BBC Sherlock Canonical References - "The Lying Detective"

There will be spoilers throughout and the readers who are yet to watch the episode are recommended to skip this post. Here are the nods to Arthur Conan Doyle's works:

1. The episode's title “The Lying Detective” - Reference to the short story The Adventure of the Dying Detective, on which the episode is based on. The original had Holmes faking a deadly affliction to fool Culverton Smith into confessing to the murder of his nephew (Victor Savage) and also of the attempted murder of Holmes himself. 

2. Faith's desperate pleas to Sherlock: “Please.. I have no else to turn to....You are my last hope.” - Holmes states in The Sign of the Four: “I am the last and highest court of appeal in detection. When Gregson or Lestrade or Athelney Jones are out of their depths -which, by the way, is their normal state - the matter is laid before me. I examine the data, as an expert, and pronounce a specialist's opinion.”

3. Sherlock is convinced that Faith is about to commit suicide and yells at her: “Your life is not your own. Keep your hands off it.” - In The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger, Holmes and Watson listen to Eugenia Ronder's tragic story as to how she lost her beauty. Then Holmes tells her strongly:  “Your life is not your own. Keep your hands off it.”

4. Sherlock's deductions about Faith sitting in the passenger seat based on the marks on her skirt. Faith confirms that she came in a taxi. - In The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Holmes deduces that his client (Helen Stoner) came in a dog-cart: “The left arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you sit on the left-hand side of the driver.”

5. Sherlock guessing the self-inflicted scars on Faith's left forearm that she deliberately hides under her sleeve. Faith confirms that Sherlock is correct. - In The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Holmes observes “five little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb that were printed upon the white wrist” of his client (Helen Stoner). In this case, it is Helen's stepfather Dr Grimesby Roylott who inflicts these wounds out of spite.

6. When another character interrupts Mycroft's call with the Prime Minister to inform him that Sherlock has left the flat, Mycroft retorts: “Was it on fire?” - Possible reference to The Final Problem. In the story, Moriarty's agents set the Baker Street rooms on fire.

7. Sherlock's line: “The game's afoot.” - Sherlock Holmes awakens Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Abbey Grange and implores him: “Come, Watson, come! ... The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!”

8. Sherlock's remark about Culverton Smith: “That creature, that rotting thing, is a living breathing coagulation of human evil, and if the only thing I ever do in this world is drive him out of it, then my life will not have been wasted.” - In The Final Problem, Holmes states about Professor Moriarty: “I tell you, Watson, in all seriousness, that if I could beat that man, if I could free society of him, I should feel that my own career had reached its summit, and I should be prepared to turn to some more placid line in life.”

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9. Sherlock angrily tells John: “I have been many things, John, but when I ever been a malingerer?” - In The Adventure of the Dying Detective, Holmes tells Dr Watson: “Malingering is a subject upon which I have sometimes thought of writing a monograph.”

10. Sherlock tells the children at the hospital: “The main feature of interest in the field of criminal investigation is not the sensational aspects of the crime itself, but rather ... the iron chain of reason from cause to effect that reveals step by step the solution. That is the only truly remarkable aspect of the entire affair.” -

In The Sign of the Four, Holmes criticizes Dr Watson's previous write up (A Study in Scarlet): “I glanced over it ... Honestly, I cannot congratulate you upon it. Detection is, or ought to be, an exact science, and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner. You have attempted to tinge it with romanticism, which produces much the same effect as if you worked a love-story or an elopement into the fifth proposition of Euclid ... The only point in the case which deserved mention was the curious analytical reasoning from effects to causes by which I succeeded in unraveling it.”

11. At the hospital, Sherlock refers to the case of Blessington the poisoner that involved 5 suspects - Possible reference to The Adventure of the Resident Patient, which involved the Worthingdon bank gang. The gang had 5 members: Blessington/Sutton, Biddle, Hayward, Cartwright and Moffat. Yes, Steven could have very well scripted a meta reference to himself!

12. Culverton Smith asks John: “You really a doctor? ...  Not a medical doctor, you know. Not just feet, or media studies or something....Are you?” and sarcastically refers to him as “Doctor Watson.”

