Showing posts with label Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock. Show all posts

Monday, December 9, 2013

BBC Sherlock Season 3 Trailer - Benedict Cumberbatch returns as Sherlock Holmes

Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Amanda Abbington as Mary Morstan, Louise Brealey, Rupert Graves and Una Stubbs in Season 3 of BBC Sherlock

Dear Readers,

The first trailer for Season 3 of BBC Sherlock has arrived.




Amanda Abbington, Martin Freeman's real life partner plays Mary Morstan. For readers not familar with Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, Mary is Sherlock Holmes' client, who ends up marrying John Watson in The Sign of the Four (referred to in the title of Episode # 2 “The Sign of Three”).

Mycroft Holmes (Mark Gatiss) informs Sherlock about an impending terrorist threat to London. Sherlock gets back into his groove to save the day.

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True to the Canon, Sherlock's return seems to have successfully thrown “Mrs. Hudson into violent hysterics” (The Adventure of the Empty House).

I am curious to see if the rest of the world too reacts the same way to Benedict Cumberbatch's return as Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock premieres in the UK on Jan 01 2014 and in the US on Jan 19 2014. Click here to watch the interactive trailer.

Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by clicking here.

Image Sources: BBC Wales, Hartswood Films, Masterpiece Theatre

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Canonical Nods in "The Empty Hearse"
Canonical Nods in "The Empty Hearse"
Canonical Nods in "The Sign of Three"
Canonical Nods in "The Sign of Three"

Thursday, October 24, 2013

BBC Sherlock - Season 3 Premiering in the US on Jan 19 2014



Benedict Cumberbatch returns as BBC Sherlock Season 3 US Premiere Jan 19 2014

Dear Readers,


Here is some great news for fans of BBC Sherlock.

Benedict Cumberbatch returns as Sherlock when the third season premieres in the US on Jan 19 2014 at 10 pm EST on PBS Masterpiece.

As has been the case with the previous two seasons, Season 3 will also have 3 episodes.

The first episode, “The Empty Hearse” is based on The Adventure of the Empty House. It has been penned by Mark Gatiss and directed by Jeremy Lovering.

Steve Thompson has written the script for the next episode, “The Sign of Three”. Readers familiar with the Sherlock Holmes Canon will recognize the obvious reference to The Sign of the Four. Colm McCarthy directs this episode.

Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat takes over the writing duties for the season finale, “His Last Vow”. Directed by Nick Hurran, the episode title refers to “His Last Bow”, the collection of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories published between 1908 to 1917. The last story in that series is also referred to by the same name.

Having enjoyed the show so far, I am excited for the Season 3 premiere.

Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by clicking here.

Image Sources: BBC, Hartswood Films

You might also like:

Canonical Nods in "The Empty Hearse"
Canonical Nods in "The Empty Hearse"
Canonical Nods in "The Sign of Three"
Canonical Nods in "The Sign of Three"

Saturday, September 21, 2013

BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode # 3 "The Great Game" - Canonical References (Part I)


Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes in BBC Sherlock The Great Game Canonical References


It is time for another BBC Sherlock Canonical References post!

As packed as the previous episodes were with nods to Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories, the real deal starts here. Mark Gatiss deserves credit for the script, which is chock-a-block with easter eggs.

I have split the entire set into 2 posts. Here is the first half:

1. The episode name “The Great Game” – Reference to this line in The Adventure of the Final Problem: “I tell you, my friend, that if a detailed account of that silent contest could be written, it would take its place as the most brilliant bit of thrust-and-parry work in the history of detection.”

2. Sherlocks’s reaction to the convict’s mention of sex – Dr Watson states in A Scandal in Bohemia: “He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer.”

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3. Sherlock shooting at the wall – Dr Watson mentions in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual: “ … Holmes, in one of his queer humours, would sit in an armchair with his hair-trigger and a hundred Boxer cartridges and proceed to adorn the opposite wall with a patriotic V. R. done in bullet-pocks,..”

