Sherlock Smoking

[anykey]

So this thought just occurred to me and it probably doesn't matter, but instead of Sherlock using nicotine patches wouldn't it make more sense if he used an e-cigarette  perhaps?

[Julia Mae]

So this thought just occurred to me and it probably doesn't matter, but instead of Sherlock using nicotine patches wouldn't it make more sense if he used an e-cigarette  perhaps?

 

It's hard to smoke three at a time when you have a "three-patch" problem! 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Please forgive my ignorance, but are e-cigarettes allowed in no-smoking areas?

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Please forgive my ignorance, but are e-cigarettes allowed in no-smoking areas?

Not really. Non-smokers get up in arms even when they are being used. And the medical arena is saying that while there is no second hand smoke from them, the smoker is still getting nicotine and cancer causing agents from the cartridges. So it's a no win situation for the smoker.

 

But I think the real kicker is that Mr. Cumberbatch is not a smoker. So he was trying to avoid nicotine all together. He said in the commentary for "ASIB" that they did so many takes on the scene of Sherlock smoking at the morgue that he got nicotine poisoning. Nasty stuff. No fun at all. It's like a major migraine and he had to work through it the next day. Which he did with flying colors.  The "patches" he used were probably those big bandage thingies with no nicotine what so ever.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

As far as being able to fake it so Cumberbatch doesn't have to suffer, they could presumably give him a dummy e-cigarette as easily as a dummy nicotine patch (or three).  They probably decided the patches were funnier -- especially considering the reveal when we're first tricked into thinking he's injected himself with something, and then he explains to John that "It's a three-patch problem" (which is a take on Conan Doyle's "three-pipe problem").

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Never used the patch so I don't know if they really give that kind of rush or if it was just darn good acting.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Even though the whole point of the patches is to maintain a constant level of nicotine in the blood, things don't always work as perfectly as the ads would have us believe.  I've heard that some transdermal medications peak during the first two hours.  So yes, there could be something of a rush, though presumably nothing like what Sherlock seemed to be experiencing -- even with three patches.  Perhaps he's more subject to the power of suggestion than he'd care to think!

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Or Sherlock remembering when it was the cold prick of a needle?

[RichardBrook]

I've often pondered this too. It'd keep the spirit of Conan Doyle's original conception of Sherlock, but add a modern flavor to it. I myself am making the transition to ecigs, so it'd be cool to see Sherlock puffing on one. 

[aely]

Also, at the time of the pilot especially but also S1, e-cigarettes weren't that common. They've only really taken off over here in the last 2 years or so. I'd never seen anyone using one before late 2011 and now they're everywhere.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Since Cumberbatch is a non-smoker and gets nicotine poisoning easily, I don't think we will see Sherlock puffing on one, unless they have a very low or non-nicotine cartridge. Or if they could rig one up to work without any kind of cartridge at all.

[bborchar]

Since Cumberbatch is a non-smoker and gets nicotine poisoning easily, I don't think we will see Sherlock puffing on one, unless they have a very low or non-nicotine cartridge. Or if they could rig one up to work without any kind of cartridge at all.

 

I was under the impression that Benedict Cumberbatch IS a smoker...which is why he is so adamant against kids smoking (as my mother was with us).

 

Also, he has smoked real cigarettes in scenes before, such as the scene at the morgue on Christmas.  He stated that he had to smoke about 20 cigarettes for that scene - which started out great, but then he got sick and was so messed up the next day that he couldn't get his lines straight.

[Jane Holmes]

Sherlock would love Ukraine. We haven't any no-smoking areas.

[Caya]

So your fellow countrymen think breathing is boring as well?

 

Hmmm ... are smoking laws similar in your neighbouring country Belarus? Maybe that's why he took that client in Minsk .

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

In the commentary, BC says he had wicked nicotine poisoning but was still able to get through the next day's scenes in one take. Ok, I looked it up on line and he is a heavy smoker. So, I admit I miss spoke, my bad.

[Jane Holmes]

So your fellow countrymen think breathing is boring as well?

 

Hmmm ... are smoking laws similar in your neighbouring country Belarus? Maybe that's why he took that client in Minsk .