AND

After John rescues Sherlock from Culverton, John asks him if he is ok. Sherlock replies: “No of course I’m not ok. Malnourished, double kidney failure, and frankly I’ve been off my tits for weeks. What kind of a doctor are you?” -

In The Adventure of the Dying Detective, it is Holmes who tells Dr Watson: “If I am to have a doctor whether I will or not, let me at least have someone in whom I have confidence... after all, you are only a general practitioner with very limited experience and mediocre qualifications. It is painful to have to say these things, but you leave me no choice.”

13. Nurse Cornish's comment about Sherlock's physical strength: “And yeah, he’s made a terrible mess of himself, but he’s awfully strong, so must look on the bright side.” - 

Dr Watson writes about his first meeting with Sherlock Holmes in A Study in Scarlet - “How are you?” he said cordially, gripping my hand with a strength for which I should hardly have given him credit. “You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.” 

Holmes displays his strength (after Dr Grimesby Roylott's departure) in The Adventure of the Speckled Band - “He seems a very amiable person,” said Holmes, laughing. “I am not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him that my grip was not much more feeble than his own.” As he spoke he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, straightened it out again.

14. There is an old envelope with address “S. Holmes 156 Montague St” on the mantelpiece at 221 B Baker Street.

Holmes tells Dr Watson in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual: “When I first came up to London I had rooms in Montague Street, just round the corner from the British Museum, and there I waited, filling in my too abundant leisure time by studying all those branches of science which might make me more efficient.”

15. Mrs Hudson explains about Sherlock's actions: “Unsolved case - shoot the wall.... Unmade breakfast - karate the fridge ... Unanswered question. Well, what does he do with anything he can’t answer John, every time?” John answers: “He stabs it.” - 

Dr Watson writes in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual:  

“..... when I find a man who keeps ... his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden mantelpiece, then I begin to give myself virtuous airs. I have always held, too, that pistol practice should be distinctly an open-air pastime; and when Holmes, in one of his queer humors, would sit in an arm-chair 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, I felt strongly that neither the atmosphere nor the appearance of our room was improved by it.”

16. After hearing Irene's customized ringtone, John asks Sherlock and The Woman have “a night of passion in High Wycombe?”. Sherlock replies: “I once caught a triple poisoner in High Wycombe.” - 

In The Sign of the Four, Holmes states: “I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellent man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor.”

This is one of the best Canonical references in the series so far, as Moffat has referred to both Irene Adler and Culverton Smith. Hats off to Moffat!

17. Sherlock expresses his lack of interest in getting involved with Irene Adler: “As I have explained to you many times before, romantic entanglement, while fulfilling for other people...”
John interrupts: “... would complete you as a human being”
Sherlock responds: “That does not even mean anything.”

- Dr Watson writes about Holmes' feelings towards The Woman in A Scandal in Bohemia: “To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman ... It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind ... He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer.”

18. John's therapist reveals her true identity as Eurus, the sister of the Holmes brothers. She also explains that the name means “East Wind.” -

In His Last Bow, Holmes tells Dr Watson: “There's an east wind coming, Watson.”
Watson: “I think not, Holmes. It is very warm.”
Holmes: “Good old Watson! You are the one fixed point in a changing age. There's an east wind coming all the same, such a wind as never blew on England yet. It will be cold and bitter, Watson, and a good many of us may wither before its blast. But it's God's own wind none the less, and a cleaner, better, stronger land will lie in the sunshine when the storm has cleared.”

Interestingly, at the climax of His Last Vow, Sherlock tells John: “The East Wind takes us all in the end ... It’s a story my brother told me when we were kids. The East Wind - this terrifying force that lays waste to all in its path ... It seeks out the unworthy and plucks them from the Earth. That was generally me.”

Other References

1. Sherlock mentions a case of the Drearcliffe House with one murder and ten suspects in which all of them were guilty - This is a reference to the Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movie: Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear. There are seven single men living together in Drearcliffe House, a Scottish castle. One by one, they start dying till only one is left. Holmes however figures out that the remaining six had conspired to have the seventh arrested on murder charges for insurance money.

2. Culverton refers to H H Holmes as his favorite serial killer. He further says that H H Holmes loved the dead and that he mass produced them. Later, Smith explains to a hospitalized Sherlock: “I built this whole wing... kept firing the architects and builders, so no one knew quite how it all fitted together.”.Murder Castle, done right.” - This is a reference to Dr Henry Howard Holmes (H H Holmes), the character from the novel “The Devil in the White City”. H H Holmes was a real life serial killer and took his victims to his World's Fair Hotel and killed them there. He also fired the construction workers so that he was the only one with complete knowledge of the building.

