You know your "Sherlock" obsession is bad when...

[Arcadia]

Yeh, I came here for Sherlock the TV series too, I don't think I've even visited the ACD part of the forum.

 

Having said that, I'm reading Hound of the Baskervilles right now ... and while I'm amused by the occasional references that pop up in the TV show, so far, at least, reading the book has in no way affected my appreciation of the show, for good or for bad. To me, they're simply two different things, with a common root. But I can see how someone who started with the books might have a different appreciation of what's going on in the show than I do. I would hope so, actually! It's no fun if we all have the same reaction to everything! Who would I learn new stuff from?

 

[T.o.b.y]

I can't fan girl?

 

Yes, you can, and I suggest you continue to do so to your heart's content. I'll be happy to aid and abet you! (What else have I ever done around here? I thought that was what we were all doing.)

 

:lol: You know your Sherlock obsession is really bad when you stop to think about what exactly it is you are doing on a Sherlock-related fan forum...

 

But in all seriousness, I first came to this page because I viewed it as a place to discuss the current BBC Sherlock series.  Now, I dunno what the original intent was this for this site, but I just avoid the sections that don't apply to me (other versions or ACD areas) because I can't contribute to them and I wouldn't have the foggiest what people are talking about anyhow.  I do still intend to read the original stories at some point, but I don't feel like not having read ACD has hampered my ability to understand and follow the current BBC series at all.  Now maybe it has, and I don't realize what I don't know in relation to the current series?  I dunno.  But it hasn't kept me from enjoying the new series. 

 

That's what I thought was the case with most people who came to the series with no prior knowledge of the source. I think it shows how well written it is. While it's very satisfying for a Doyle reader to spot all the references and creative twists on old plots and characters, and while a knowledge of the original stories probably helps in understanding some creative choices (like what happened with Magnussen), the series can stand perfectly well on its own.

 

I have no idea what the original intent for the site was either, but I strongly suspect it was fun, and if so, it's doing a great job. Personally, I regard you all as my Sherlock addiction support group and am very grateful for your existence and participation, be it serious or silly, critical or fawning, friendly or confrontational.

 

to all.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Dear Carol, it does say on the Internet that BBC Sherlock Forum is the premier UK based site for discussion of the BBC series, so one surmises  that it is more or less what it purports to be.

 

Yes, that's exactly what it is.  We are here to discuss the BBC television series Sherlock.  We are not really a Conan Doyle forum, though we do provide space for those who also want to discuss his stories.  (And "premier" doesn't mean official, it just means something along the lines of first and/or best -- it's a rather vague term, actually.)

 

It is as if I were to go onto uboat.net and discuss the subject based solely on Haie und Kleine Fische and Das Boot! In fairness, there is a thread on films, there, as well.

 

To borrow your metaphor, Sherlock Forum isn't a uboat forum with some film threads, it's a Das Boot forum with some uboat discussion threads.  ;)

[sfmpco]

I came here for the BBC SHERLOCK series.  My fangirling over it had no outlet, and I finally found a place to discuss the show with like-minded people.  I have only just started reading the original canon, but if I never read any ACD it wouldn't matter. I love the series as a singularity of its own.

[joanneta1]

Dear Carol,

        I think I have mentioned before that I truly admire your common sense approach to things. So, I shall use Sherlock's advice instead, and "Better still, stop inflicting your (mine) opinions" on everyone.

Thank you for your kindness and consideration, they are much appreciated. I quite liked being here, though!

P. S. Dear sfmpco, I shall not vanish off the face of the Earth, just drop out for a time. You are in a league of your own! Singularity is SO Hawking and black holes, and ST/TMP, though.
 

[sittything]

 

 I quite liked being here, though!

 

I hope this does not mean you are leaving?  If so, please stay!   I don't think anybody wants you to go!  

[joanneta1]

Dear sittything,

        I need some time to reconsider, thank you for your considerate comment, I shall treasure it!

[Arcadia]

Yeah, who's going to keep us on our toes if you're not here? Stay and enjoy the fun!

[Carol the Dabbler]

I quite liked being here, though!

