It's Not Elementary in the Slightest

If you're a fan of Sherlock Holmes, you might have found yourself caught in the midst of arguments about the dueling Sherlocks -- which is better, which do you prefer? -- Benedict Cumberbatch's Holmes in the BBC version shown here on PBS, or Johnny Lee Miller's Sherlock in the CBS series, Elementary.

The reality is that the swirling argument is even more convoluted than most people imagined.

That's because the two actors both starred together in the acclaimed National Theatre production of Frankenstein in 2011.  But it gets even more convoluted than that.  Because the two actors played the same roles in the show -- alternating between Dr. Frankenstein and the Creature on different nights.  And to mix things up all the more, if such a thing is possible, they shared the Olivier Award for Best Actor.

The stage production was directed by Danny Boyle, best known for Slumdog Millionaire.  As it happened, the show was filmed live and shown to select movie theaters around the world.  (Yes, I know, I'm just finding out about this, too, far after the fact.)  And to best recreate the stage management of alternating performances, the two actors switched parts during the movie theater performance.

That production has never been released on DVD, at least yet, though there are no plans currently to do so.  But here are five minutes from it.  In this sequence, Cumberbatch plays Frankenstein, and Miller the Creature.