Dear Readers,
Here is the concluding post of compilation of the references to Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories and novels in the third episode of BBC Sherlock Season 1 “The Great Game”.
Click here to read the first post.
Here is the concluding post of compilation of the references to Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories and novels in the third episode of BBC Sherlock Season 1 “The Great Game”.
Click here to read the first post.
1. Sherlock's line expressing his lack of knowledge about “Who's Prime Minister or who is sleeping with who..” - Dr John Watson lists the limits to Sherlock Holmes' knowledge in A Study in Scarlet: “Of contemporary literature, philosophy and politics he appeared to know next to nothing”.
2. Sherlock's reply to John in the cab: “Don't know. Dangerous to jump to conclusions. Need data.” - Sherlock Holmes states in A Scandal in Bohemia: “I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
3. John Watson referring to the fact that he and Mrs Hudson have been watching too much telly – Reference to this exchange from The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor:
Sherlock Holmes: “You have been reading the papers diligently of late, have you not?”
Dr John Watson: “It looks like it,” said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in the corner. “I have had nothing else to do.”
4. Sherlock's line to John after coming out of Kenny Prince's house: “You smell of disinfectant” - Sherlock Holmes mentions in The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier: “I have, as my friend Watson may have remarked, an abnormally acute set of senses, and a faint but incisive scent was apparent.”
5. Sherlock's comment to Detective Inspector Lestrade: “We’ve been here before. Carl Powers? Tut-tut. Our bomber’s repeated himself.” - Sherlock Holmes rebukes Inspector Alec MacDonald in The Valley of Fear: “Tut, tut, Mr. Mac!—the first sign of temper I have detected in you.”
6. Sherlock using online gossip to solve the case of Connie Prince – Sherlock Holmes listens to gossip on the streets in A Scandal in Bohemia.
7. John's protests to Sherlock: “There are human lives at stake, Sherlock. Actual human lives. Just so I know, do you care about that at all” – Reference to the line spoken by Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of the Four: “A client is to me a mere unit, a factor in a problem. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning.”
8. Sherlock's advice to John: “Don’t make people into heroes, John. Heroes don’t exist and if they did, I would not be one of them” – This reminded me of the following line spoken by Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier: “By cunning questions and ejaculations of wonder he could elevate my simple art, which is but systematized common sense, into a prodigy.”
9. Sherlock's observation about Moriarty: “Just once, he put himself in the firing line” – Holmes states about Professor Moriarty in The Final Problem: “But at last he made a trip -- only a little, little trip but it was more than he could afford, when I was so close upon him.”
10. Sherlock's line about Moriarty: “Well, usually, he must stay above it all. He organises these things, but no one ever has direct contact”. Miss Wenceslas, owner of the Hickman Gallery also confirms the same when she says that she never had any “real contact” and that there were “just messages, whispers…” – Sherlock Holmes states about Professor Moriarty in 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. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his defence. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught - never so much as suspected.”
11. Sherlock replies that he has 7 ideas, after inspecting the corpse of a security guard – Sherlock Holmes has a similar exchange with Annie Harrison in The Adventure of the Naval Treaty: “Do you see any clue?” “You have furnished me with seven, but of course I must test them before I can pronounce upon their value.”
12. Sherlock dismisses John's praise of his deductions about the murder of the security guard as “meretricious” – Sherlock Holmes comments about Dr Watson's writing skills in The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier: “Alas, that I should have to show my hand so when I tell my own story! It was by concealing such links in the chain that Watson was enabled to produce his meretricious finales.”
13. Sherlock Holmes gets the information from his informant that the assassin, Golem is hiding in Vauxhall Arches – Dr John Watson mentions in The Sign of the Four: “They landed me at Vauxhall, with my heavy iron box, and with a bluff, genial inspector as my companion.” There are also mentions of Vauxhall Bridge Road in the novel.
14. John is not clear about Sherlock's plans even after they reach Vauxhall Arches and has to ask him: “Anytime, you want to explain?” - Dr John Watson mentions about Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Illustrious Client: “There was a curious secretive streak in the man which led to many dramatic effects, but left even his closest friend guessing as to what his exact plans might be. He pushed to an extreme the axiom that the only safe plotter was he who plotted alone. I was nearer him than anyone else, and yet I was always conscious of the gap between.”