 

Was that a past tense?  You are more than welcome to stay and share your opinions, Anna -- that's what we're all here for, sharing our opinions.

 

If you're looking for more of a Conan Doyle orientation, though, you might want to have a look at the lists on Sherlockian.net.

[Boton]

Yes, please stay, joanneta!

 

I think there are a lot of cool perspectives to be enjoyed on this forum.  I came here having only seen Sherlock (and House, but not everyone considers that a Holmes/Watson story), and I quickly moved into reading the ACD canon.  I'm on my second read of Conan Doyle right now. 

 

What's great is that you can enjoy Sherlock completely with no background in the original stories, then you can read them and watch again and get a deeper perspective on things.  And then, as you start watching the various TV and film versions that Moftiss also consider canon, you get yet another layer to things.  (Must get around to Brett as soon as I finish the Russian series.....)

 

It's also pretty cool to see what people around the world think of Sherlock and to learn some of the cultural differences that change our perception of the same work.  It's like a literature or film studies class with Sherlock as text.

[J.P.]

Oi, there are plenty of posts since I started typing my text...

 

 

 

Well, Joanneta - if you leave you will never know what other cool emos I have in my collection. ;)

 

 

Hmm... I only know Sherlock Holmes because he - as someone put it - is a part of our cultural furniture. You just know some names and have an idea who they are, but not much more.

 

As I probably wrote already - i was never interested in detective stories, I don't remember watching any other version of Holmes adaptations. Oh, I liked House, because I liked the character, but watching hospitals and people suffering from all possible diseases doesn't go along with my anxiety. I only started to watch BBC Sherlock because I wanted to see M Freeman in another movie.

 

It might sound like a heresy - but I don't even intend to read ACD. From what I have read or heard online I don't think it is my kind of storytelling. But I do envy people who know the backgrounds because I know I miss a great part of the fun. Actually I would like to know the backgrounds without reading the stories. Another sign my obsession is bad...

[Arcadia]

 

 Actually I would like to know the backgrounds without reading the stories. Another sign my obsession is bad...

 

 

Isn't there a thread like that somewhere around here? Or maybe I saw something somewhere else. That could be fun to do, if it wasn't too much work.

[joanneta1]

Dear friends,

        As I mentioned to my special friend sfmpco, I do not intend to drop off the face of the Earth, but I need some time to reconsider my approach, as this is only the second forum I have ever joined in my life, and there are parameters which must be taken into account, quite apart from the forum rules. To clarify, I am not a fan girl type, never was, even as a teenager. Thoughtful and insightful opinions are always an incentive, speculation is fun, your repartee and range of emoticons, which I cannot reciprocate, are enjoyable, but dear Carol may, as is her practical approach to all things, have pointed the way for the moment.

       My sincere thanks to everyone, and I am truly sorry if I ever trod on anyone's toes with my input.

P. S. Dear Carol, discussing Das Boot and only that for any length of time would be overegging the pudding.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Even if there were eight sequels?  And they were currently filming #10?  :D

[sfmpco]

I started a Tumblr account some time back although I'm still not quite sure what to do with it.  I titled it, "Lost and Alone Sherlockian" because that's how I felt before I found the forum.  Still have yet to meet another fan in person over coffee having a fangirling chat about it.  Came close last October, but oh well.

 

 

[Inge l-w]

Dear Carol,

Your supposition is wonderful! 24 episodes to watch and obsess over, with another six on the way would be lovely ( imagine Mrs. Hudson saying that) , but if I had to discuss only one particular series of Sherlock Holmes for years on end, I would probably become a monomaniac, not a pretty thought. And by then, the creators will need to replace the current actors with younger ones, or they will fall into the trap of making THEIR precious series into the museum piece they so often mock; after all Dr Watson wil be in his fifties, and Sherlock in his late forties, and it will be the Granada series all over again, without the reverent attention to detail of the latter. They will have to fish or cut bait while the going is good, make hay while the sun shines, and any other mixed metaphors I can come up with.