4. Sherlock's statement: “I don’t know what’s got into the criminal classes” – Sherlock Holmes makes a similar reference to the criminals in
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax: “and it causes an unhealthy excitement among the criminal classes.” and in The Sign of the Four: “…a good many of the criminal classes begin to know me,…”

5. Sherlock's further comment about criminals: “It’s a good job I am not one of them” - Sherlock Holmes remarks in The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton: "You know, Watson, I don’t mind confessing to you that I have always had an idea that I would have made a highly efficient criminal. This is the chance of my lifetime in that direction"



6. John's discovery of a human head in the fridge – Dr Watson states in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual: “Our chambers were always full of chemicals and of criminal relics which had a way of wandering into unlikely positions, and of turning up in the butter-dish or in even less desirable places.”

7. Sherlock remarks about the human head: “I got it from Bart’s morgue. I’m measuring coagulation of saliva after death” – Stamford explains about Holmes in A Study in Scarlet: “When it comes to beating the subjects in the dissecting-rooms with a stick, it is certainly taking rather a bizarre shape. Yes, to verify how far bruises may be produced after death.”

8. John defending his choice of “A Study in Pink” as the title: “Pink lady, pink case, pink phone. There was a lot of pink” – Sherlock comments about Dr Watson in A Case of Identity: “It is true that you have missed everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye for colour.”

9. John going for a walk, after getting irritated by Sherlock's complaining about Watson writing about his shortcomings – Watson states in The Sign of Four: “I confess, too, that I was irritated by the egotism which seemed to demand that every line of my pamphlet should be devoted to his own special doings.”

10. Sherlock comparing human mind to a hard drive – Holmes in A Study in Scarlet: “I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose.”

Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Graves and Vinette Robinson as Sherlock Holmes Lestrade and Sally Donovan in BBC Sherlock Season 1 The Great Game
 
11. John arguing about Sherlock's (lack of) knowledge of the solar system – Sherlock Holmes makes this statement in A Study in Scarlet: “What the deuce is it to me?" he interrupted impatiently; "you say that we go round the sun. If we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or to my work."

12. Sherlock's statement: “All that matters to me is my work. Without that my brain rots” – F
rom The Sign of Four: “I cannot live without brain-work. What else is there to live for?”

13. Sherlock's advice to John to stop writing about their cases - Sherlock Holmes states in The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier: "..since I have often had occasion to point out to him how superficial are his own accounts and to accuse him of pandering to popular taste instead of confining himself rigidly to facts and figures."


14. Sherlock standing at the window and remarking to Mrs Hudson: “Look at that Mrs. Hudson. Quiet, Calm, Peaceful. Isn’t it hateful?” – In
The Sign of Four: “Stand at the window here. Was ever such a dreary, dismal, unprofitable world?... What could be more hopelessly prosaic and material?”

15. John’s comment about Sherlock lying to Mycroft: “Sibling rivalry. Now we are getting somewhere” - From A Study in Scarlet: “…how often I endeavoured to break through the reticence which he showed on all that concerned himself.” (Watson) and “Did you never ask him what he was going in for?" I asked. "No; he is not a man that it is easy to draw out…”  (Stamford). From The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter: “During my long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. Sherlock Holmes I had never heard him refer to his relations, and hardly ever to his own early life.”


Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode 3 The Great Game


16. Sherlock's line: “I would be lost without my blogger” – Sherlock Holmes states in A Scandal in Bohemia: “I am lost without my Boswell”
 
17. Lestrade's remark to Sherlock – “You like the funny cases, don’t you? The surprising ones.” – Lestrade states in The Adventure of the Second Stain: ''a mere trifle, but the sort of thing you take an interest in – queer, you know, and what you might call freakish.” Gregson also makes a similar statement in A Study in Scarlet: “...it’s a queer case though, and I knew your taste for such things”.
 
