Radio times article about it:
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-03-27/martin-freemans-partner-amanda-abbington-joins-the-cast-of-sherlock

And I posted it on my Blog too:
http://napoleonofholmes.com/?p=128

 

I like her, she's cool and funny. I found her crush on Andrew Scott so amusing.

Good idea. She can be a Mary Smith. Can she be a Mary Morstan without being "The Mary Morstan"?

Yeah, even if she turns out to be A Mary, it doesn't neccessarily mean she's THE Mary. It could just be any character called Mary.

If she was Harry she would make a female Watson.  Imagine that Sherlock helps himself with another Watson during a period of time when John is sulking because he is mad with Sherlock. Which would make fun of "Elementary". Like "Look, we can do you're own female-Watson on BBC.  And she can stick in the series. No need to kill her off.
How would Sherlock interact with Harry? We know that John and Harry don't get on. Never have. What would Sherlock's approach be towards her alcohol problem? Maybe something Sherlock can help with, too? Press some emotional buttons?
The interaction between Martin and Amanda as a loving couple is not a really challenging one when you look at it from an actor's perspective, isn't it?
I would rather like to see them in a row and coping with their relationship as siblings.

I don't want her to be Harry because I really want Catherine Tate to be Harry. But if for some reason (and I cannot think of a single good reason for that ;-) ) that were not possible, I think that would make an interesting plot twist.

But I do think, dramatically, John needs to have moved on and settled down and all the rest and he needs to be married to someone, really. TBH I don't see much dramatic tension in the idea that he's spent two or three years mooning around after Sherlock. My sense is that the story arc is really, mainly, not about Sherlock in some ways but John's journey. His person jouney from wounded war vet, of reintergration into society, the whole sexuality question that is kind of a joke but also very insistent. He's gone from a very regimented world in terms of both morality and ethics but also just having a structure round him and a clear sense of what is expected of him-and he loses that pretty much overnight when he is invalided out. The implcation is that he's pretty much cut himself off from society in order to join the army, including being estraged from his sister-and he has to reintergrate to this. His whole world, every part of it is shaken to the core by Sherlock and those few years after I think need to be about him consolodating this knowledge, this roller coaster he's been on. So he needs to do what most people in their forties do do, which is settling down, marrying, raising a family perhaps (they won't have kids though-too complex). To put it another way, given he's not disinterested in the ladies, and given that now Sherlock is out of the way and so not preventing him either emotionally or practicallly from committing, then unless the wildest slash dreams of tumblrs everywhere are about to be realised, he needs to be married (or long term relationship).

ETA to put it another way. John is Sherlock's foil. Without Sherlock, John is ordinary. (ish). So for dramatic constrast, we need to see John without Sherlock in the same way we saw Donna without the Doctor. Settled down a little. Knowing there is more out there. But getting on with life. (actually thaht's not a great comparison but John's a lot more personable than Donna)

Last edited by beekeeper (March 29, 2013 1:54 pm)

One thing is certain - the relationship between John and Sherlock will never be destroyed. Not by any person who could get between them, not by any mistake they could make. Because that didn't happen in canon, and because it would be the end of the show. So if John gets married, his wife has to accept Sherlock as a part of his life, otherwise the marriage won't work for long. That was the mistake most of John's former girlfriends made - they didn't like Sherlock, they avoided him and wanted John to stay away from him as well. Sarah was an exception. A girlfriend or wife who gets along with Sherlock, maybe even helps him and John with the cases, could be a very likeable and interesting character.

tardislass wrote:

I personally have trouble with the whole soulmates idea but I do see them as best friends and as close as brothers.

Now I'm curious. What's the difference between "best friends and as close as brothers" and "soulmates" for you?

tardislass wrote:

That he'd die for Sherlock and they have a strong bond.

Interesting. That to me, is soul mates. I've never really considered it to be a romantic thing. Soulmates can be friends too without any soppiness involved.

Anyway, if we are to have a Mary Morstan, I'd love her to be a little bit bad ass, for Sherlock to like her and get along with her - and going off the few pictures and storyline hints that have been released (official ones), they appear to be working alongside each other in the first episode. I'd like her to be clever and intelligent and not take any shit and for Sherlock to be genuinely happy for John and for John to be totally in love and besotted by her.

I'd like her to be a really likeable character that all of the Sherlock fandom grow to love and respect over the course of Series 3, thereby making it even more heart wrenching when she is killed off during the finale of the third episode. Mwahahahaha. *evil Moffat grin*