BBC Sherlock Canon References - "The Reichenbach Fall" Season 2 Episode 3

 

The final episode of Season 2 is inspired by the original story: The Final Problem.  Here are the references to Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories:

 

1. Lestrade thanks Holmes for capturing Peter Ricoleti, # 1 in Interpol's Most Wanted List - Holmes mentions about his earlier cases in The Musgrave Ritual: “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.  Holmes is reluctant to wear the Deerstalker. This is a running gag in the second season - This is reference to the fact that Arthur Conan Doyle had not envisioned or written about Holmes wearing the Deerstalker. It was Sidney Paget, the illustrator who create the image of Holmes wearing that particular cap.

3. John asks Sherlock: “Pressing case, is it?”. Sherlock's reply: “They're all pressing 'til they're solved.” – From The Hound of the Baskervilles: “I had waited patiently for the opportunity for I was aware that he would never permit cases to overlap, and that his clear and logical mind would not be drawn from its present work to dwell upon memories of the past.” And “Perhaps you would kindly give me a sketch of the course of events from memory.” “Certainly, though I cannot guarantee that I carry all the facts in my mind. Intense mental concentration has a curious way of blotting out what has passed. The barrister who has his case at his fingers' ends and is able to argue with an expert upon his own subject finds that a week or two of the courts will drive it all out of his head once more. So each of my cases displaces the last, and Mlle. Carere has blurred my recollection of Baskerville Hall. To-morrow some other little problem may be submitted to my notice which will in turn dispossess the fair French lady and the infamous Upwood.”

 
4. Watson referring to Moriarty: “He is back” – Holmes states about Professor Moriarty in The Valley of Fear: “No less! When any of that party talk about “He” you know whom they mean. There is one predominant “He” for all of them.”

5. Sherlock's deduction at Moriarty's crime scene: “not tougher than crystallised carbon. He used a diamond” – Dr Watson mentions that Holmes is a “first-class chemist” in A Study in Scarlet.

6. Press headline referring to Sherlock as “Amateur detective” – In A Study in Scarlet, Holmes is similarly referred to in press coverage of the case: “The man was apprehended, it appears, in the rooms of a certain Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who has himself, as an amateur, shown some talent in the detective line and who, with such instructors, may hope in time to attain to some degree of their skill.”

 

7. Sherlock deducing that Kelly is typing – Reference to a similar deduction about Miss Sutherland from A Case of Identity: “The double line a little above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, was beautifully defined.”

8. Sherlock deducing oil from the printing press from its scent and later smells linseed oil - Holmes has always had a sharp sense of smell. He mentions 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.”

 

9. Sherlock deducing based on Kelly’s fingernails - In A Study in Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes states: “By a man's finger nails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boot, by his trouser knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt cuffs - by each of these things a man's calling is plainly revealed.”

 

10. Kitty's offer of help to Sherlock: “There’s all sorts of gossip in the press about you. Sooner or later you’re gonna need someone on your side.. someone to set the record straight.” - Holmes tells Watson in The Adventure of the Six Napoleons: “The Press, Watson, is a most valuable institution if you only know how to use it.”

 

11. Sherlock coaching the attorney about how to question him & mimicking the judge word for word - Dr Watson mentions about Holmes in A Study in Scarlet: “Has a good practical knowledge of British law.”

 

12. Jim Moriarty's line: “Every fairy tale needs a good old-fashioned villain” - Holmes expresses his skepticism about the case in The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire: “But what do we know about vampires? Does it come within our purview either? Anything is better than stagnation, but really we seem to have been switched on to a Grimms’ fairy tale.”

13. Jim's boast: “I could blow up NATO in alphabetical order” – Holmes states about Professor Moriarty in The Valley of Fear: “The greatest schemer of all time, the organizer of every deviltry, the controlling brain of the underworld, a brain which might have made or marred the destiny of nations—that's the man!”

14. Jim's statements: “The man with the key is King” and “Honey, you should see me in a crown” - Holmes describes Professor Moriarty in The Final Problem: “He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson.”

 

15.  Jim's promise to Sherlock: “I owe you a fall, Sherlock” - Reference to Professor Moriarty's warning to Holmes in The Final Problem: “You hope to beat me. I tell you that you will never beat me. If you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you”

16. When discussing about his new neighbors, John speculates that he might be Sherlock's friend. Mycroft laughs and replies: “Of Sherlock’s?” – 

• Dr Watson mentions about Holmes in The Valley of Fear: “Holmes was not prone to friendship….”
• Holmes tells Watson about his network of friends in The Five Orange Pips: “Except you, I have none”
• In The Adventure of the Gloria Scott, Holmes talks about his college days: “I was never a very sociable fellow, Watson, always rather fond of moping in my rooms and working out my own little methods of thought, so that I never mixed much with the men of my year.”
  