15. Sherlock explains to John, who is surprised after hearing his roommate's appreciation for the beauty of the night sky: “Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it” - Sherlock Holmes has a similar experience with Dr Watson in The Adventure of Black Peter: “Let us walk in these beautiful woods, Watson, and give a few hours to the birds and the flowers.”
16. Sherlock refers to the “Homeless network” as his “eyes and ears all over the city” - Sherlock Holmes explains about the Baker Street Irregulars to Dr Watson in A Study in Scarlet: “These youngsters, however, go everywhere and hear everything. They are as sharp as needles, too; all they want is organisation.”
17. Sherlock is seen employing his boxing skills against Golem, the assassin in the planetarium – Dr John Watson lists Sherlock Holmes' skills in A Study in Scarlet: “Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.”
18. Sherlock deducing the presence of a criminal mastermind behind the case of the fake painting as well as the murders of Connie Prince and Carl Powers – From The Final Problem: “Again and again in cases of the most varying sorts -- forgery cases, robberies, murders -- I have felt the presence of this force, and I have deduced its action in many of those undiscovered crimes in which I have not been personally consulted.”
19. Sherlock following Watson on the case of the missing defense plans without the latter’s knowledge – In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes sends Dr John Watson to Dartmoor to work on the case and then goes to Dartmoor himself deliberately keeping everyone in the dark about his presence
20. The plot involves the brother of Andrew West’s fiancee stealing the defense plans – In The Adventure of the Naval Treaty, Joseph Harrison steals the titular treaty from the office of his sister's fiance, Percy Phelps.
21. Sherlock informs John that Mycroft threatened him with a knighthood again - In The Adventure of the Three Garridebs, Dr Watson writes: “I remember the date very well, for it was in the same month that Holmes refused a knighthood for services which may perhaps some day be described.”
22. Sherlock's sitting posture at 221 B Baker Street is a reference to Sidney Paget's illustration for Arthur Conan Doyle's story: The Adventure of the Red Headed League
23. Sherlock's exchange with Jim Moriarty: “People told me I don’t have a heart” “We both know that’s not true” - Reference to this line written by Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Three Garridebs: “For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain.”
24. Sherlock's line to John: “All right. Are you all right?”- Sherlock Holmes' line from The Adventure of the Three Garridebs, after Dr Watson gets shot at by Killer Evans: “You’re not hurt, Watson? For God‘s sake, say that you are not hurt!”
25. John's comment to Sherlock: “You ripping my clothes off in a darkened swimming pool” – Reference to Dr Watson's statement about Sherlock Holmes from The Adventure of the Three Garridebs: “He had ripped up my trousers with his pocket-knife.”
26. Sherlock calling Jim a “consulting criminal” - Sherlock Holmes makes the following statement about Professor James Moriarty in The Valley of Fear: “"Having an English job to do, they took into partnership, as any foreign criminal could do, this great consultant in crime.”
27. The following exchanges between Sherlock and Jim Moriarty are taken from The Final Problem:
2. Sherlock's reply to John in the cab: “Don't know. Dangerous to jump to conclusions. Need data.” - Sherlock Holmes states in A Scandal in Bohemia: “I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
3. John Watson referring to the fact that he and Mrs Hudson have been watching too much telly – Reference to this exchange from The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor:
Sherlock Holmes: “You have been reading the papers diligently of late, have you not?”
Dr John Watson: “It looks like it,” said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in the corner. “I have had nothing else to do.”
4. Sherlock's line to John after coming out of Kenny Prince's house: “You smell of disinfectant” - Sherlock Holmes mentions in The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier: “I have, as my friend Watson may have remarked, an abnormally acute set of senses, and a faint but incisive scent was apparent.”
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5. Sherlock's comment to Detective Inspector Lestrade: “We’ve been here before. Carl Powers? Tut-tut. Our bomber’s repeated himself.” - Sherlock Holmes rebukes Inspector Alec MacDonald in The Valley of Fear: “Tut, tut, Mr. Mac!—the first sign of temper I have detected in you.”
6. Sherlock using online gossip to solve the case of Connie Prince – Sherlock Holmes listens to gossip on the streets in A Scandal in Bohemia.
7. John's protests to Sherlock: “There are human lives at stake, Sherlock. Actual human lives. Just so I know, do you care about that at all” – Reference to the line spoken by Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of the Four: “A client is to me a mere unit, a factor in a problem. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning.”
