BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » As it began...

tobeornot221b · May 19, 2012 8:44 pm

Can you all recall the exact day/hour/minute/second you fell for "Sherlock" and why?
Was it like a bolt from the blue or did it happen gradually?
How do you explain this persistent fascination? (There has to be one – otherwise we wouldn't be here!)

As for me, it was Tuesday evening, September 27th, 2011. Nothing on the telly, as so often.
A DVD caught my eye; a DVD my son (just back from London) had given me: Sherlock series 1. Of course I had been watching all three (dubbed) episodes on German TV back in July/August. Twice, actually (there had been a re-run). And I loved it. Utterly. And was happy to hear that there would be a second series.
Up to that point: Not the slightest sign of an obsession whatsoever.
That changed dramatically the moment I decided to give that very DVD a go…
Since the very beginning of SiP I was completely hooked: I rubbed my eyes (well, more my EARS!) at what I had apparently been missing by then.
Finally - something for head and heart similarly! I had never experienced something near it in a TV show.

The rest is history...

Last edited by tobeornot221b (May 19, 2012 10:44 pm)

Irene Adler · May 19, 2012 10:39 pm

Ok, I'll go next

I have a wonderful friend who is a true Cumberbitch (God, I really hate that word) and had been talking to me about dear Benedict for a long time. Of course I listened to her with heart and soul and I trust her good taste about actors/men quite a lot, so I knew if she recommended Sherlock or Benedict's work, it should be worth watching. But... oh, God, first thing I watched was Atonement. Beautiful movie, but he was sooooooo disgusting... So I thought a modern day Sherlock Holmes (I didn't trust this much, big mistake, as we all know) and with that creepy guy from Atonement... well, I knew I should try, but I kept procrastinating.

So, February 8th 2012 (I've just checked the date, I couldn't remember) there was a snow storm here that kept me closed at home. And then I said... well, maybe it's the time to give a try to that Sherlock everybody talks about. I started watching ASiP and I remember thinking that I had mistaken the DVD for a war documentary or something like that. But then came John and his therapist, and the exact moment I got hooked was when John said "nothing happens to me" and the main tune started playing. I thought... wow, this is going to be good. And it was. I still can't explain to most people why I inmediatly LOVED a character which first onscreen scene is beating a corpse with a riding crop.

By February 12th I had watched the six episodes (and started hating this people for leaving me hanging with the mother of all cliffhangers) and ordered the DVDs for series 1 (series 2 is not yet available in an Spanish edition). And a couple of weeks after I ordered the DVDs for both series in amazon.uk (yes, I have two copies of series 1, one in the Spanish edition, one in the English edition).

Of course, I have never watched more than a minute of Sherlock dubbed. It's horrible. Lucky me I got it in original version the first time, I highly doubt I would have enjoyed it so much.

Sherlock Holmes · May 20, 2012 12:50 am

This is a good thread!

I've liked SH since I was 12 years old and went through a phase of being really into it. But it was the BBC series that really rekindled my interest and made me Sherlocked, going back and reading all the books, studying the different adaptations and films, going on all the websites etc...

And that all started on 1st January 2012 when A Scandal In Belgravia first aired here in the UK. I hadn't watched any of the first series when it was originally on because I thought the idea of a modern Sherlock Holmes was a stupid idea! My parents persuaded me to watch on New Year's Day and I loved it! BUT, it wasn't actually till 2 weeks later when Reichenbach came on that I became TOTALLY OBSESSED...and it was essentially because I spent the next two days wondering how the hell he did it, then I decided to come on the internet and read all the theories and then one thing snowballed into another and now look at me, lol.

I REGRET NOTHING!!!

*shakes fist* MOFFAT!!!

Molly Hooper · May 20, 2012 6:49 am

It all began on 8th April 2012, I was at my cousin's house and we were really bored! her dad asked if I wanted to watch Sherlock and suddenly she started raving about it. I was slightly apprehensive (especially with the riding crop) at first but I soon was really enjoying it. we watched the whole of the first series in one afternoon (a lot of TV) and in the last episode I kept on asking LOADS of questions (I could see her rolling her eyes!) from then on it was all I talked about. My only 3 cures are:
Getting the DVD's (watching as much as possible),
Joining a forum
and SERIES 3!!!!