3. Sherlock's seemingly drug-induced crazy monologue (at 221 B Baker Street) that starts with the following words: “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more...” is taken from William Shakespeare's play “Henry V” and is spoken by King Henry.

4. The Zoo case/Case of the killer Orangutan brought up by Sherlock - Reference to the short story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” by Edgar Allan Poe. An orangutan is the killer in this story. 

This story is considered to be the first modern detective story and introduces the character of C. Auguste Dupin. Poe was a significant influence on Arthur Conan Doyle for creating Sherlock Holmes. Doyle mentions Poe in A Study in Scarlet - Dr Watson:  “You remind me of Edgar Allen Poe’s Dupin. I had no idea that such individuals did exist outside of stories.” Holmes responds: “No doubt you think that you are complimenting me in comparing me to Dupin.... Now, in my opinion, Dupin was a very inferior fellow.... He had some analytical genius, no doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as Poe appeared to imagine.” 

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Special thanks to Ariane DeVere for pointing out Reference # 14.

Image Sources: Hartswood Films, BBC Wales, Masterpiece theater, Wikipedia

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BBC Sherlock Canonical References and Nods - "The Six Thatchers" S4E1

The first episode of Season 4 has aired and as can be expected, Mark Gatiss has scripted quite a few nods to Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories and novels. There might be spoilers and the readers who are yet to watch the episode are recommended to skip this post.

1. Sherlock takes a case from a pile affixed to the mantelpiece with a knife - Dr John Watson writes about Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual: “..his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden mantelpiece,…”

2. An onscreen text reads: “Mr Hatherley came straight round to Baker Street in a terrible state. He was white as a sheet and bleeding from an awful wound on his hand. Exactly how he came by this wound was at first confusing...”. Sherlock then says: “Come back, it is the wrong thumb” - Reference to the Canonical story, The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb in which Victor Hatherley, the titular hydraulic engineer has his thumb severed by Colonel Lysander Stark.

3. There is a case involving a jellyfish being the assassin - Reference to the Canonical story, The Lion's Mane. In this story, the murderer is Lion's Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata).

4. Sherlock sends a text: “Fresh paint to disguise another smell” - In The Adventure of the Retired Colorman, Holmes explains how he deduced that Josiah Amberley is the killer:  “Why should this man at such a time be filling his house with strong odours? Obviously, to cover some other smell which he wished to conceal - some guilty smell which would suggest suspicions.”

5. Sherlock texts: “If dog can't swim, neighbour is the killer” -  This is a bit tenuous, but reminded me of  the“singular epidemic among the sheep” in The Silver Blaze. In this story, Sherlock Holmes guesses that the killer (John Straker) would have practiced nicking the tendons on the sheep before trying it out on the titular horse. Further, after Silver Blaze escaped after accidentally killing Straker, it was taken care of by one of the neighbors (Silas Brown).


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6. DI Hopkins (Eleanor Matsuura) mentions to DI Lestrade about the case of the Borgia Pearl - This is a reference to The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, the story that inspired the title of this episode. The plot of that story involves an Italian immigrant (Beppo) who hides the black pearl of the Borgias inside a bust of Napoleon Bonaparte.

7. Sherlock is seen lecturing the baby Rosamund Mary: “As always you see, but you do not observe” - Sherlock Holmes tells Dr John Watson in A Scandal in Bohemia: “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.”

8. Sherlock's deduces that his client started out in manual labor by observing that his right hand is bigger than his left. Then the client confirms that he was a carpenter. When Sherlock explains how he came to his conclusions, the client downplays the detective's skills as being simple and that that there is not much to them - In The Red-Headed League, Sherlock explains how he deduced that his client, Jabez Wilson did manual labor: “Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more developed.” Jabez confirms that he began work as a ship's carpenter. Jabez then laughs after hearing Sherlock's chain of reasoning and says: “I thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see that there was nothing in it, after all.”

9. Sherlock deduces that his client has a Japanese girlfriend from the Japanese tattoo (that reads “Akako”) on the crook of his elbow. The tattoo is blurred now as a result of attempts made to erase it. - In The Gloria Scott, Holmes surprises Trevor Sr. by telling him that he has been “most intimately associated with some one whose initials were J. A., and whom you afterwards were eager to entirely forget”. Holmes explains how he came to this conclusion: “When you bared your arm to draw that fish into the boat I saw that J. A., had been tattooed in the bend of the elbow. The letters were still legible, but it was perfectly clear from their blurred appearance, and from the staining of the skin round them, that efforts had been made to obliterate them. It was obvious, then, that those initials had once been very familiar to you, and that you had afterwards wished to forget them.” Trevor Sr. later reveals that his real name is James Armitage.