8. Sherlock's advice to John: “Don’t make people into heroes, John. Heroes don’t exist and if they did, I would not be one of them” – This reminded me of the following line spoken by Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier: “By cunning questions and ejaculations of wonder he could elevate my simple art, which is but systematized common sense, into a prodigy.”
9. Sherlock's observation about Moriarty: “Just once, he put himself in the firing line” – Holmes states about Professor Moriarty in The Final Problem: “But at last he made a trip -- only a little, little trip but it was more than he could afford, when I was so close upon him.”
10. Sherlock's line about Moriarty: “Well, usually, he must stay above it all. He organises these things, but no one ever has direct contact”. Miss Wenceslas, owner of the Hickman Gallery also confirms the same when she says that she never had any “real contact” and that there were “just messages, whispers…” – Sherlock Holmes states about Professor Moriarty in 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. The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his defence. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught - never so much as suspected.”
11. Sherlock replies that he has 7 ideas, after inspecting the corpse of a security guard – Sherlock Holmes has a similar exchange with Annie Harrison in The Adventure of the Naval Treaty: “Do you see any clue?” “You have furnished me with seven, but of course I must test them before I can pronounce upon their value.”
12. Sherlock dismisses John's praise of his deductions about the murder of the security guard as “meretricious” – Sherlock Holmes comments about Dr Watson's writing skills in The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier: “Alas, that I should have to show my hand so when I tell my own story! It was by concealing such links in the chain that Watson was enabled to produce his meretricious finales.”
13. Sherlock Holmes gets the information from his informant that the assassin, Golem is hiding in Vauxhall Arches – Dr John Watson mentions in The Sign of the Four: “They landed me at Vauxhall, with my heavy iron box, and with a bluff, genial inspector as my companion.” There are also mentions of Vauxhall Bridge Road in the novel.
14. John is not clear about Sherlock's plans even after they reach Vauxhall Arches and has to ask him: “Anytime, you want to explain?” - Dr John Watson mentions about Sherlock Holmes in The Adventure of the Illustrious Client: “There was a curious secretive streak in the man which led to many dramatic effects, but left even his closest friend guessing as to what his exact plans might be. He pushed to an extreme the axiom that the only safe plotter was he who plotted alone. I was nearer him than anyone else, and yet I was always conscious of the gap between.”
15. Sherlock explains to John, who is surprised after hearing his roommate's appreciation for the beauty of the night sky: “Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it” - Sherlock Holmes has a similar experience with Dr Watson in The Adventure of Black Peter: “Let us walk in these beautiful woods, Watson, and give a few hours to the birds and the flowers.”
16. Sherlock refers to the “Homeless network” as his “eyes and ears all over the city” - Sherlock Holmes explains about the Baker Street Irregulars to Dr Watson in A Study in Scarlet: “These youngsters, however, go everywhere and hear everything. They are as sharp as needles, too; all they want is organisation.”
17. Sherlock is seen employing his boxing skills against Golem, the assassin in the planetarium – Dr John Watson lists Sherlock Holmes' skills in A Study in Scarlet: “Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.”
18. Sherlock deducing the presence of a criminal mastermind behind the case of the fake painting as well as the murders of Connie Prince and Carl Powers – From The Final Problem: “Again and again in cases of the most varying sorts -- forgery cases, robberies, murders -- I have felt the presence of this force, and I have deduced its action in many of those undiscovered crimes in which I have not been personally consulted.”
19. Sherlock following Watson on the case of the missing defense plans without the latter’s knowledge – In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sherlock Holmes sends Dr John Watson to Dartmoor to work on the case and then goes to Dartmoor himself deliberately keeping everyone in the dark about his presence
20. The plot involves the brother of Andrew West’s fiancee stealing the defense plans – In The Adventure of the Naval Treaty, Joseph Harrison steals the titular treaty from the office of his sister's fiance, Percy Phelps.
21. Sherlock informs John that Mycroft threatened him with a knighthood again - In The Adventure of the Three Garridebs, Dr Watson writes: “I remember the date very well, for it was in the same month that Holmes refused a knighthood for services which may perhaps some day be described.”