[T.o.b.y]

 

 

 Actually I would like to know the backgrounds without reading the stories. Another sign my obsession is bad...

 

 

Isn't there a thread like that somewhere around here? Or maybe I saw something somewhere else. That could be fun to do, if it wasn't too much work.

 

 

There certainly is a thread. It's called "Canon references" and it's in the "Casebook" section. I am sorry I am too stupid to link right now... perhaps somebody else can.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

"Canon References in BBC Sherlock"

[T.o.b.y]

Bless you, Carol!

 

(Why do I constantly talk about blessing people when I'm not even sure if I believe in a god and if so, which one?)

[HeroinOrHeroine]

 

 

 

 

 

Actually I would like to know the backgrounds without reading the stories. Another sign my obsession is bad...

 

Isn't there a thread like that somewhere around here? Or maybe I saw something somewhere else. That could be fun to do, if it wasn't too much work.

There certainly is a thread. It's called "Canon references" and it's in the "Casebook" section. I am sorry I am too stupid to link right now... perhaps somebody else can.

 

Excellent! I'm going to read through it. I read many of the Sherlock stories as a child but have no plans of rereading them now; partly because my library reserve list is lengthy but also I just don't remember loving them.

[Shadow Dweller]

Well, I own ACD Sherlock books, they were practically my childhood's fuel for adventurous night dreams. However, what really attract me to this forum is not how clever Sherlock there but interesting reinterpretation of the source materials in modern setting. It is like dream comes true to be given such universe to play with without have to limit myself to Victorian setting & tech.

[Boton]

Bless you, Carol!

 

(Why do I constantly talk about blessing people when I'm not even sure if I believe in a god and if so, which one?)

 

A blessing never goes amiss, even if you aren't certain of all the particulars.  Maybe especially if you aren't certain, because that's the human condition.

[Inge l-w]

Dear friends,

This is, technically an update on the creators' recycling tendencies for J.P., but I thought of carrying on the discussion in this thread, rather than abuse the Christmas Special one, where it started.

In the year our favourite character's actor was born, Granada produced a series on Raffles, the gentleman thief on whom Maurice Leblanc based his Arsene Lupin.

Dear J.P. , if you can find the episodes The Gold Cup and The Chest of Silver, both taken from original E. W. Hornung stories, you will discover

a) the moment where he tells his friend (in lieu of Molly) :"A cup of coffee would be nice, black, two sugars",

b ) the moment when he appears at the end with Lord Lochmaben's coronet and robes and actually observes himself in the mirror, (You should see me in a Crown!),

c) while the bored consulting detective shoots a patriotic VR on the wall (bored) , A.J. does something infinitely better, steals a unique cup from the British Museum and then posts it to the Queen's private secretary as a Jubilee gift from the entire criminal class.

In the second episode, it is Inspector McKenzie of Scotland Yard who appears in the detective's other famous piece of country clothing, his checkered Inverness Cape.

Like modern Sherlock, he tries to keep his partner (in crime, admittedly) in the dark about his activities, but when the latter protests, he tells him the exact plan and carries it out, giving the Scotsman "a sporting chance", and he rounds it up by remarking that there is no fool like a clever fool.

While on their escape from the British Museum, he misdirects the cabbie and explains to his friend how they will catch a train to York, double back and then shed their disguises in the Baker Str Underground station, a definite nod to the consulting detective, both because there is a whole body of research claiming the Holmes family originally came from Yorkshire, and the location itself, Baker Str, of all places!

And he does all that while another character remarks on A.J's extraordinary gift as a bowler, and how dangerous he would have been if he had turned his hand to crime (Mary reading the blog in TEH).

Dear J. P., you have provided me with more incentive than ever to find out what has been purloined elsewhere, although I do not know about Dr. Who.

[Arcadia]

I like to think that they're not purloining so much as they're paying homage to. :D

[SherlockedCAMPer]

When you see a teenage girl who is obviously a sci-fi fan (her shirt screamed Whovian) and the 1st thing that comes to mind is Sherlock because she is wearing a long coat and her hair although wavy is just about the right length for Sherlock's hair and close to the right style.