Davina · May 20, 2012 12:28 pm

I really enjoyed Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes. Then my daughter mentioned the new Sherlock series. Like others have mentioned, I was not particularly grabbed by the new series, though the girlie said it was great. Then some months after the first airing in the UK the BBC repeated the series and it was sheer coincidence that I watched The Great Game and I thought it was very, very good. When I realised the new series was being aired I made a point of watching A Scandal in Belgravia and wow! After that I was totally hooked. Bought the first series on DVD to catch up and realised exactly what I had missed! Then bought series 2 on DVD, having watched The Reichenbach Fall several times recorded on TV. Joined to forum and now look at me...Official Blogger and all! I cannot wait until the next series but I guess I'm going to have to!

Sammy · May 20, 2012 1:45 pm

Ohh, I like this! I actually thought: If there is no thread like this, I'm going to open one... then I saw this
If I may ask, tobeornot, how old is your son? Apparently you owe him for giving you that DVD..

So, alright. My story started early but I really just recently got into Sherlock. Well, "recently".
On Juli 24th, 2011, A Study in Pink first aired on German TV. I was at a friends house and she was like "Omg, I have to see this, this is supposed to be very good" and she turned on the TV. I wasn't paying any attention but I remember thinking "What a disgusting looking man" about the cab driver and that the whole scene with the pills was quite boring (how wrong I was! But, to be fair, the whole tension was coming from the dialogue and if one is not listening, well...). I wonder why I never found it odd that the setting was in present time.
So, moving on. I'm very into fanvideos and at some point roaming around Youtube - probably watching Doctor Who related fanvideos - I clicked on a Sherlock video and watched it. I don't even know why I did this - why would I watch a video about a show I don't know? Might have been the video title, the thumbnail or the song that made me watch the video. Must have been later January at this point. So I watched and it was great and I was confused because the damn main character had committed suicide and why the hell would he do that? And I also wondered how they can kill the eponymous hero.
So I left a really confused comment on that Youtube video and got nice responses telling me that Sherlock did this for his friends (and wasn't depressed or something) and just faked his death. Phew! And also how amazing this show was and that I should watch it. So I planned on doing so but never really got to do it. (And I really wanna know the video - I never found it again and I am still looking for it...)
Then, in March, I went to the cinema with friends to see "War Horse". Later I was like "Hahaha and that one dude looked SO ridiculous with the moustache!" and one of my friends was like "Yeah, I know him from somewhere..." and I was like "It's Benedict Cumberbatch from Sherlock". See, I must have read the name like once but it totally stuck!
And then we chatted about how we all had heard a bit about that show and how awesome it's supposed to be and stuff. Now I really thought: "I'm going to check this show out!" Then, it must have been the evening of March 7th, I guess, I turned on the computer and looked for it online. I found a streaming website and clicked on the first episode...
Ten minutes in and I was totally taken. I couldn't even stop watching it and finished both seasons in a few days. All I could think of during the days was how much I looked forward to seeing the next episode. Then Reichenbach, oh my mycroft. I can't imagine how it must have been if I hadn't known that Sherlock would survive, if I wasn't expecting this...
Needless to say I was totally devastated and heartbroken. I forced myself to wait a week before telling others about this show because I feared I wouldn't be able to form words anymore... haha xD
When I did, I remember using words such as "BRILLIANT" and "MIND = BLOWN" excessively.
And, well, following this was hours of re-watching, staring at fanvideos, interviews, fanarts, fanfictions, photographs... listening to Benedict's great voice... tearing up Reichenbach wounds...
And of course ordering both seasons on DVD!

Gosh, this was long, wasn't it? Sorry! Don't read it, if you don't have to. I just can't stop myself once I start talking about this...

Btw. did anyone else got this weird sensation that... before Sherlock, you looked at Benedict and thought "What an odd-looking man". And then, little by little, he became the most gorgeous creature on this planet? Even though you're still aware of how weird his face looks?

m0r1arty · May 20, 2012 7:05 pm

When I was nine I read the entire compendium of the original Sherlock Holmes stories just after Easter. That's when it started.

Over my teenage years I watched Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett - each interpretations of their eras and each uniquely riveting.

I would seek out anything that was related to Sherlock Holmes; Cartoons, comics, a Magnum PI episode, Star Trek: The Next Generation - anything really.

On September 1995 I chose m0r1arty as my internet moniker, incorporating an alphanumeric sheen to it as was popular amongst hackers at the time.