22. Sherlock's sitting posture at 221 B Baker Street is a reference to Sidney Paget's illustration for Arthur Conan Doyle's story: The Adventure of the Red Headed League
23. Sherlock's exchange with Jim Moriarty: “People told me I don’t have a heart” “We both know that’s not true” - Reference to this line written by Dr John Watson in The Adventure of the Three Garridebs: “For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain.”
24. Sherlock's line to John: “All right. Are you all right?”- Sherlock Holmes' line from The Adventure of the Three Garridebs, after Dr Watson gets shot at by Killer Evans: “You’re not hurt, Watson? For God‘s sake, say that you are not hurt!”
25. John's comment to Sherlock: “You ripping my clothes off in a darkened swimming pool” – Reference to Dr Watson's statement about Sherlock Holmes from The Adventure of the Three Garridebs: “He had ripped up my trousers with his pocket-knife.”
26. Sherlock calling Jim a “consulting criminal” - Sherlock Holmes makes the following statement about Professor James Moriarty in The Valley of Fear: “"Having an English job to do, they took into partnership, as any foreign criminal could do, this great consultant in crime.”
27. The following exchanges between Sherlock and Jim Moriarty are taken from The Final Problem:
- “Is that British Army Browning L9A1 in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?” – “It is a dangerous habit to finger loaded firearms in the pocket of one's dressing-gown.” (The Final Problem)
- “Don’t be silly. Some one else is holding the rifle. I don’t like to get my hands” – “He does little himself. He only plans. But his agents are numerous and splendidly organized.” (The Final Problem)
- “No one has got close to me. And no one ever will”. – “The agent may be caught. In that case money is found for his bail or his defence. But the central power which uses the agent is never caught -- never so much as suspected.” (The Final Problem)
- “Now you are in my way” - “You stand in the way not merely of an individual but of a mighty organization, the full extent of which you, with all your cleverness, have been unable to realize.” (The Final Problem)
- “You can’t be allowed to continue. You just can’t.” – “It is necessary that you should withdraw” (The Final Problem)
- “Come to warn you. Back off” – “You must drop it, Mr. Holmes,” said he, swaying his face about. “You really must, you know.” (The Final Problem)
- “I would try to convince you but everything I have to say has already crossed your mind!” “Probably my answer has crossed yours.” - “All that I have to say has already crossed your mind,” said he. “Then possibly my answer has crossed yours,” I replied. (The Final Problem)
I welcome the readers to point out any references that I might have missed.
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Image Sources: BBC Wales, Hartswood Films, Masterpiece Theatre
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You have been a busy boy!
ReplyDeleteExcellent.
Thanks John.
DeleteB2B.
The scene at the beginning where Sherlock condemns the prisoner to be hanged is reminiscent of this line from The Missing Three-Quarter: “There is Arthur H. Staunton, the rising young forger,” said he, “and there was Henry Staunton, whom I helped to hang, but Godfrey Staunton is a new name to me.”
ReplyDeleteA bit tenuous in my humble opinion. Still, I can feel your enthusiasm for the source material :)
DeleteInterestingly, in the first episode, Sherlock mentions to John (when they meet at 221 B) that Mrs Hudson gave him a special deal. This was because she owed him a favor since he ensured her husband's execution. That sounds closer to what you are referring to.
Arun.
Joe Harrison, the brother of Westie’s fiancée, takes his name from "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty".
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and the comment.
DeleteSince the episode kind of directly adapted this short story (as one of multiple other mysteries), I did not include it as a Canonical reference.
I personally consider something as a nod to the original story/novel when it is used/referred to in a different context and not when that story/novel is directly adapted. Hope that clarifies.
Arun.
The pink mobile phone receives messages with Greenwich Pips, with their numbers decreasing with each message (The Five Orange Pips)
ReplyDeleteNot sure I am getting this reference. Can you please elaborate.
DeleteArun.
The message alerts are Greenwich pips (a sound signal) I think. There’s 5 for the first message, 4 for the next etc.
DeleteThe investigation of the death of Connie Prince resembles "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" especially Watson's idea about masking tetanus with calcium hypochlorite on the cat's paws and Holmes reading internet forums to gather information about the TV star's relatives.
ReplyDeleteExcellent job of catching those references!
DeleteArun.
Sherlock tells John that Mycroft "threatened" him with a knighthood, a reference to "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs", where Watson mentions that Holmes refused a knighthood.
ReplyDeleteI have already mentioned this in the post (#21). Still, thanks for the comment :)
DeleteArun.