'Sherlock' criticised over raunchy pre-watershed scenes

The BBC has been criticised by family viewers after a nude dominatrix appeared in the hit detective drama Sherlock this weekend before the 9pm watershed.



Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, the modern-day adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1891 Sherlock Holmes short story A Scandal in Bohemia aired on New Year's Day.

The episode feature actress Laura Pulver wearing just diamond earrings and high heels at one point as she played dominatrix Irene Adler.

In the scene, shown 25 minutes before the 9pm watershed, Pulver's modesty was covered by some clever editing, but the character was still sexually suggestive, stroking Sherlock's face at one point with a riding crop.

She also wore just a thong in another scene as she entered a room with a woman tied to a bed, and tampered with Sherlock's mobile phone so that text messages would be announced with a sexual moan.

Nearly 10 million people tuned in to watch the New Year's Day episode, but some viewers have complained about the racy scenes being shown pre-watershed, reports the Daily Mail.

One viewer wrote on Twitter: "Dominatrix?! Watershed anyone? My ten year-old was watching that."

Another viewer tweeted: "I don't think the storyline in Sherlock is pre-watershed suitable."

A third wrote: "How was Sherlock on pre-watershed with that slut walking round with no clothes on for most of it?!"

The BBC responded by defending Sherlock and insisting that it had not received any complaints.

A spokesman for the corporation said: "We're delighted with the critical and audience response to the first episode, which has been extremely positive, and have received no complaints at this stage."

It is not clear if any viewers have complained to media regulator Ofcom about the scheduling of A Scandal in Bohemia.

The show's co-creator Steven Moffat had previously said that the racy Adler was introduced as Holmes's latest foe in order to offset the gay undercurrent between him and his sidekick Dr Watson.

Sherlock's return had been largely well received by viewers, although some Twitter users complained about the frequent references to a "cameraphone" by the characters, rather than just saying smartphone as people typically do.

Sherlock star Lara Pulver has admitted that she felt "vulnerable" filming nude scenes in the show.



In an episode of the BBC One series broadcast on New Year's Day, Pulver stripped off for her role as Irene Adler.

However, she told The Sun that filming the scenes was also empowering.

"I have never felt so vulnerable in my whole life and in feeling that vulnerability it unleashed an inner power," she said.

"I thought, 'OK, I'm naked, I'm exposing everything, you can't hide behind Spanx, you can't hide behind a dress'. It's like, 'I'm completely naked, what of it?' There is something about being a woman and being naked that's great and I thought, 'Let's just celebrate that'."

Pulver added that her co-stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman have both stripped off for roles before and joked that Freeman enjoyed her nude scenes a little too much.

"Martin is always naughty," she said. "[His nickname] 'Martin Freehands' is so true. He was like, 'Oh, there she is. She's naked and there's her arse crack and off we go...'"

Sherlock continues with a new episode on Sunday at 8.30pm on BBC One.

'Sherlock' episode with naked Lara Pulver tops BBC iPlayer chart

Sherlock is currently the most-watched show on the BBC iPlayer for 2012.

The Benedict Cumberbatch drama took the top three spots between January and April, new figures released by the BBC reveal.

Series two premiere 'A Scandal in Belgravia' starring actress Lara Pulver in much-publicised nude scenes was the most-watched episode overall, with 2.5m viewers.

Finale 'The Reichenbach Fall' managed 1.9m.

'The Hounds of Baskerville' took the third spot with 1.6m, ahead of the Top Gear India Special which attracted 1.1m.

Other shows to make the top ten include the New Year's Day instalment of EastEnders (1.09m), the Hustle series eight premiere (967,000), the first part of the BBC's Birdsong adaptation (866,000) and the first episode of hit drama Call the Midwife (800,000).

Sherlock's Steven Moffat recently confirmed to Digital Spy that new episodes will begin filming in January, while series co-creator Mark Gatiss also revealed to DS that he will write the show's third series premiere.

I have all three episodes archived in HD format