17. Ludmila Dyachenko, the new neighbor who is also an assassin – Reference to the rumor that Ludmilla Hubel, the alleged lover of Archduke John Salvator of Austria was the inspiration for ACD to create the character of Irene Adler

 

18. Sherlock's comment on Anderson's deductions: “Brilliant impression of an idiot” - Dr Watson writes about Holmes in The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans: “It was one of my friend's most obvious weaknesses that he was impatient with less alert intelligences than his own.”

 

20. Sherlock deducing that the kidnapped boy was anxious because he was walking on his tiptoe - In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes deduces that Sir Charles Baskerville was running for his life based on the fact that his footprints indicated that he was walking on tiptoe down the alley.

 

21. Sherlock's statement: “All the chemical traces on his shoe have been preserved. The sole of the shoe is like a passport. If we’re lucky we can see everything that he’s been up to.” -  Dr Watson writes about Holmes' expertise 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 color and consistence in what part of London he had received them.”

22. Sherlock's comments about the homeless network: “Faster than the police” - In A Study in Scarlet, Holmes speaks highly of the Baker Street Irregulars: “There’s more work to be got out of one of those little beggars than out of a dozen of the force.”

 

23. Sherlock further comments that the homeless network is “far more relaxed about taking bribes” - In The Sign of the Four, Holmes paid an advance of one shilling to each of his Irregulars with the promise of one guinea to the one who finds Mordecai Smith’s boat.
In addition, Holmes has also bribed a number of other characters, including the constable John Rance in A Study in Scarlet, Mrs Mordecai Smith in The Sign of the Four, the cabbie John Clayton in The Hound of the Baskerville.

 

23. Sherlock correctly deducing about mercury poisoning - In A Study in Scarlet, Dr Watson writes that Holmes is “well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally”

24. John asks Sherlock twice not to show too much happiness around the crime scene, since children have been kidnapped - Dr Watson writes about Holmes' reaction to John Hector McFarlane's predicament in The Adventure of the Norwood Builder: “My companion's expressive face showed a sympathy which was not, I am afraid, entirely unmixed with satisfaction.”

I will be listing the remaining references in another post.

Click here to read all my posts about BBC Sherlock.

Image Sources: BBC Wales, Hartswood Films, Masterpiece Theatre

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Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking (2004) - Canonical References Part I

The Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking  remains one of the least seen and unsurprisingly one of the most underappreciated gems in the history of Sherlock Holmes adaptations. I was fortunate to have come across the movie and found it to be an excellent take on the legendary detective.

One of the main strengths of the movie is the surprising number of references to Arthur Conan Doyle's originals. Here is the list:

1. While witnessing the autopsy of the latest victim at the mortuary, Dr John Watson (Ian Hart) suggests that the ligature around the girl's neck be cut to leave the knot intact. Dr Watson notes: “It is an old trick of Holmes. There is a world of information in a knot” -

In the beginning of the short story The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, Holmes states about the knot: “The importance lies in the fact that the knot is left intact, and that this knot is of a peculiar character”. Later, Holmes explains: “The string was of the quality which is used by sail-makers aboard ship, and at once a whiff of the sea was perceptible in our investigation. When I observed that the knot was one which is popular with sailors, that the parcel had been posted at a port,  and that the male ear was pierced for an earring which is so much more common among sailors than landsmen, I was quite certain that all the actors in the tragedy were to be found among our seafaring classes.”

2. When Sherlock Holmes (Rupert Everett) deduces that Dr Watson is following him, Dr Watson wonders as to how Holmes figured that out since he is not smoking distinctive tobacco -

Reference to Holmes' expert knowledge of tobacco and cigar ashes. Holmes remarks in The Boscombe Valley Mystery: “I found the ash of a cigar, which my special knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco.” 

3. Dr Watson further complains that he is not wearing odored cologne -

Reference to Holmes' expertise on scents and perfumes. Holmes explains 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.”

4. Holmes explains to Dr Watson: “You reek of the slaughterhouse.” -

Holmes himself says 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. It seemed to center on the hall-table.”

5. Holmes also states the same thing in French: “Odeur de morgue” -

Reference to the French ancestry of Holmes. Holmes states 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.” 

6. Holmes tells Watson: “Life away from the Baker Street seems to suit you Watson. I see you have put on seven and a half pounds since last we met” -

When Dr Watson visits Sherlock Holmes at 221 B in A Scandal in Bohemia, Holmes remarks: “Wedlock suits you... I think, Watson, that you have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you”.