Yes, that should be the reason   I don't think that both Ukrainian and Belarus laws are very different from the English, but here nobody cares about them  -_-

[T.o.b.y]

The policy on Sherlock not being able to smoke or do drugs because "kids might be watching" / "you can't show that on TV" etc is one of the very few things I dislike about the show. Come on, Holmes used cocaine and morphine regularly and he smoked almost non-stop.

 

Of course, back when the stories were written, cocaine and morphine were legal and smoking was socially accepted. So I understand that it wouldn't work quite like that in a modern setting.

 

On the other hand, Holmes and Watson both know even over a hundred years ago that what the detective is doing is extremely unhealthy and Watson repeatedly tries to convince him to stop. Holmes just doesn't care about his body as long as his mind works and he gets seriously ill from the way he treats himself (not just by taking drugs but also by not eating or sleeping enough etc). So ill that he has to be sent on holiday in "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot".

 

I think in this age, Holmes would be abusing prescription meds and chain-smoking at the very least. Why can he beat people up and throw them out of a window on TV but not have an addiction problem? Well, to be fair, they do hint at that being part of his past, so I should probably shut up. And if I were an actor, I would refuse to smoke on camera if I didn't do so in private, so that's a valid argument, too.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Why can he beat people up and throw them out of a window on TV but not have an addiction problem?

 

 

... if I were an actor, I would refuse to smoke on camera if I didn't do so in private, so that's a valid argument, too.

 

Apparently, Benedict Cumberbatch does smoke -- but every time Sherlock smokes, Cumberbatch has to do it for umpteen takes.  According to the commentary, "just the one" cigarette in "Scandal" was enough to make him feel unwell the next day.

 

So I think the nicotine patches (presumably fake ones) are the equivalent of having a stunt double -- don't ask the actors to do anything dangerous.

 

[Pamela]

I just saw an interview in which Benedict says it doesn't smoke.  Now let's see if I can link it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGLAqkfWJwo

[Karie]

In the commentary, BC says he had wicked nicotine poisoning but was still able to get through the next day's scenes in one take. Ok, I looked it up on line and he is a heavy smoker. So, I admit I miss spoke, my bad.

 

Aww, I hate to hear that!  

 

I'm a huge advocate for not smoking. I have hated it all my life and my family has been decimated by smoking-related illnesses, so I always feel let down when I find out that someone I admire smokes.  I got excited a few posts back when someone said that he doesn't smoke, because I have been wondering that ever since he had to smoke in that one scene for Sherlock. 

 

He has such a lovely voice, too, I hate to think what years of heavy smoking will do to it.   

 

If he *is* a heavy smoker, then he might wear real patches in the scenes, to get him through when long shooting schedules leave little time to break for a cigarette. 

 

I have a coworker who sometimes uses an e-cigarette.  I will have to ask her about it. 

[Karie]

I just saw an interview in which Benedict says it doesn't smoke.  Now let's see if I can link it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGLAqkfWJwo

:)

 

Yay! 

 

 

ETA: Also, HOT DAMN he looks amazing in that interview! *Thunk* 

[Karie]

And if I were an actor, I would refuse to smoke on camera if I didn't do so in private, so that's a valid argument, too.

 

Absolutely! I think I would have that clause in my contract for every project I took on. No smoking and no gratuitous boobies! 

 

I actually thought they had some kind of fake cigarette for actors who don't really smoke? Something that just blows vapor out the end and they pretend to inhale, and then they paint in the smokey exhale with CGI? Or did I make that up in my head? Could have sworn I read an interview several years back of an actor talking about how he used a fake cigarette in a scene.  

 

T.o.b.y I've been trying to find the time to start the books!!! They are definitely on my must-read list! 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I actually thought they had some kind of fake cigarette for actors who don't really smoke? Something that just blows vapor out the end and they pretend to inhale, and then they paint in the smokey exhale with CGI? Or did I make that up in my head?

 

I'm sure that sort of thing is available by now.  But maybe Sherlock doesn't have much of a CGI budget -- the only CGI effect I can recall hearing about was the flame on the cabbie's cigarette-lighter "gun" in "Study in Pink."

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

He did say that he didn't smoke at all at public appearances and such, so he can cut back when he has or wants too.

[Ruthyone]

I hope he gives up smoking because it would be awful if such a talented actor as Benedict ended up with 'problems' from the smoking.