Sherlock is the good drugs.

[sarren]

Magnussen's house is an actual ecohome

Benedict Cumberbatch as Little Charles in August: Osage County

Amanda Abbington sings in Married, Single or Other, which I've heard is a great show.

The Sherlock Season 3 Finale Caused Tumblr To Self-Destruct

Sherlock series 3, episode 3 – His Last Vow: 10 references you may have missed

A review of The Last Vow that pretty much sums up my glee

A lovely review of The Sign of Three that sums up my glee

This series always astonishes me how it goes the unexpected route. How many times have we seen the bitchy, jealous third wheel, especially when it’s a woman joining the friendship of two men? Sherlock said fuck that. Instead, Mary is warm, vivacious, accepting of both her husband and Sherlock Holmes. I think she feels so refreshing to me because…well, how many women do we see on TV that are just comfortable in their own skin? Countless times well-meaning writers create self-conscious Strong Women™ who act like a stilted checklist of traits (she can kickbox and wear heels and hack into a computer while making a sarcastic quip!) rather than believable, fleshed out characters with personality and emotion. Mary is just real. She is effortlessly confident - secure in herself and her relationship. The writers don’t tell us she’s smart, charming and funny, they just show she is and hope we follow along.


Some questions and answers from twitter etc.

· Lee asks:

When you were writing Mary Morstan into the show, were you cautious of disrupting the dynamic between Sherlock and John?

Steven Moffat:

As ever, we followed Doyle. Most adaptations either or ignore Mary, or make her relationship with Sherlock adversarial. But we know better than to contradict the the great man in important matters. Sherlock and Mary get on fine in the originals, and there's never any suggestion that she gets in the way of their adventures - quite the opposite. So we expanded on that idea, rather than overwrite, and I do think it has worked very well.



James Blanchard @Blanchard_Who tweeted:

Was there much deliberation over Sherlock killing Magnussen? #SherlockQA

#SherlockQA

#SherlockQA @BBCOne tweeted:

.@Blanchard_Who In Doyle's story, someone else shoots Milverton but we reckoned Watson was lying to protect his friend. ^SM



· Rachel H asks:

Harry, John's sister, is briefly mentioned in The Sign of Three. Now that we've met Sherlock's parents, is there any chance we will learn about John's parents or meet Harry Watson in the future?

Mark Gatiss:

There's always a chance. Now we've expanded the world a little by introducing Mr and Mrs Holmes, it would certainly be nice.

Harry Watson has been looming as a character since the first episode but, as ever, it would have to be story-led.

We know she likes a drink! She didn't turn up for the wedding and there's obviously a lot of family trouble there which would be interesting to explore.



Ruth Walshe asks:

Did you consider anyone else to play Mary, or was it always going to be Amanda in your eyes?

Steven Moffat:

Amanda is a hugely gifted actress, who happened to be sitting right across the table from us, looking just right next to Martin. And as it happened, she was perfect for the kind of Mary we wanted. Why look elsewhere? This show has always been like that - it was born, after all, out of a friendship and a marriage. Choosing to work with the people you love isn't a stupid or sentimental decision - it's one of the smartest decisions you can make.



❀ @young_volcanoo tweeted:

@BBCOne #SherlockQA would you ever considered sherlock actually having a real relationship????

#SherlockQA

#SherlockQA @BBCOne tweeted:

.@young_volcanoo It's a whole new version, we are open to anything. ^SM



Skipping Stone @SkippingLives tweeted:

@BBCOne #SherlockQA Did you ever consider other actors for the parts of Sherlock's parents?

#SherlockQA

#SherlockQA @BBCOne tweeted:

.@SkippingLives No other gene combination would be credible. ^SM




Alex Turner

Alex Turner @Al3xT1 tweeted:

@BBCOne Was it always your intention to bring back Moriaty? #SherlockQA

BBC One

BBC One @BBCOne tweeted:

.@Al3xT1 "We had no idea he was returning, we're still in a state of shock" ^SM



· Chrissi asks:

Is there something that made you cry as you wrote season 3?

· 1 day ago

Steven Moffat:

I did a lot of the best man speech. The only thing that's ever made cry as I wrote it, was the section where he starts seeming to be mean and dismissive, reveals that he's really taking the mickey of himself, and then promises never to let John down.

I was crying like a grown man. Which is like normal crying, except there's more out of your nose, and you have to pretend you've trapped your finger.



· Julia Dawson asks:

How do you balance a mix of your own (brilliant) ideas with that of the originals from Conan Doyle to make Sherlock?

· 1 day ago

Mark Gatiss:

We've always adopted what we call a 'magpie' approach, much as the wonderful Basil Rathbone films did. Sometimes we just take the odd idea or even image from the stories, other times (Scandal, Vow, Hounds), the framework of the story is still very much in place. What's lovely is interweaving these with all new ideas and characters and still making it feel very much in the spirit of the originals. The lovely story 'A Case of Identity', though very slight and difficult to dramatise, has provided two separate parts of this years season!

Steven Moffat:

Everything starts with Doyle, and we always go back to him when we're lost. Really, it's taking his ideas and seeing how they would work NOW. That sometimes has surprising results.



Anna Lowman

Anna Lowman @annawaits tweeted:

@BBCOne #SherlockQA Sherlock has been properly laugh out loud this season. Are there any contemporary TV comedies you take inspiration from?

BBC One

BBC One @BBCOne tweeted:

.@annawaits "We take our comic inspiration from Doyle. His stories are funnier than people realise." ^SM