18. Sherlock makes deductions about the Bohemian stationary from Czech Republic and also the type of pen. - Sherlock Holmes makes deductions about “Best quality paper” and “...paper of native Indian manufacture,” in The Sign of Four as well as in A Scandal in Bohemia: “The paper was made in Bohemia”
 
19. Sherlock's deduction about the feminine handwriting – Sherlock Holmes makes a deduction about masculine handwriting in The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, and about feminine handwriting in The Hound of the Baskervilles

20. Sherlock's description of the five orange pips is a direct reference to the plot of The Five Orange Pips: “Its outrages were usually preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic but generally recognized shape -- a sprig of oak-leaves in some parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others.”

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in 221 B Baker Street in The Great Game
 
21. The design of the room “221C” is based on the description of the room, where Enoch J Drebber's body is found in
A Study in Scarlet: “It was a large square room, looking all the larger from the absence of all furniture. A vulgar flaring paper adorned the walls, but it was blotched in places with mildew, and here and there great strips had become detached and hung down, exposing the yellow plaster beneath. Opposite the door was a showy fireplace, surmounted by a mantelpiece of imitation white marble. On one corner of this was stuck the stump of a red wax candle. The solitary window was so dirty that the light was hazy and uncertain, giving a dull grey tinge to everything, which was intensified by the thick layer of dust which coated the whole apartment.”

22. Sherlock remarks in 221 C: “The curtain rises” - Sherlock in The Adventure of the Second Stain: “Excellent!” said he. “Come, friend Watson, the curtain rings up for the last act.”

23. Sherlock accessing “Most Wanted” list on his smartphone, to get details about Golem, the assassin – Sherlock Holmes maintains alphabetically sorted files about  in 221 B. As Dr Watson states in A Scandal in Bohemia: “For many years he had adopted a system of docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not at once furnish information.”. Sherlock Holmes himself remarks in The Adventure of the Empty House: “Just give me down my index of biographies from the shelf...My collection of M's is a fine one.”

24.  Sherlock's reply to Lestrade: “You just see, but you just don’t observe” – Holmes makes a very similar statement to Watson in A Scandal in Bohemia: “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.”

25. Sherlock’s knowledge of astronomy in solving the puzzle of the fake painting – A nod to the inconsistencies in the Canon

Benedict Cumberbatch and Louise Brealey as Sherlock Holmes and Molly Hooper in BBC Sherlock

26. Sherlock commenting on Molly's weight gain: “Domestic bliss suits you. 3 pounds” - Sherlock Holmes makes a similar observation about John Watson in A Scandal in Bohemia: “Wedlock suits you,... I think, Watson, that you have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you”

28. Sherlock's remark about John's deductions: “You are in sparkling form” – “Excellent, Watson! You scintillate to-day.” from The Adventure of the Illustrious Client and “Really, Watson, you excel yourself,” from The Hound of the Baskervilles and “Brilliant, Watson. You are scintillating this morning.” from The Valley of Fear

29. Sherlock's comment about John's deductions: “You have missed everything of importance” – Sherlock Holmes remarks to Watson in
A Case of Identity: “It is true that you have missed everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye for colour”

30. Sherlock deducing the mud as belonging to Sussex with London mud overlaying it:
“Clear as a map reference to me” – Dr Watson mentions in A Study in Scarlet: “Geology.—Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.”

Benedict Cumberbatch and Vinette Robinson as Sherlock Holmes and Sally Donovan in BBC Sherlock Season 1 The Great Game


32. Sherlock deducing that poison was the cause of Carl Power’s death – Dr Watson documents Holmes' knowledge in A Study in Scarlet: “Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally.”

33. Sherlock's knowledge about the case of Carl Powers – Dr Watson mentions about Holmes in A Study in Scarlet: “Sensational Literature.—Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.”

34. John's remark to Sherlock about his long time interest in solving cases: “You started early, didn’t you” – From The Hound of the Baskervilles: “..though I confess that once when I was very young I confused the Leeds Mercury with the Western Morning News.”. Further, Holmes mentioned about some cases that he handled before Watson’s arrival at 221 B in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual: “These are the records of your early work, then?” I asked. “I have often wished that I had notes of those cases.” “Yes, my boy, these were all done prematurely before my biographer had come to glorify me.”

