Sherlock Holmes fans in India have more reasons to cheer this festive season as they will be catching up with the brand new season of BBC One’s hit TV series Sherlock, a modern-day reboot of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes crime stories, just two days after its U.K. premiere on New Year’s Day.
The first two seasons of Sherlock received worldwide critical acclaim, grabbing several major awards when it was aired in 2010 and 2012. The show catapulted actor Benedict Cumberbatch (who also played Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate), who plays the high-functioning sociopath Sherlock Holmes, to instant stardom and fame. The show, created by Steven Moffat and Mike Gatiss, was hailed a perfect modern interpretation of the classic as it reinvented Sherlock Holmes as a young, non-smoking and a tech-savvy sleuth solving crimes in 21st Century London.
For those who haven’t seen the first two seasons, this is what you need to know: the final episode of Season 2, ‘The Reichenbach Fall’ ended with Sherlock leaping from atop a London high-rise. Just as everyone was led to believe that Sherlock was dead, we were told that he actually faked his death and has gone incognito. For the last two years, fans have been speculating how Sherlock Holmes survived the fatal fall.
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Last week, BBC One uploaded a seven minute mini-episode titled ‘Many Happy Returns’ as a Christmas gift for Sherlock fans. The teaser features forensic expert Anderson trying in vain to convince Inspector Lestrade that Sherlock is solving impossible crimes from New Delhi to Germany and predicts that he is due in London soon. It also informs us that John Watson has taken to fine whiskey in the afternoon and is still grieving the death of Sherlock.
It doesn’t reveal any clues that would ruin it for us, but the mini-episode has nicely set things up for Sherlock Holmes’ return to London.
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The death-defying trick
We can’t handle the suspense anymore. If we resist from reading the spoilers, the first episode, ‘The Empty Hearse’ will show how Sherlock orchestrated his own death through precise choreography. This should be interesting.
The evil nemesis
What is the significance of the world’s most brilliant sleuth without a powerful nemesis who can challenge him? With Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott) dead in the final episode of Season 2, Sherlock and John are set to face Charles Agustus Magnussen (played by Lars Mikkelsen) often referred to as ‘Napolean of Blackmail’. But we might just have to wait till the third episode.
‘Rusty’ Sherlock and John’s wedding
Benedict Cumberbatch has said that Sherlock will be ‘Rusty’ and will be off his game in Season 3. He is expected to be more human and vulnerable. The unexpected return of Sherlock is certainly bound to unsettle John Watson. The relationship between the detective couple will never be hunky-dory again. We are most likely to see John Watson getting married in the third season.
Love-struck Sherlock?
There is no hint from the writers that this could happen, but we could be surprised. Sherlock has remained a-sexual so far, it remains to be seen if he would hit it off with Molly Hooper. Or will it be Irene Adler?