Table Of ContentInvestigating
SHERLOCK
The Unofficial Guide
NIKKI STAFFORD
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Copyright © Nikki Stafford, 2015
Nikki Stafford has asserted her right under Published by Myrmidon
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For Sydney and Liam,
my own little Holmes and Watson
(though I’ve yet to determine which is which)
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“EVERYTHING HAD CHANGED IN 90 MINUTES”:
The Genesis of Sherlock 1
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH: How a Mimic Became a Star 15
MARTIN FREEMAN: Not Just Another Nice Guy 25
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: The Father of Sherlock Holmes 33
SHERLOCK EPISODE GUIDE 43
SEASON ONE (2010): Dr. Watson, Meet Mr. Holmes 45
1.1 A STUDY IN PINK 48
The Science of Deduction? 65
1.2 THE BLIND BANKER 67
Sherlockians Weigh In: Christopher Redmond 81
1.3 THE GREAT GAME 85
Psychopath or Sociopath? 101
SEASON TWO (2012): Love, Fear, and Death 105
2.1 A SCANDAL IN BELGRAVIA 107
2.2 THE HOUNDS OF BASKERVILLE 126
The Mind Palace 137
2.3 THE REICHENBACH FALL 140
Sherlockians Weigh In: Charles Prepolec 157
SEASON THREE (2014): The Evolution of the Mind Palace 161
Many Happy Returns 163
3.1 THE EMPTY HEARSE 165
3.2 THE SIGN OF THREE 184
Sherlockians Weigh In: Peter Calamai 197
3.3 HIS LAST VOW 200
SOURCES 221
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 227
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SPOILER WARNING
While I won’t outright spoil future episodes, I have written this
book with the assumption that most readers have watched all
of Sherlock, and I will therefore hint at some things to come. I
recommend that you watch the entire season before reading
the corresponding guide to that season.
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“EVERYTHING HAD
CHANGED IN 90 MINUTES”
The Genesis of Sherlock
According to Arthur Conan Doyle biographer Russell Miller,
only Mickey Mouse and Santa Claus rival Sherlock Holmes
for worldwide instant recognition. The great detective holds
the world record for most movie adaptations of a single fic-
tional character. Almost 130 years after he was first invented,
he remains the most popular fictional detective of all time. He
is instantly recognizable when seen in silhouette form. And
yet, since William Gillette first walked onto a London stage
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in 1899 as Sherlock Holmes, everyone who has ever stepped
into Holmes’s shoes has brought something new to the char-
acter. Basil Rathbone emphasized the character’s quiet dignity,
Jeremy Brett his cunning intensity and humor. Robert Downey
Jr.’s Holmes is a bare-knuckle boxer and man of action (which,
as might come as a surprise to some, is actually one aspect of
the Holmes character in the books). There have been parodies
and pastiches, fan fiction and fan speculation. Was there really
room for yet another version of the great detective?
What a ridiculous question.
Two of the greatest moments of inspiration in British pop cul-
ture have happened on trains: on a long trip from Manchester
to London, J.K. Rowling scribbled on a napkin the beginnings
of the idea for a series of books about a boy wizard. And
throughout several shorter trips from Cardiff to London, Doctor
Who writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss talked about their
love of the Sherlock Holmes stories and wondered why no one
had developed a modern-day version for television.
In both cases, the rest is history.
Steven Moffat (born November 18, 1961) is the son of school-
teachers, and he followed them into the same profession while
writing on the side. Moffat’s father, Bill, pitched a series to a
BBC executive about a school newspaper, and they loved it. Bill
said they could have it — on the grounds that they take a look
at his schoolteacher son’s pilot script. They loved it, and the
sitcom Press Gang (1989–1993) was born. Moffat wrote all 43 epi-
sodes of the show, which took a toll on both him and his mar-
riage. Two more sitcoms followed — Joking Apart and Chalk
— followed by his breakout hit, Coupling, where he again wrote
every episode. Where Press Gang and Joking Apart featured
scenes from his own dissolving marriage, Coupling (2000–2004)
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