Lots of booze and girls later I entered adulthood properly (If you can call it that) and continued my interest in all things 'Sherlockian' with CSI, House and online puzzles.

Mid August 2010 I downloaded 'A Study in Pink' to have a look at how a modernised interpretation would fare (with a similar mindset to those who gawk at car crashes) and was very happy to be proven wrong!

Quite a few forums which didn't last later and I am here. I think the strengths of this forum are its wide and diverse membership which somehow make me feel like I'm included.

Thanks to each and every poster here for somehow sanitising my rather unhealthy obsession.

What's ahead though...now that's exciting!

-m0r

Sammy · May 20, 2012 7:26 pm

Wow, you have got quite a history with Sherlock Holmes!
I whish I had read Sherlock Holmes when I was younger, I'm catching that up now. Guess it has something to do with me being German, it's not as big here as in the UK, obviously.
m0r1arty, have you seen the Ritchie Sherlock Holmes movies? (because I haven't)

m0r1arty · May 20, 2012 7:44 pm

Hey Sammy,

Yes it has been quite the obsession, but seeing today's fans go all out for it makes me feel rather mediocre in my appreciation.

I would highly recommend the first of the Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey Jnr - very enjoyable!

The second, whilst featuring Stephen Fry as Mycroft, isn't worth it whatsoever in my opinion, I'm sure you will see it and will agree with my assessment of it.

The first is an absolute must though!

-m0r

Philistine · May 20, 2012 7:53 pm

Sammy wrote:
I whish I had read Sherlock Holmes when I was younger, I'm catching that up now. Guess it has something to do with me being German, it's not as big here as in the UK, obviously.

I think it has nothing to do with where you're from... It's more about what you read and what your influences are. Ages ago I started reading Poe and Wilde and somehow I came across the Sherlock stories.

I have heard of Sherlock some months ago but didn't pay much attention to it. I was like: Ok, another book/story has been adapted as a film/series. But I didn't care because the majority of films/series that are based on books are... disappointing. Nevertheless, for some reason I did start watching Sherlock and it was like: Oh my, how can anybody be that sarcastic all the time? And hell yeah, he is smart and he shows off all the time which is just a pleasure to watch. Though I surely wouldn't appreciate this trait in real life, I am absolutely addicted to Mr. "Everything's so boring" (and John, Mrs. Hudson and - of course - Moriarty).

Last edited by Philistine (May 20, 2012 7:55 pm)

Irene Adler · May 20, 2012 8:10 pm

I agree with Philistine, it has nothing to do with where you're from. In my case, I discovered Sherlock Holmes in my late twenties (well, the books, of course I already knew about the character and had seen some adaptations, but I hadn't read anything). But, by fifteen, I had read all the Agatha Christie books and by twenty I had read most of the main Shakespeare plays, The Lord of the rings, The hobbit, Silmarillion and the Unfinished tales of Middle Earth, but I hadn't been able to fully enjoy El Quijote. And I'm Spanish.

Sammy · May 20, 2012 8:25 pm

Well, it has... a bit.
But of course Sherlock Holmes is quite universally known ;)
I just thought that it's somewhat more likely to have experienced Sherlock Holmes stuff in early age in some way or another if you're British because it's so manifested in pop culture. I don't know, though, just assume that.

Thanks, m0r1arty, then I'll make sure to check at least the first movie out!
I avoided it until know because I didn't want to be disappointed or something.

jenosborn · May 21, 2012 1:24 am

Much like Irene's experience, I had a Cumberbitch friend who highly recommended the series. I had not read any Sherlock stories since I was young, though I had enjoyed, in passing, the Jeremy Brett series. But I was never obsessed. I was mostly drawn to the iconic friendship dynamic of Holmes/Watson. Being from the U.S., I'm actually not a fan of the PBS 'Masterpiece Mystery' series on TV, and normally am not interested in Miss Marple, CSI wherever, or similar police procedurals or puzzles. Though I did love House. In films and movies, I find I am most riveted by good characters, writing, and especially, chemistry. And humor, whether it be clever, or over-the-top. When I was growing up, who cared about plot when I could watch the Kirk/Spock dynamic, or the Wyatt Earp/Doc Holliday bond. (Or just watch the young Beatles talk to each other!) I was a sucker for that stuff.

