlock's first season on 4K as a well-rounded set that improved upon its HD counterpart in every possible department. Now available for pennies on the dollar (right around $10, as of this review), it's an extremely low-risk upgrade for format enthusiasts and newcomers... and even if the full series gets a surprise full-series release in the future, this one's well worth picking up at the current price point. Firmly Recommended.