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes in his purple shirt in Season 1 Episode 3 The Great Game


35. Sherlock is seen wearing a purple shirt – From The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle: “He was lounging upon the sofa in a purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly studied, near at hand.”

36. Sherlock's instruction to Lestrade: “Go arrest them Inspector. That’s what you do best” - F
rom A Study in Scarlet: “I have chaffed them so much that they would never have let me hear the end of it.”

37. Sherlock getting information from a victim’s wife by pretending to be the friend of the deceased – Sherlock Holmes uses Social Engineering tactics in a number of cases to gather information

38. Sherlock explains his strategy to get information from the aforementioned subject: “People don’t like telling you things. They love to contradict you” – From The Sign of the Four: “The main thing with people of that sort, … is never to let them think that their information can be of the slightest importance to you. If you do they will instantly shut up like an oyster. If you listen to them under protest, as it were, you are very likely to get what you want.”. Dr Watson uses a similar method to get information from Frankland in The Hound of the Baskervilles.

39. Sherlock's statement to John, when examining the corpse: “Give me data”
  1. “No data yet…” from A Study in Scarlet
  2. “There are hardly any data…” from The Sign of Four
  3. “I have no data yet” from A Scandal in Bohemia
  4. “Data, data, data. I can’t make bricks without clay” from The Adventure of the Copper Beeches

40. John does not seem to like Sekhmet, the cat in the late Connie Prince's house – Possible reference to Watson mentioning about having a bull pup in A Study in Scarlet: “I keep a bull pup,..”

That concludes the first part. Click here to read the second post.

Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock.

If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to this blog by clicking here.

Image Source: Cumberbatchweb

You might also like:

Canonical Nods in "The Empty Hearse"
Canonical Nods in "The Empty Hearse"
Canonical Nods in "The Sign of Three"
Canonical Nods in "The Sign of Three"

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Canonical References in BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode # 2 - "The Blind Banker"


Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes in BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode 2 The Blind Banker


As with any episode of BBC Sherlock, there are a number of references to the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle:

1. Sherlock’s amused smile at the thought of breaking into John’s laptop and later commenting to John about the ease with which he cracked John’s password – Sherlock’s statement in The Valley of Fear: “Because there are many ciphers which I would read as easily as I do the apocrypha of the agony column: such crude devices amuse the intelligence without fatiguing it.”

2. Watson checking out the scratch on the furniture due to the fight between Sherlock and the intruder – Sherlock Holmes’ remark from The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone: “No violence, gentlemen–no violence, I beg of you! Consider the furniture!”

3. Sherlock getting a case from his college friend, Sebastian – Sherlock Holmes mentions to Watson in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual: “Now and again cases came in my way, principally through the introduction of old fellow-students, for during my last years at the university there was a good deal of talk there about myself and my methods.”

4. Sherlock not being very effusive when meeting Sebastian – John’s line about Sherlock in A Scandal in Bohemia: “His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I think, to see me.”

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5. Sebastian’s remark about Sherlock: “You are doing that thing again” and explaining to John about how Sherlock’s powers of deduction back in the college days – Sherlock Holmes’ friend, Reginald Musgrave remarks in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual: “But I understand, Holmes, that you are turning to practical ends those powers with which you used to amaze us?”. In The Adventure of the Gloria Scott, Sherlock’s friend Victor Trevor comments about Sherlock’s powers to Trevor Sr. As Sherlock remarks: “he old man evidently thought that his son was exaggerating in his description of one or two trivial feats which I had performed.”

6. The character of Sebastian seems to be based on Reginald Musgrave, based on his body language and dressing sense. Here is how Sherlock describes Musgrave in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual: “He had changed little, was dressed like a young man of fashion -- he was always a bit of a dandy -- and preserved the same quiet, suave manner which had formerly distinguished him.”