7. At 221 B, Mrs Hudson (Anne Carroll) hands over the mail to Holmes who carelessly discards most of them before proceeding to use a knife to affix one of them on the mantelpiece –

Dr Watson writes about Holmes in The Adventure of The Musgrave Ritual: “But with me there is a limit, and when I find a man who keeps his cigars in the coal-scuttle, his tobacco in the toe end of a Persian slipper, and his unanswered correspondence transfixed by a jack-knife into the very centre of his wooden mantelpiece, then I begin to give myself virtuous airs.”

8. Sherlock angrily asks Mrs Hudson if she has been tidying up and she replies: “Hardly” -

In The Adventure of the Dying Detective, Dr John Watson writes about Mrs Hudson: “Mrs. Hudson, the landlady of Sherlock Holmes, was a long-suffering woman...her remarkable lodger showed an eccentricity and irregularity in his life which must have sorely tried her patience. His incredible untidiness, his addiction to music at strange hours, his occasional revolver practice within doors, his weird and often malodorous scientific experiments, and the atmosphere of violence and danger which hung around him made him the very worst tenant in London.... The landlady stood in the deepest awe of him and never dared to interfere with him, however outrageous his proceedings might seem.”

9. Mrs Hudson asks Holmes as to what time he will dine. To which he replies: “7.30... Day after tomorrow.” Mrs Hudson is visibly upset with this response. Later she complains about this to Dr Watson when he comes to 221 B -

In the Canon, Mrs Hudson has often expressed her concern to Dr Watson about Sherlock's health.

In The Sign of the Four, she tells Dr Watson: “I am afraid for his health?” and explains that she can hear Holmes talking to himself and refusing to take cooling medicine as per her suggestion.

In The Adventure of the Dying Detective, Mrs Hudson rushes to Dr Watson and implores him to come to Sherlock's aid immediately: “He's dying, Dr. Watson... For three days he has been sinking, and I doubt if he will last the day... This morning when I saw his bones sticking out of his face and his great bright eyes looking at me I could stand no more of it....I wouldn't waste an hour in coming to him, sir, or you may not see him alive.”

10. Holmes hears Dr Watson approaching him at the mortuary and asks if he is so predictable that Watson could find him twice on the same day. Dr Watson replies: “Perhaps at long last, I have learned to apply your methods” - 

In The Sign of the Four, Holmes impatiently tells Watson: “My dear Watson, try a little analysis yourself... You know my methods. Apply them, and it will be instructive to compare results.”

In The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, Holmes asks Watson to make deductions about the as-yet-unidentified owner of the hat: “Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this article?” 

11. Dr Watson tells Holmes after seeing the letters lying all around his room: “You always were one of the most untidy men, but really Holmes..” -

Dr Watson writes about Holmes in The Adventure of The Musgrave Ritual: “An anomaly which often struck me in the character of my friend Sherlock Holmes was that, although in his methods of thought he was the neatest and most methodical of mankind, and although also he affected a certain quiet primness of dress, he was none the less in his personal habits one of the most untidy men that ever drove a fellow-lodger to distraction.”

12. Mrs Hudson informs Holmes and Watson that the Duke of Norborough is here. Dr Watson says: “Perhaps I should go Holmes”. Holmes restrains him saying: “No, Not a bit. Stay where you. Come on old chap, it will be just like old times”. -

In A Scandal in Bohemia, at the sound of the client's bougham stopping outside 221 B, Dr Watson offers to leave:  “I think that I had better go, Holmes.” To which Holmes replies: “Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity to miss it.”

13. After the Duke appears, Holmes states: “Good Day, Your Grace. Pray take a seat.” After the prospective client does not respond, Holmes introduces Dr Watson: “This is my friend and colleague, Dr Watson” -

This scene is taken word for word from The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor, when Lord St. Simon arrives at 221 B: “Good-day, Lord St. Simon,” said Holmes, rising and bowing. “Pray take the basket-chair. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this matter over.”

14. The Duke explains: “Lord Blakemore tells me I may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I have determined therefore to consult you in reference to a very painful event which has occurred.” -

This line is almost taken verbatim from The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor, in which Lord St. Simon writes to Holmes: “Lord Backwater tells me that I may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in connection with my wedding.”

15. The Duke asks Holmes to find his daughter's killer and offers to pay handsomely for his services. Holmes replies: “My professional charges are upon a fixed scale, Your Grace. I do not vary them unless I remit them altogether” -

In The Problem of Thor Bridge, Neil Gibson (the “Gold King”) boasts to Holmes: “Let me say right here, Mr. Holmes... that money is nothing to me in this case. You can burn it if it’s any use in lighting you to the truth. This woman is innocent and this woman has to be cleared, and it’s up to you to do it. Name your figure!”. Sherlock Holmes responds: “My  professional  charges  are  upon  a fixed scale.. I do not vary them, save when I remit them altogether.”

