Writer Steven Moffat spoke with The Guardian about the anticipated returns of two hit BBC shows: Doctor Who and Sherlock.
The writer, who took over as show runner for the fifth season of Doctor Who from Russell T. Davies, was tight-lipped about details of the sixth season, which sees the return of Matt Smith as the eleventh Doctor. Instead, he mainly spoke about the pressure and expectations on him to do well with the series.
While he didn’t spill any information about the upcoming sixth season of Doctor Who, he did give some clues as to what to expect for Season 2 of Sherlock.
“You can have three words to work from,” he laughs. “Adler, Hound, Reichenbach. Those are your clues.”
Sherlock, which was co-written and co-created by Moffat and Mark Gatiss, is a modern take on the classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle detective Sherlock Holmes and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson. The first season consisted of three 90-minute episodes.
You can deduce quite a bit from Moffat’s three-word clue. Here’s my deduction: “Adler” means we’ll meet Irene Adler, the only woman to ever outsmart Sherlock Holmes and to attract his interest. The character appeared in only one Holmes story, “A Scandal in Bohemia,” so either we’ll get an episode based on that story or, like the Guy Ritchie/Robert Downey Jr film Sherlock Holmes, Adler will be inserted into an all-new adventure. “Hound” is a reference to the popular story The Hound Of The Baskervilles, while “Reichenbach” is Reichenbach Falls, where in The Final Problem, Holmes famously faces off with his archnemesis Professor Moriarty.
It looks like there’s lots of adventure to be had in the second season of Sherlock, which will also be a series of three 90-minute episodes and is scheduled to air in the UK in Fall 2011 (which means those of us in the United States will be waiting for this a long time).
Season 1 of Sherlock is out in the U.S. on DVD and Blu-ray, so you have plenty of time to catch up before the second season arrives.
No, no! Wait a second! Irene Adler NEVER was “the only woman to attract his interest”. Perhaps, it was an “professional” interest, but not a “I-can-fall-in-love-with-you” one. That’s the crap with Ritchie’s version- Irene Adler originally got married! (facepalm!)
Still want Toby on screen :DD
Thanks for this- good to know!
Comment by Weber — January 4, 2011 @ 11:29 pm
Oh, now, I am so tired of all this crap about Sherlock Holmes supposedly being in love with Irene Adler! Holmes does NOT fall in love with anyone! EVER!!!!!!!! Gosh, like Weber said, she gets MARRIED! Ugh. He was just impressed that she was able to beat him (we all know he has an ego the size of Texas), and THAT’S why he kept the photo.
So totally looking forward to the Hound adaptation! Always been my favorite one!
And the Reichenbach falls- that will be so epic! I will confess, I cried when I read “The Final Problem”. My parents neglected to tell me that Holmes survived and that there was a whole other half to the series. I am still really mad, because they were trying not to laugh when they found me jibbering to myself while I read the end:
“Wait . . . But . . . No way . . . Oh my- But Holmes . . . I- No! Oh, please no!”
Hahaha
Comment by Meagan — May 19, 2011 @ 10:21 am
Wouldn’t it be better for everyone to release it to the U.S. immediately?
Comment by Guest — July 19, 2011 @ 4:42 pm
I guess I should ask, why can’t or don’t they release it to the U.S. immediately?
Comment by Guest — July 19, 2011 @ 4:43 pm
i agree holmes doesnt fall in love. have you ever read the mrry russle holmes series it is good not like other books that are crap.
Comment by a fan of deduction — August 8, 2011 @ 10:30 pm
Both of you are absolutely, but I feel there is no real need to worry. Moffat and Gatiss have spoken about their love of the stories and the characters as portrayed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. So far they have done a great job of adapting them and I will continue to trust them as writers. I will be pissed if Irene Adler becomes a regular feature, but if they do it tactfully and with integrity and respect I would not mind her appearing as a minor character in a few episodes. “The woman” is one character who I would like to know more about and I think Moffat and Gatiss should be allowed a certain amount of artistic license. Part of what makes this series great is they pay respect to characters and the story line, but interpret it in a very individual way that appeals not only to lovers of the original novels and short stories but to an audience who has only a passing knowledge of Sherlock Holmes. I don’t think the series will be ruined if they chose to include Irene more than she was included but making her a regular would detract from the relationship that as already been built up between the characters in the first season
Comment by Lord Winslow — December 14, 2011 @ 12:32 am