So in early February 2012, I watched all 6 of the BBC Sherlock episodes on my computer, in a few days, taking care to read absolutely nothing about them, or about the actors. Until I was done. And yes, I was done in. Completely.

By the acting, the writing, the innovative editing, the music, the humor, the richness of this piece. And how it touches on something fundamental. And I so enjoy that someone final nailed it. In a TV show!

So I got the UK DVD's right away (could not see myself waiting for the US ones...) I've been revisiting the world of Sherlock in books and film, and smiling more now for several months.

Wholocked · May 21, 2012 6:53 am

I knew about Sherlock Holmes. I hadn't seen anything earlier than RDJ's film version of it and I knew it was based on short stories but I'd never read them. I'd heard lots of good things about the Sherlock series but I knew it was under Steven Moffat, and I didn't particularly like what he'd done with Who (I much prefered Davis' season plot arcs for a start...) and I didn't think I wanted to see a modern day adaptation of an iconic character overseen by him.

And then I ran out of things to watch and the torrent site I used had Sherlock rated as number one in I think 3 categories so I went "OKay I'll give this a try"

I watched both series' in one weekend or something ridiculous. I immediately fell in love with it. I kept telling everyone I could find that it was 'magnificent'.

For me to become a fan of something or someone, there has to be something extra about it. I think with Sherlock I was impressed by everything - the scripts, the performances, the locations, cinematography, direction, costumes....everything was perfect and I loved it.

After that I went back through some of Benedict's earlier performances (I had seen Atonement but had forgotten about it). Everything I've seen him in (and that's a lot now) he's amazing. So I'm a full-on Cumberbitch now!

zububonsai · May 29, 2012 12:10 am

A bit like m0r1arty's story but with a performer's twist:

I discovered the ACDs original stories during summer break, reading the entire compendium 10yrs old. With Dad and sister are criminal detectives, so I imagined my dad being a kind of Holmes/Lestrade-Mix (kind of smart Lestrade). There were no movies/series about Holmes in the GDR (at least as I remember), so all happened in my mind.
But daddy cop taught us (twins) how to be a good "detective", e.g. Judo from age 5 on, always sit in rooms with your eyes towards the door, when witnessing an accident FIRST aid is to memorize the driver's plate, scribble it down somewhere and THEN help the victim, notice what have changed within a room after you have left it for a short period and return while dad moved something a bit) (*smiling when Holmes checked the dust in his room*)...
It sounds like drill instructor in a boot camp - noooo, it's been a big fun and adventurous and exactly that what Mr. Cumberbatch calls "achievable superpower", I totally understand t h a t wish.
And all of this training helped me to escape from one room where the door was literally filled by a pedophile man twice my size when I was 14. I got over him, in every respect. :-)

Of course, after school exams, I wanted to become a police officer (crime department of course;-)) and... they declined. "You must be 1,60m tall, which means you are 6cm (2inches) too small." I was not enough for Saxon police ... :-)

...fast-forward here 15yrs years, a lot of detective stories later... Academic degree in researching tiny bits of info (history) using nowaday absurd languages (Latin)...)
Now I'm a contemporary circus performer/ living in Dresden (telling stories with my body. acrobatics.clown.trampoline, illusion...) and during the last years I planned an "detective story" but putting this idea back into the fridge when the first RobertMcDowney-Holmes movie aired...
And while Cumberbatch/Freeman's are sherlocking their way through universe ... it'll stay there for a while.
But it would be such a fun telling ANY criminal story in a circus reality as a circus being the circus way... :-)

I'm no Cumberbitch, rather sisterly affections.
Considering my twin brother being an ingeneer at freaky nano-mikroscopes having studies a mix of maths-chemistry-physics-informatics and can tell you for whatever reasons small pieces of metal broke, has lost his sweetheart in a freak accident 2yrs ago (no, she is not in the US :-() and is a loner since then... such a gentleman and funny "brain" with a heart of gold which always leaves me whondering how on earth the not-so-bad guys remain single....

sherlockskitty · May 29, 2012 7:35 pm

My turn!!!!

My first recollection was, in high school, I did a book report on Hound of the Baskervilles story (my teacher picked it for the whole class to do)

fast fwd a little bit--I'd been a big SH fan since the days of Jeremy Brett's series. it started in 1984, only that wasn't the year I saw it on PBS TV. It was probably in the late 90's when they started re running those episodes. I taped them, of course. THEN I found out there were dvds in stores avail for rental. so I got them and saw them all.

