(TV SERIES) The Irregulars Season 1 - A Unique Series About the Baker Street Irregulars from the Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

This series was released on Netflix on Friday but I only watched it during the weekend as I have other movies I needed to complete first. This was one that I have been quite looking forward to ever since the trailer was shown few weeks ago. The premise seemed interesting and also involving one of my favorite detective character Sherlock Holmes. OK, why don't I just go right to it now.

Brief Story Line

In the streets of London during the Victorian period, a group of teenagers that consisted of Beatrice (Thaddea Graham - The Letter for the King TV series etc) with her younger sister Jessie (Darcy Shaw), their childhood friend Billy (Jojo Macari) and Spike (McKell David) were doing whatever they could to survive the harsh living condition. So when Dr. John Watson (Royce Pierreson) enlisted these teenagers' help to find out certain information in the other part of the town with the promise of cash compensation, Bea accepted it with little hesitation.

Meanwhile, young prince Leopold (Harrison Osterfield - Catch 22 mini series etc) who has been living in the palace somehow met and was attracted to Bea. He managed to be part of the group which would be referred to as the Irregulars. During their investigation, they would find the case (and later cases) had to do with paranormal and supernatural elements. Things got further complicated when Watson's partner Sherlock Holmes (Henry Lloyd-Hughes - Now You See Me 2, The Inbetweeners TV series etc) and a mysterious person called Linen Man (Clarke Peters - His Dark Materials TV series, Da 5 Bloods etc) came into the picture.

So what were the reasons for the increase of paranormal activity in London? And how would the Irregulars cope up with these strange cases that would test the relationship among themselves? Find them all in this interesting series.

End of Brief Story Line

As a fan of Sherlock Holmes, I was intrigued to find out this latest adaptation which focused more on the Irregulars rather than Holmes himself. When I read the brief synopsis, I thought it sounded really interesting especially with cases more of paranormal in nature, which would be different from other adaptations I have seen earlier. The first few episodes showed more of the cases and the teenagers struggle within themselves, which made me curious of how the story would develop, even though the mysteries were not that complicated. Of all the cases, my favorite was the one in 3rd episode.

The first season consisted of only 8 episodes which were not too long (none exceeded 1 hour duration). The fourth & fifth episodes were really intriguing with a twist which was not that surprising, but the story telling was really nice. My most favorite episode was definitely the season finale. It was suspenseful and also had dramatic & emotional conclusion, something that I did not see coming, although I think there were some cheesy moments too. I felt that the season did not have a major cliffhanger ending which would make it annoying if this series is not renewed (by the time I wrote this, there was no clear indication of whether or not there will be second season).

Those hard core Sherlock Holmes fans would know the Baker Street Irregulars as they have appeared in 2 books and also few times in TV series and movies under different names such as the Homeless Network or Baker Street Boys. Though in the novels they were led by a boy called Wiggins instead of by a teenaged girl like in this series. Because the focus was on the Irregulars, Holmes was just as supporting character here, so audience should manage the expectations of watching him appeared regularly providing cases solving. 

What I liked about this series was the supernatural elements of the cases and the quite well deductive reasoning by Bea and the vast knowledge of Leopold. Each of the Irregulars have their own characteristic and their internal relationship was fun to watch, albeit some were pretty standard teenagers problems like young love, or existential crisis. The most complex character I think was Billy and Leopold. The young cast here did their job admirably and were not outshined by the more mature and experienced cast. Btw the Holmes and Watson here were totally unlike the characters I have seen before. I admired Henry Lloyd-Hughes & Royce Pierreson for portraying the two characters respectively but the person I admired the most was Tom Bidwell as the creator of the series. 

Overall this was a rather interesting series of Baker Street Irregulars trying to solve paranormal/supernatural mysteries. Due to the unique mysteries, the series might have few horrifying images plus one or two jump scare scenes but it would not be correct to classify it under horror genre. The characters were generally likable. However as I said above, the cases were not that complicated and only have one or two twists. So if you are looking for series with such attributes, then you could enjoy this one. But if you like the more classic approach and having Holmes solving crime after crime in a genius way, then this would not satisfy you. The choice is yours.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars