Canon References In BBC Sherlock

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I noticed "Sign of Four" quite a lot in "The Blind Banker". The small assassin, the skylight entrance. And some of the dialog as well.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Not to mention the Asian treasures smuggled into England by thieves who double-cross each other and are killed for it.  And Mary Morstan Sarah Sawyer, John's pretty girlfriend who spots some of the clues.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And John falling for this Mary Morstan stand in, hard.  And a dart, albeit a very large, dart.

[T.o.b.y]

A very large dart? Oh! Yes, you're right!

 

I think "A Study in Pink" was so far the episode that followed an original Doyle story the most closely. It was a true adaptation, albeit a very clever metamorphosis rather than a simple retelling of the story.

 

I wish they'd do something like that again.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Well, there's "Hounds."

 

[T.o.b.y]

Yes... but that went much further away from the original. For very good reasons, of course!

[T.o.b.y]

We were wondering about the skull some time ago and somebody said it's name was supposed to be "Billy". There's no skull in the stories as far as I know, but Billy is "the young but very wise and tactful page, who had helped a little to fill up the gap of loneliness and isolation which surrounded the saturnine figure of the great detective".

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And he did say it was a friend.....of sorts. A sad end for his house boy....but didn't he call the young waiter at Angelo's Billy as well? Can't remember if that's in the Unaired pilot or "A Study in Pink" though.

[T.o.b.y]

Where did "the skull is named Billy" come from, in the first place? I don't remember the thing having a name in any of the episodes. Or was that in the pilot, too?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

It's from the "Casebook", page 109. Not the most reliable of resources.

[Carol the Dabbler]

...  didn't he call the young waiter at Angelo's Billy as well? Can't remember if that's in the Unaired pilot or "A Study in Pink" though.

 

Billy is only in the 90-minute version (I just checked Ariane DeVere's transcripts.)  The restaurant scene comes after Sherlock "introduces" John to the skull, so it looks like the waiter is safe (at least for the time being).

[The Rani]

I weren't really sure where to post this:

I only just realized that with the chair when I saw this 

[T.o.b.y]

There were so many references in the new episodes! The only reason I've stayed off this thread since they came out is that I didn't feel like spoiler-boxing everything...

[Carol the Dabbler]

Are you sure you can hold out till June? 

 

[T.o.b.y]

June? What happens in June?

[Caya]

The ARD .

[T.o.b.y]

ARD? You mean you think the few German fans who visit this forum are actually waiting for the dubbed version until they watch series 3? I seriously doubt it. (And if you are, fellow countrymen and women, all I can say is, don't. Enjoy the original voices. You miss so much otherwise. And I'd be glad to translate anything that remains unclear in spite of subtitles!)

[Carol the Dabbler]

OK, so the ARD airs only a dubbed-in-German version?  That might be a loophole, since this is an English-language forum.

 

Can people in Germany receive the original version in any legitimate fashion?

 

[Caya]

Must admit I have no idea if the ARD lets you switch to English when it airs Sherlock. The ARD-issued DVDs/blu-rays are dual language in both speech and subtitles (but not in Sherlock-Text, which is strictly German and very annoying).

 

Of course, all of us from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, who nominally depend on the ARD's mercy, can just get their Sherlock fix via amazon.uk like everyone else (or directly from the BBC, who shipped the boxed set here without problem).

[T.o.b.y]

Yup, they only show the dub. Original audio is extremely rare on German TV. The only 100% legal way I know of to watch the original is get the DVDs directly from Great Britain, which is what I have done for all three seasons. But plenty of my German friends and acquaintances know what happened during the latest episodes of other TV shows that have only aired in the US yet, so I am dead sure the die-hard Sherlockians (wherever they are) have already seen series 3 by this time somehow.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Well, seeing as how all the other countries will apparently have finished Series 3 by sometime in March, I'll take this up with the rest of the staff and get back to you.

 

[Janie]

In Czech republic it's supposed to air sometime in April or May (it really is in June in Germany? God, I thought we were supposed to be the last to air it ) . And in dubbed version, too. So I rely on other sources because watching it in czech dubbing is quite painful (not mentioning the waiting until April or May).

[Carol the Dabbler]

I fully agree about the waiting, Jana!  I'm glad that PBS shortened the wait this time, but it was four months for Series 2, so Alex and I pre-ordered DVDs from the UK.

 

 

It looks like the spoiler-free era may end fairly soon.  Watch for an official announcement.

 

 

[Pamela]

Here's one I haven't seen yet, in Sign of Three:

 

 

When Greg Lestrade gets Sherlock's ("emergency") text and leaves Sally Donovan et al to get the Waters gang, she says that Jones will get the credit, which is a reference to Athelney Jones in the original canon.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

 

Do you happen to know whether the Waters gang is also a canon reference?