10. Sherlock's line: “The game is on” - Sherlock Holmes awakens Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Abbey Grange and implores him: “Come, Watson, come! ... The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!”

11. When Lestrade wonders aloud who would go around smashing busts, John theorizes that some people have a complex of being obsessed over a particular thing that they cannot let go (an idée fixe). To which Sherlock replies: “Why would a monomaniac fixate on just one?” - In The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, Dr Watson puts forward his theory: “There are no limits to the possibilities of monomania...There is the condition which the modern French psychologists have called the idée fixe...”.

12. Craig tells Sherlock: “There is quite a market for Cold War memorabilia: Thatcher, Reagan, Stalin. Time is a great leveler, isn't it? Thatcher’s like ... Napoleon now.” - Yet another reference to The Adventure of the Six Napoleons.

13. Craig also informs Sherlock that the busts were supplied by Gelder and Co. and that out of the six busts, one was given to Dr Barnicot, two to Miss Orrie Harker and one to Jack Sandeford of Reading - In The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, the supplier of the busts is Gelder & Co. and out of the six Napoleon busts, one was sent to Mr. Horace Harker, one to Mr. Josaih Brown and one to Mr. Sandeford of Lower Grove Road, Reading.

14. Sherlock displays his lack of knowledge about who the late Margaret Thatcher is as well as the fact about her being the first lady Prime Minister of England - In A Study in Scarlet, Dr Watson writes that Holmes has “feeble” knowledge of Politics.

15. The flash drive with the initials “A.G.R.A.” referring to the names of the four team members - Reference to The Sign of the Four in which the character of Mary Morstan was introduced. The novel's plot involves the treasure belonging to four convicts: Jonathan Small, Mahomet Singh, Abdullah Khan and Dost Akbar.

16. Toby, the bloodhound who is used by Sherlock to track the individual responsible for destroying the Thatcher busts. While following the scent of blood found on the broken busts, Toby's trail finally ends at a butcher's shop - In The Sign of Four, Holmes explains to Dr Watson about Toby: “... a queer mongrel, with a most amazing power of scent. I would rather have Toby's help than that of the whole detective force of London.” Holmes uses Toby to track down the killers using a creosote handkerchief. Toby after a long run, finally ends up at a barrel of creosote near a timber-yard.

17. John tells Mary after he and Sherlock track her down in Morocco: “Mary, I may not be a very good man but I think I am better than what you give me credit for most of the time.” - In The Yellow Face, Grant Munro tell his wife: “I am not a very good man, Effie, but I think that I am a better one than you have given me me credit for being.”

18. Sherlock remembers Mycroft mentioning some code names: Langdale, Porlock (among others) -

In The Valley of Fear, Sherlock Holmes deciphers the code sent by Porlock, one of Professor Moriarty’s agents from books. Holmes explains to Dr Watson about Porlock: “Porlock, Watson, is a nom-de-plume, a mere identification mark; but behind it lies a shifty and evasive personality.”

In The Adventure of the Three Gables, Dr Watson writes about Langdale Pike: “I saw no more of Holmes during the day, but I could well imagine how he spent it, for Langdale Pike was his human book of reference upon all matters of social scandal. This strange, languid creature ... was the receiving station as well as the transmitter for all the gossip of the metropolis …. Holmes discreetly helped Langdale to knowledge, and on occasion was helped in turn.”

19. Sherlock texts Mary: “The curtain rises. The last act. It is not over” - In The Adventure Of The Second Stain, Holmes states: “Excellent! ... Come, friend Watson, the curtain rings up for the last act.”

20. Sherlock deduces that Vivian lives on Wigmore Street based on the clay on her shoes - In A Study in Scarlet, Dr Watson writes about Sherlock Holmes' skills in 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.”

21. Inside the aquarium, Sherlock tells Vivian: “Nice location for the final act.... I can't resist a touch of the dramatic” - 

Sherlock Holmes states in The Valley of Fear: “Watson insists that I am the dramatist in real life,... Some touch of the artist wells up within me, and calls insistently for a well-staged performance.”