7. Sherlock’s response to Sebastian’s offer of an advance check to solve the case - “I don’t need incentive to solve the case” – This is one of Sherlock Holmes’ quintessential characteristics and has been mentioned a number of times in the Canon:
  1. “I play the game for the game's own sake,” from The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
  2. “The work itself, the pleasure of finding a field for my peculiar powers, is my highest reward.” from The Sign of Four
  3. “And you don't want your name to appear?”. “Not at all. The work is its own reward.” from The Adventure of the Norwood Builder.
  4. “ Holmes, however, like all great artists, lived for his art's sake, and, save in the case of the Duke of Holdernesse, I have seldom known him claim any large reward for his inestimable services.” from The Adventure of Black Peter
  5. “What, indeed? It is art for art's sake, Watson. I suppose when you doctored you found yourself studying cases without thought of a fee?” from The Adventure of the Red Circle
  6. “No of course, it is art for art’s sake with him,…” from The Adventure of the Retired Colourman
  7. “It may surprise you to know that I prefer to work anonymously, and that it is the problem itself which attracts me.” from The Problem of Thor Bridge

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode 2 The Blind Banker


8. John Watson loaning money from Sherlock and later getting the check from Sebastian. John also admits to taking the job purely for money, when Sarah mentions that he might be overqualified – John’s line from The Sign of Four: “What was I, an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account,..”.

9. Sherlock Holmes enters Eddie Van Coon's apartment by ingratiating with another lady tenant who just moved in recently – Dr Watson remarks about Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez: “I may have remarked before that Holmes had, when he liked, a peculiarly ingratiating way with women, and that he very readily established terms of confidence with them. In half the time which he had named, he had captured the housekeeper’s goodwill and was chatting with her as if he had known her for years.”

10. The character of Detective Inspector Dimmock – Reference to the fact that Scotland Yard officers are not (usually) very bright in the Sherlock Holmes Canon.

11. Sherlock dramatically explaining how it is difficult for a left handed to shoot himself on the right side (or vice versa) – Holmes himself states in The Adventure of the Naval Treaty: “..but Watson here will tell you that I never can resist a touch of the dramatic.”

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes in BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode 2 The Blind Banker

12. Sherlock’s line indicating his eagerness to prove his point to Inspector Dimmock about Eddie Van Coon being left-handed: “Do you want me to go on?”. He proceeds to do the same, despite John’s disapproval. Again, later Sherlock provides a scientific fact about human memory on visual matters to make John remember about a graffiti – Sherlock’s statement in The Adventure of the Red-Headed League: “You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to be right.”

13. Sherlock mentions to Dimmock: “Only explanation of all the facts” – Sherlock makes a similar statement in The Sign of Four: “The facts appear to admit of only one explanation.”

14. John Watson meekly follows Sherlock as he leaves Van Coon’s apartment without waiting for John - 
  1. “He gave no explanations and I asked for none. By long experience I had learned the wisdom of obedience.” from The Adventure of the Illustrious Client 
  2. “There was nothing for it, however, but implicit obedience;” from The Hound of the Baskervilles.
15. Sherlock has not noticed John’s absence for quite some time, while John is out for his job interview – Sherlock Holmes has done this a number of times in the Canon.

Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Zoe Telford as Sherlock Holmes, John Watson and Sarah in BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode 2 The Blind Banker

16. John’s response to Sherlock’s question about his job interview - “She is great” (referring to Sarah) – Dr John Watson being a ladies man. As he himself states in The Sign of the Four – “In an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents,…”

17. Sherlock’s description of the killer as “climbing the side of the walls, running along the roof…” and “Small, but athletic…”– This reminded me of Tonga, the pygmy from The Sign of the Four.

18. Sherlock solving a series of cryptic symbols – Sherlock Holmes solves a series of clues (designed to look like a child’s drawings) in The Adventure of The Dancing Men.

19. Sherlock’s line: “The world’s run on codes and ciphers, John…Cryptography inhabits our every waking moment…electronic codes, electronic ciphering methods.” – Arthur Conan Doyle himself was a big fan of cryptography. As Sherlock states in The Sign of the Four: “"My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere.”