16. Holmes is angry at the sight of several policeman at the scene of the crime and scolds Inspector Lestrade (Neil Dudgeon): “For God's sake, Lestrade, Why on earth are there heavy booted policeman trampling everyone like a herd of buffaloes?” - 

In A Study in Scarlet, Gregson tells Holmes that he has left the crime scene untouched. Holmes points to the pathway and remarks: “If a herd of buffaloes had passed along there could not be a greater mess. No doubt, however, you had drawn your own conclusions, Gregson, before you permitted this.”


I will be posting the remaining ones in another post.

Click here to read my review of the movie.

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Image Sources: BBC, Tiger Aspect Productions, WGBH Boston

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"The Final Problem" - Canonical References and Nods

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 Final Problem” is a reference to Arthur Conan Doyle's story of the same name. This is the one where Holmes comes face to face with his archenemy, Professor Moriarty and ends with both of them being presumed dead. Public outcry (and possibly the publisher's monetary offers) forced Doyle to bring the detective back to life in The Adventure of the Empty House.

2. After John Watson (Martin Freeman) asks him to come to 221 B Baker Street on the next day to discuss about Eurus Holmes (Sian Brooke), Mycroft Holmes (Mark Gatiss) angrily responds: “For God's sake, this is not one of your idiot cases” - In The Adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans, Mycroft scolds Sherlock Holmes to appreciate the urgency of the case: “You must drop everything, Sherlock. Never mind your usual petty puzzles of the police-court. It's a vital international problem that you have to solve.”

3. John tells Mycroft: “There is an East wind coming..” - 

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.”

4. Mycroft asks Sherlock as to who said this line: “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Sherlock replies: “I don't know and I don't care.” - In A Study in Scarlet, Dr Watson writes that Sherlock Holmes' knowledge of literature is Nil. (Later in the episode, John clarifies that Oscar Wilde wrote this line in The Importance of Being Earnest)

5. Musgrave, the Holmes ancestral home. Later, Eurus makes the statement: “At long last, Sherlock Holmes, it's time to solve the Musgrave ritual. Your very first case and the final problem” - Reference to The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual. In the story, Holmes solves the mystery behind the disappearance of Brunton, the family butler and Rachel Howells, the maid.

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6. Eurus tells Sherlock: “You try and try, but you just can't see, you can't look.” - 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.”

7. Eurus asks Sherlock to figure which of the three Garrideb brothers (Nathan, Alex and Howard) murdered Evans - This is a reference to The Adventure of the Three Garridebs. In the story, Killer Evans assumes the false identity of John Garrideb in order to get Nathan Garrideb out of his house. To achieve this, Evan concocts a story of how he can split the property of the late Alexander Hamilton Garrideb, a rich real estate business tycoon, if he can two more Garridebs.

8. Eurus mentions that Sherlock and Victor Trevor were inseparable - Holmes explains about Victor Trevor to Dr Watson in The Adventure of the Gloria Scott: “He was the only friend I made during the two years I was at college...Trevor was the only man I knew, and that only through the accident of his bull terrier freezing on to my ankle one morning as I went down to chapel. It was a prosaic way of forming a friendship, but it was effective. I was laid by the heels for ten days, but Trevor used to come in to inquire after me. At first it was only a minute's chat, but soon his visits lengthened, and before the end of the term we were close friends.”

9. Mary says in her DVD: “There is a final court of appeal for everyone” -

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.”

In The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual, Holmes tells Dr Watson: “You see me now when my name has become known far and wide, and when I am generally recognized both by the public and by the official force as being a final court of appeal in doubtful cases.”

10. In the final montage scene, we see a reference to The Adventure of the Dancing Men. There is a picture of stick figures on the whiteboard at 221 B Baker Street.

11. Mary (Amanda Abbington) says in her DVD: “The best and wisest men I have ever known. My Baker Street boys. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.” -

Dr John Watson refers to Sherlock Holmes as “the best and the wisest man whom I have ever known” in The Adventure of the Final Problem. 

Trivia:

1. Eurus Holmes is placed in Sherrinford, a maximum security prison - 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.

2. The final scene in the episode has Sherlock and John running towards the camera. The building in the background is named “Rathbone Place” - A tribute to Basil Rathbone, an obvious inspiration for Moffat and Gatiss to create the show.

3. Inside Sherrinford, Eurus forces Sherlock, Mycroft and John to a series of tests while she watches them and taunts them - I found this setup to be similar to the Saw movies.

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 Wales, Masterpiece Theatre, Wikipedia

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