Sherlock Holmes explains to Percy Phelps in The Adventure of the Naval Treaty: “.... but Watson here will tell you that I never can resist a touch of the dramatic.”

22. In the aftermath of Mary's death, Sherlock tells Mrs Hudson: “Work is the best antidote to sorrow” - In The Empty House,  Dr Watson writes about Holmes: “In some manner he had learned of my own sad bereavement, and his sympathy was shown in his manner rather than in his words”. Holmes then tells Dr Watson: “Work is the best antidote to sorrow, my dear Watson..and I have a piece of work for us both tonight which, if we can bring it to a successful conclusion, will in itself justify a man's life on this planet.”

23. Sherlock's request to Mrs Hudson to say the word “Norbury” to him if she ever thinks that he is getting overconfident  - In The Yellow Face, Holmes tells Dr Watson: “Watson...if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little overconfident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper 'Norbury' in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you”.

Trivia:

1. One of the cases Sherlock solves is “Canary Trainer” - Reference to a Sherlock Holmes pastiche: “The Canary Trainer: From the Memoirs of John H. Watson, M.D” by Nicholas Meyer.

2. Mycroft places a call to one Sherrinford Holmes. Mycroft also alluded to the other brother at the end of His Last Vow - The character of Sherrinford Holmes was not created by Arthur Conan Doyle. William S. Baring-Gould created this character in his fictional biography “Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street”. Sherrinford is presumed to be the eldest of the three brothers.

3.  The character of David Welsborough is portrayed by Charles Edwards - Charles also played Arthur Conan Doyle in Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes, the TV series that starred the late Ian Richardson as Dr. Joseph Bell. Dr Bell is credited as the man who inspired Doyle to create the legendary detective. 

4. Sherlock is also seen working on the case of “The Duplicate Man ”: How could Dennis Parkinson be in two places at the same time? And murdered in one of them?. Sherlock says: "It is never twins" - Possible reference to the plot of the Sherlock Holmes pastiche movie: Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking starring Rupert Everett as the titular detective. The mystery is resolved 

Readers are welcome to point out any other nods I might have missed out.

Click here to read my review of this episode. Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock.

Image Sources: Hartswood Films, BBC Wales, Masterpiece Theatre, Cumberbatchweb

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Sherlock Special "The Abominable Bride" - Canonical References and Nods

The Sherlock Special episode “The Abominable Bride” has aired and as can be expected, there are a bunch of nods to Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories and novels. There might be spoilers and the readers who are yet to watch the episode are recommended to skip this post.

1. The episode title “The Abominable Bride” involving the bride: Emilia Ricoletti (Natasha O'Keeffe) and her husband Thomas Ricoletti (Gerald Kyd) - Sherlock Holmes mentions to Dr John Watson about this case in The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual: “But there are some pretty little problems among them. Here's the record of the Tarleton murders, and the case of Vamberry, the wine merchant, and the adventure of the old Russian woman, and the singular affair of the aluminium crutch, as well as a full account of Ricoletti of the club-foot, and his abominable wife.”

2. The following lines spoken by Dr John Watson (Martin Freeman): “The second Afghan war brought honours and promotion to many. But for me it meant nothing but misfortune and disaster... Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are drained.” - They are taken almost verbatim from A Study in Scarlet. They are also among the very first lines written by Arthur Conan Doyle, that would eventually culminate in the legendary Canon comprising 56 short stories and 4 novels.

3. The newspaper salesman asking Dr John Watson if his next story will feature an actual murder, unlike his current story “The Blue Carbuncle” - Reference to the plot of The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, in which Sherlock Holmes solves the mystery behind the theft of a rare stone. This story was set during Christmas time and did not involve any murder.

Also to be noted: the man is seen holding a copy of The Strand Magazine. The Sherlock Holmes stories were published in this magazine, including The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.

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4. Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) deducing the identity of his client as being Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington) based on her perfume - Reference to this line spoken by Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles: “There are seventy-five perfumes, which it is very necessary that a criminal expert should be able to distinguish from each other, and cases have more than once within my own experience depended upon their prompt recognition.”

5. Sherlock is impressed by John's growing deductive capabilities and comments: “My Boswell is learning. They grow up so fast.” - In A Scandal in Bohemia, Dr Watson offers to leave when Sherlock Holmes is about to receive a very wealthy client. Holmes responds: “Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell.”