20. Sherlock’s statement: “I need advice… You heard me. I am not saying it again.” and John’s line expressing his irritation at Sherlock entering Soo Lin Yao’s apartment alone: “I am Sherlock and I work alone because no one can compete with my massive intellect” – John Watson makes this statement in The Sign of the Four: “More than once during the years that I had lived with him in Baker Street I had observed that a small vanity underlay my companion's quiet and didactic manner.”

21. Inspector Dimmock remarks to John Watson: “Your friend, he is an arrogant sod” – Reference to Sherlock Holmes' practice of making fun of Scotland Yard officers.

22. John Watson lamenting over his lack of sleep: “God, I need some sleep.. Just 20 minutes..”. Sherlock is still working on the case – Sherlock Holmes mentions in The Sign of the Four: “No, I could not sleep,” he answered. “This infernal problem is consuming me. It is too much to be balked by so petty an obstacle, when all else had been overcome.”

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes studying Chinese Ming Pottery in BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode 2 The Blind Banker

23. Sherlock recognizes the mark as belonging to an ancient crime syndicate in China – Dr Watson mentions about Holmes in A Study in Scarlet: “Sensational Literature.—Immense.  He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.” The society and its markings could also be a reference to The Five Orange Pips, in which Sherlock tries to save his client from Ku Klux Klan, who send 5 orange pips to their intended victims.

24. Sherlock mentions to Molly: “Don’t eat when I am working. Digesting slows me down” and also skips food at the restaurant in China Town –
  1. Dr Watson’s statement from The Adventure of the Norwood Builder:“My friend had no breakfast himself, for it was one of his peculiarities that in his more intense moments he would permit himself no food, and I have known him presume upon his iron strength until he has fainted from pure inanition. “At present I cannot spare energy and nerve force for digestion,” he would say in answer to my medical remonstrances. I was not surprised, therefore, when this morning he left his untouched meal behind him, and started with me for Norwood.”.
  2. From The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone: “You have not, I hope, learned to despise my pipe and my lamentable tobacco? It has to take the place of food these days.” “But why not eat?” “Because the faculties become refined when you starve them. Why, surely, as a doctor, my dear Watson, you must admit that what your digestion gains in the way of blood supply is so much lost to the brain. I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix. Therefore, it is the brain I must consider.”
25. Sherlock complimenting Molly’s hair in order to examine the corpses of Eddie Van Coon and Brian Lukis – Sherlock Holmes has used Social Engineering tactics in a number of cases in the Canon.

26. Sherlock informs Molly that he only needs to take a look at the feet of the corpses of Eddie Van Coon and Brian Lukis – In The Adventure of the Red-Headed League, Sherlock Holmes only takes a look at John Clay’s knees when he makes a visit to Jabez Wilson’s shop.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in Chinatown in BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode 2 The Blind Banker

27. Sherlock’s decoding the symbols using books and is initially unable to pick out the correct book to solve the code. Later, he deduces it is the book containing London’s map – In The Valley of Fear, Sherlock Holmes deciphers the code sent by Porlock, one of Professor Moriarty’s agents from books. Sherlock initially uses the latest version of almanac and later correctly picks an older version.

28. Sherlock’s response to Dimmock, when the latter offers to help: “Some silence right now would be marvelous” – Sherlock makes a similar statement to Dr Watson in The Adventure of the Red-Headed League:  “To smoke," he answered. It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes.”

29. Sherlock using London map book to solve the messages – Dr Watson suggest Bradshaw, when trying to decipher Porlock’s code in The Valley of Fear. George Bradshaw was an English cartographer.

30. Sarah saves Sherlock from his attacker at the circus and also helps him in breaking the code – The character of Sarah could be a nod to the strong female characters in the Canon, like Maud Bellamy, Violet Hunter and Annie Harrison.

