Mrs. Hudson

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

EDIT: Just checked it with Ariane's transcript and her full name is Martha Louise Hudson

 

 Absolutely correct, Jana! We're just trying to figure out if this comes right out of a Sherlock Holmes story, or if it was referring to someone else.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks, Jana -- that's from Magnussen's mind palace, is it?

 

Of course, he said that he didn't need to be accurate, all he needed to do was print it.  But it appeared that most of his specifics were correct (no idea about the porn preferences and such).

 

OK, that explains why she's suddenly developed a first name on the internet.

 

Added:  That still leaves open the question of her first name in canon, of course.

 

[T.o.b.y]

Martha is an old servant Holmes hired in "His Last Bow" to have an eye on von Bork:

 

"We need not hurry ourselves, Watson. We are safe from interruption. Would you mind touching the bell? There is no one in the house except old Martha, who has played her part to admiration. I got her the situation here when first I took the matter up. Ah, Martha, you will be glad to hear that all is well.”

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks for that quote, T.o.b.y.  It's really open to interpretation, isn't it -- could be Mrs. Hudson, could be someone else.  Kinda sounds like the latter to me, but not definitively.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

What all do we know about Mrs. Hudson?

 

In Series 1, "A Study in Pink," we learned that:

Her husband was executed for murder in Florida

(which Sherlock ensured, so she gives him a special deal on the rent)

She's Sherlock and John's landlady (not their housekeeper)

She has a bad hip (and takes herbal soothers for it)

Her late husband was always dashing about

 

Nothing much in "The Blind Banker"

 

In "The Great Game," we learned that

She liked Connie Prince's television show, where she learned that

She shouldn't wear cerise (cherry-red)

 

In Series 2, "A Scandal in Belgravia," we learned that

She isn't afraid to scold Mycroft

John considers her very close to Sherlock

She is far braver than one might expect, and consequently

If she ever left Baker Street, England would fall

 

In "The Hounds of Baskerville," we learned that

She's sweet on Mr. Chatterjee from Speedy's

 

And in "The Reichenbach Fall," there was nothing really new

 

Well, that's plenty for tonight, I think.  Series 3 was chock-full of new information, so I'll wait and tackle that tomorrow.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I also read "His Last Bow" just now, and it has this quote: "She might almost personify Britannia"....which brings to mind: "Shame on you, John Watson. Mrs. Hudson leave Baker Street? England would fall!

 

 So maybe Gatiss and Moffat is having a bit of a poke....or they too think that Mrs. Hudson and "Martha" is one and the same. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I suspect they're just going along with the fannish tradition that Martha is Mrs. Hudson, same as giving John the middle name "Hamish."

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

OK, on to Series 3:

 

In "The Empty Hearse," we learn -- not much.

 

In "The Sign of Three," we learn a lot!

She brings Sherlock tea every morning, usually before he gets up

Her husband was executed by lethal injection for a double murder

Before she got married, her best friend was Margaret,

but they hardly saw each other afterwards

She and Frank Hudson married after a whirlwind romance, and

their relationship was purely physical

They moved to Florida, where he (unbeknownst to her) ran a drug cartel and

was involved with a lot of other women

Much to her relief, he was finally arrested for "blowing someone's head off"

 

In "His Last Vow," Magnussen's "files" include the following:

Martha Louise Hudson (née Sissons)
Landlady
Widow
Semi-reformed alcoholic
Former "exotic dancer"
Finances: 21% debt
Status: Unimportant
Pressure point:  Marijuana

She says, "It was my husband's cartel.  I was just typing."

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

1.  Mary says that she and John are planning a May wedding, and this is never contradicted on-screen -- but in John's blog, the date is given as August (and do read that entry, it's hilarious).

 

The operative word here might be planning. Mary came across as a bit of a Bridezilla in Sign, with the attention to detail John complains to Sherlock about. So the wedding might conceivably have been postponed until she'd found just the perfect shade of lilac for the bridesmaids.

 

We got the DVDs today (yay!!!), and I just noticed that the wedding invitation gives the date -- Saturday the 18th of May (which does actually jibe with the 2013 calendar).

[Pamela]

Just popping in to say how much I'm enjoying reading through all these threads, now that I've viewed all three of the new series!

[Caya]

Something that only now occurred to me, regarding Mrs. Hudson; for all I could gripe about Moffat and his "the-only-interesting-women-are-psycho-ninja-assassin-dominatrices" schtick, I really, really love that Moftiss are giving her a life beyond being the boys' / Sherlock's landlady. From her "purely physical" marriage to her ill-advised affair with Mr. Chatterjee to her serious crush on Lestrade, she even has an actual love life. That's sadly not the norm for female TV/film characters of her age (Golden Girls notwithstanding) and I really, really appreciate that they took the time and effort to give her one.

[Carol the Dabbler]

You may wish they'd kept her the sweet, innocent little landlady by the time Moffat gets done with her! 

 

[T.o.b.y]

Think it can get any worse than "former exotic dancer, drug cartel secretary and marijuana user"?

[Caya]

Please, pretty please, don't make Moffat go all:

 

[Ruthyone]

The Secret Life Of Mrs Hudson

 

[aely]

My great aunt used to dance at the Folies Bergère in Paris way back when, and she was such a terribly respectable seeming woman (her husband was a Captain with the White Star Line).

 

I think that's why it tickles me so much that they have Mrs Hudson as a former exotic dancer.

[Ruthyone]

Ooh la la!!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNdupGIqGj0

[throwAway_12345678]

I tried searching on youtube "Martha exotic dancing" but that yielded around 200 k  results and she wasn't on the top  and filtering would have taken a long time. However on searching "Hudson exotic dancing" I came across this -

.       Holy Crap!!! You must watch...Its suprisingly good....(Minors can watch according to youtube policy)

[Arcadia]

I can't remember who, but someone somewhere suggested the "exotic dancer" reference was to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmyiDes-ICw

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Pretty tame, actually.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I suspect that the "exotic dancer" references were a wink at Una Stubbs, since she used to be in the Folies Bergère (thanks for the spelling, Aely!).

 

[Doe]

She is driving perfect the car.

[Arcadia]

Season 4 was definitely the best one if you love Mrs. Hudson! :d

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Her character arc over the 4 series was brilliantly executed.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I just ran across this compilation of what (little) is known about the canon Mrs. Hudson.  They make a number of interesting points, several of which could shed some light on "our" Mrs. H.