6. Dr John Watson receives a message from Sherlock: “Come at once if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same. Holmes” - Sherlock Holmes sends this note to Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Creeping Man: “Come at once if convenient–if inconvenient come all the same. S. H.”.

7. Sherlock comforts the fearful Inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves): “Fear is wisdom in the face of danger. It is nothing to be ashamed of.” - In The Final Problem, Sherlock Holmes explains his fear of airguns to Dr Watson: “I think that you know me well enough, Watson, to understand that I am by no means a nervous man. At the same time, it is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you.”

8. When asked to describe the bride's face, Lestrade responds: “White as death, mouth like a crimson wound.” Sherlock asks: “Poetry or truth?” When Lestrade replies that many people would consider both the same thing, Sherlock retorts: “Yes, Idiots” - In The Adventure of the Retired Colorman, Sherlock Holmes sends Dr John Watson to collect information about Josiah Amberley. Dr Watson returns and explains about Josiah's house: “You know that particular quarter, the monotonous brick streets, the weary suburban highways. Right in the middle of them, a little island of ancient culture and comfort, lies this old home, surrounded by a high sun-baked wall mottled with lichens and topped with moss, the sort of wall...”. Holmes' angry response: “Cut out the poetry, Watson...I note that it was a high brick wall.”

9. Mary receives a letter from a certain “M” (Mycroft). When Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs) asks who it is from, Mary responds: “England” - In The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans, Sherlock Holmes explains about his brother to Dr John Watson: “You are right in thinking that he is under the British government. You would also be right in a sense if you said that occasionally he is the British government.”

10. The writing (in blood) on the wall: “You” - Possible reference to the plot of A Study in Scarlet. In the original novel, the murderer writes the word “RACHE” (using his own blood) on the wall at the crime scene.

11. Dr Watson reprimands his maid, Jane (Stephanie Hyam) for being late, being incapable of boiling an egg and almost destroying his boots while scraping the mud off them. He also warns Jane that he will ask Mary to have a word with her -

In A Scandal in Bohemia, Sherlock Holmes deduces that Dr Watson has a clumsy and careless servant girl based on the careless scrapes round the edges of the soles of Watson's shoes. Dr Watson confirms Holmes' deductions:  “As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice....”

In The Problem of Thor Bridge, Sherlock Holmes complains about his new cook to Dr Watson: “There is little to share, but we may discuss it when you have consumed the two hard-boiled eggs with which our new cook has favored us. Their condition may not be unconnected with the copy of the Family Herald which I observed yesterday upon the hall-table. Even so trivial a matter as cooking an egg demands an attention which is conscious of the passage of time and incompatible with the love romance in that excellent periodical.”

12. Sherlock is seen reading up on “The obliquity of the ecliptic - The inclination of the earth's equator to the path of the sun on the celestial plane.”. John teases that he has been preparing himself to impress someone (Mycroft) who is more clever than him - In A Study in Scarlet, Dr Watson mentions that Sherlock Holmes' knowledge of Astronomy is NIL.

13. Mycroft Holmes (Mark Gatiss) states: “To anyone who wishes to study mankind, this is the spot.” - This exact line is spoken by Mycroft Holmes at the Diogenes Club in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter. 

14. Mycroft scolds Sherlock: “As ever you see, but you do not observe.” - In A Scandal in Bohemia, Sherlock Holmes says the same line to Dr Watson: “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.”

15. The following exchange between Mycroft and Sherlock is taken verbatim from The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter:

Mycroft: “I expected to see you a few days ago about the Manor House case.  I thought you might be a little out of your depth there.” 
Sherlock: “No, I solved it.” 
Mycroft: “It was Adams, of course.”
Sherlock: “Yes, it was Adams.”

16. Sherlock asks Mycroft if he has solved the case. Mycroft responds that he has solved it, but needs his brother to do the “legwork” (something he clearly hates) - In The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans, Sherlock asks Mycroft as to why he does not solve the case. Mycroft replies: “Possibly, Sherlock.  But it is a question of getting details. Give me your details, and from an armchair I will return you an excellent expert opinion.  But to run here and run there, to cross-question railway guards, and lie on my face with a lens to my eye - it is not my metier.”

17. Wilder (Tim Barlow) informs Mycroft: “Also a Mr. Melas to see you, Mr. Holmes” - Reference to the character of Mr. Melas, the titular character of the story: The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.