31. Sherlock deducing the affair between Eddie Van Coon and his secretary based on the scented cream and hand wash used by both of them – Sherlock Holmes makes a deduction based on Beryl Stapleton’s perfume in The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode 2 The Blind Banker

32. The Chinese artifacts/Ming Pottery used in the plot could be a reference to The Adventure of the Illustrious Client, in which Holmes asks Watson to “spend the next twenty-four hours in an intensive study of Chinese pottery.”

33. Sherlock prefers that Sarah leaves 221 B – 
  1. “His aversion to women and his disinclination to form new friendships were both typical of his unemotional character,..” from The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
  2. “I am not a whole-souled admirer of womankind, as you are aware, Watson,…” from The Valley of Fear
  3. From A Scandal in Bohemia: “…while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books,…”.
  4. From The Adventure of the Reigate Squire: “but when Holmes understood that the establishment was a bachelor one, and that he would be allowed the fullest freedom, he fell in with my plans  and a week after our return from Lyons we were under the colonel's roof.”

Benedict Cumberbatch and Zoe Telford as Sherlock Holmes and Sarah in BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode 2 The Blind Banker


34. Sherlock is averse to Sarah’s attempts to help him solve the encrypted message – 
  1. “He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late.” from A Scandal in Bohemia.
  2. “His aversion to women and his disinclination to form new friendships were both typical of his unemotional character,..” from The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
  3. “I am not a whole-souled admirer of womankind, as you are aware, Watson,…” from The Valley of Fear.
35. Sherlock’s line: “How would you describe me, John? Resourceful. Dynamic. Enigmatic.” – Reference to this description of Holmes by Dr Watson from The Adventure of the Red-Headed League: “…Holmes, the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent,..”

36. Sherlock using single stick on a thug – Reference to Holmes’ single stick expertise as listed by John Watson in A Study in Scarlet.

37. The dart hitting the thug and missing Sherlock – Sherlock and Watson had a similar near death experience, when chasing Jonathan Small and Tonga on the Thames in The Sign of the Four.

38. Sherlock's advice to Inspector Dimmock: “Don’t mention my name in the case”
  1. “I should prefer that you do not mention my name at all in connection with the case,..” from The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
  2. "And you don't want your name to appear?" from The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
  3. ““I need not appear in the matter at all,” said Holmes to the evident relief of our melancholy acquaintance.“If I can clear it up I don’t ask to have my name mentioned.”” from The Problem of Thor Bridge
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in BBC Sherlock Season 1 Episode 2 The Blind Banker



39. Sherlock asking Inspector Dimmock to follow his advice to have a successful career.
  1. Similar advice to Athelney Jones in The Sign of the Four: “…But you must put yourself under my orders. You are welcome to all the official credit, but you must act on the lines that I point out. Is that agreed?”.
  2. Similar advice to Forbes in The Adventure of the Naval Treaty: “I don’t blame you for not knowing this, for you are young and inexperienced, but if you wish to get on in your new duties you will work with me and not against me.”
40. Shan, the Black Lotus General thanking Moriarty for his help in giving her passage to London – Sherlock explains Professor Moriarty's organization in The Adventure of the Final Problem: “He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized. Is there a crime to be done, a paper to be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled, a man to be removed -- the word is passed to the professor, the matter is organized and carried out.”

41. Moriarty having Shan killed to punish her for her failure and to prevent her from disclosing his identity – Sherlock Holmes describes Professor Moriarty in The Valley of Fear: “In the first place, I may tell you that Moriarty rules with a rod of iron over his people. His discipline is tremendous. There is only one punishment in his code. It is death. Now we might suppose that this murdered man—this Douglas whose approaching fate was known by one of the arch-criminal's subordinates—had in some way betrayed the chief. His punishment followed, and would be known to all—if only to put the fear of death into them.”

42. The leaving of threatening messages in a secret code (known only to the gang members) is a reference to the plot of The Adventure of the Dancing Men.

Please feel free to comment on any references I might have missed.

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Image Source: Cumberbatchweb 

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