18. Sir Eustace Carmichael (Tim McInnerny) receives five orange pips as a warning of his impending death - In the original story, The Five Orange Pips, the secret society known as the Ku Klux Klan sends five orange pips as a warning to individuals who have been marked for death.

19. Sherlock tells John: “The game is afoot” - Sherlock Holmes awakens Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Abbey Grange and implores him: “Come, Watson, come! ... The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!”

20. Sherlock's response to Dr Watson's comments about Lady Carmichael (Catherine McCormack): “The fair sex is your department, Watson. I will take your word for it.” - In The Adventure of the Second Stain, Holmes asks Watson for his opinion about Lady Hilda Trelawney Hope: “Now, Watson, the fair sex is your department ... What was the fair lady's game? What did she really want?”

21.  Sherlock states: “All emotion is abhorrent to me. It is the grit in a sensitive instrument. The crack in the lens.” - 

Dr John Watson writes about Sherlock Holmes' attitude towards love in A Scandal in Bohemia: “All emotions, and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind... He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer... But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his.”

22. Sherlock and Watson are constantly at odds about the possibility of ghosts. Finally, Sherlock has had enough and shouts: “There are no ghosts!” - This reminded me of the story: The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire. Sherlock Holmes expresses clear skepticism about the existence of supernatural entities like vampires and ghosts. He comments to Dr Watson: “But are we to give serious attention to such things? This agency stands flat-footed upon the ground, and there it must remain. The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply.”

23. Sherlock frowns due to the fact that the murderer has escaped due to Watson's mistake: “Our bird is flown” - In The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter, Holmes makes a prediction that the kidnappers of Mr Melas would have escaped by making the statement: “Our birds are flown and the nest empty.”

24. Sherlock scolds Watson: “Use your brain, such as it is, to eliminate the impossible, which in this case is the ghost, and observe what remains, which in this case is a solution so blindingly obvious,...” -

In The Sign of the Four, Sherlock Holmes makes one of his most famous statements: “How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”

25. Moriarty (Andrew Scott) taunts Sherlock: “It is a dangerous habit to finger loaded firearms in the pocket of one's dressing-gown.” - This line is taken verbatim from The Final Problem. 

26. Moriarty states: “There is nothing new under the sun” -

In A Study in Scarlet, Holmes states: “There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before” 

Sherlock Holmes mentions in The Valley of Fear: “The old wheel turns, and the same spoke comes up. It's all been done before, and will be again.”

27. Dr Watson asks Sherlock: “Morphine or Cocaine?.” Sherlock replies:  “Cocaine... a 7% solution. Care to try it?” - This exchange takes place between Holmes and Watson in The Sign of the Four.

28. Mycroft asks Sherlock as he is about to search for the corpse of Emilia Ricoletti: “Cherchez la femme?” -

Sherlock Holmes explains about his ancestry in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter: “But, none the less, my turn that way is in my veins, and may have come with my grandmother, who was the sister of Vernet, the French artist.”

Sherlock Holmes also uses the word “recherché” in The Musgrave Ritual - “But there are some pretty little problems among them. Here's the record of the Tarleton murders, and the case of Vamberry, the wine merchant, and the adventure of the old Russian woman, and the singular affair of the aluminium crutch, as well as a full account of Ricoletti of the club-foot, and his abominable wife. And here—ah, now, this really is something a little recherché.”

29. We can see the name “Vernet” in Mycroft's notebook -  Sherlock Holmes explains about his ancestry in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter: “But, none the less, my turn that way is in my veins, and may have come with my grandmother, who was the sister of Vernet, the French artist.”

30. In the closing scene, Sherlock states: “From a drop of water, a logician should be able to infer the possibility of Atlantic or Niagara”.. Watson adds: “... or a Reichenbach?” - Sherlock Holmes says this line in A Study in Scarlet: “From a drop of water a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other”

31. The character of Sir Eustace Carmichael shares the first name with the character of  Sir Eustace Brackenstall from the original story: The Adventure Of The Abbey Grange.

32. The dress worn by the women seeking revenge is similar to the dress worn by the Ku Klux Khan. This counts as another reference to the original story: The Five Orange Pips, that featured the members of this cult society.

The last 2 are credited to Meghashyam Chirravoori.

Readers are welcome to point out any other nods I might have missed out.

Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock

Image Sources: Hartswood Films,  BBC One, Wikipedia,  Masterpiece Theatre

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