There have been other tv versions of Sherlock Holmes stories thru these years and I saw most of them.

For Christmas in 2005, I got the ENTIRE volume of all 60 SH stories by ACD and I read that for days on end. Could not put it down.

In late 2010, I first saw Sherlock with Ben and Martin on PBS. Nothing else on the TV, so I thought I wud give this a try. It was THE BLIND BANKER that was the 1st ep I saw and taped. LOVED it!! I was absolutely floored. And then I found out we had to wait till 2012 to see the 2nd series. sigh. But that's what got me. A modern day Holmes, beautifully written, acted, scenery is lovely, in London, my favorite city in the UK and one that I HOPE to visit someday, etc.

I Hope SHERLOCK goes on for a LONG time!! I hope they do all the stories, and never leave.

Smoggy_London_Air · May 30, 2012 3:46 am

Early January this year, I was impossibly bored in the library, horror of horrors. Nothing good had come in recently. People had been bubbling about Sherlock for forever on tumblr. I didn't really realize that most of the hype was about the show. I thought it was some sort of Conan Doyle revival movement.

I'd never really given much thought Sherlock Holmes. My grandparents owned Hound of the Baskervilles in graphic novel format and I'd tried to read it without any interest. I'd never liked the idea of detective stories and I'd always thought it sounded kind of boring. When my friends would tell me "Oh, lately I've been reading Sherlock Holmes stories." I would stick out my tongue. My dad rented the Guy Ritchie film last April, and I enjoyed it somewhat but with the understanding that it deviated quite a bit from the canon.

But that day in the library (I think it may have been raining) I decided to give reading the canon a go. So I cracked open Study. When I got to the part where Dr. Watson and Holmes are introduced, I decided that I'd had the wrong idea for years. I finished Study within the evening and by the time I got to Sign I was totally hooked.

So it became known to my family within a week that I was now a total Sherlockian. I toted that library volume around with me everywhere. I just begun A Scandal in Bohemia when my grandmother of all people said to me "if you like those stories so much, why don't you watch this?"
So I did. January 29th, 2012. I watched A Study in Pink while keeping a watchful eye on the canon to note the differences, because from the initial part I thought that it would be a verbatim adaptation in the modern day. Then came Anderson. "Rache: revenge. I think she might be trying to tell us—" "Thank you for your input." So obviously it wasn't. But I loved it anyway. I watched The Blind Banker the same day, and The Great Game the next day.

The rest, as they say, is history.

(Also, because this seems to be a topic of discussion, I am a bit of a Cumberbitch. I really admire his work, not just in Sherlock but in other things as well. I do, however, hate that term.)

Last edited by Smoggy_London_Air (May 30, 2012 3:48 am)

Sherli Bakerst · June 2, 2012 1:23 am

While it's still fresh in my mind and other facts haven't pushed it out to make room for something more recent...

Mysteries have been my favorite genre to read since childhood but for some unknown reason, I never got into ACD. Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Dick Francis, yes. I do recall reading one story in, probably, high school, but, alas, the title escapes me; I thought it was the one about the speckled band but after reading the beginning just now, I have my doubts.

Anyway, I read an article in The New York Times about the upcoming second season of Sherlock which was intriguing, thought I remembered that a friend this past summer had mentioned the first season and how great it was, and resolved to watch Season 1 before Season 2. Went online to PBS.org on Saturday, April 28, and watched the first episode. Was hooked as soon as I heard the theme music and became obsessed when I heard the dialog between Sherlock and Watson. I'm a sucker for witty banter with a sarcastic tinge! Immediately watched the second episode and the following day, the third. Started exploring the PBS website and got sucked in to the Observation Game there. Then started reading all the other features on that site. Suffered for a week until Season 2 began: JOY! Couldn't stop thinking about TRF and started searching the Web for more info. Watched all the episodes again--had a bit of a panic when I discovered PBS was no longer airing the first season but went to Netflix and streamed it from there. Read more online. Ordered the DVDs. Found this site and started reading. Started watching the DVDs. Five weeks later, here I am!

Oh, and btw, I saw Amazing Grace and really enjoyed that movie because I'd been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone. But although I remember the character he played, I don't specifically remember Benedict in it. Hmm...guess I'll have to watch it again!

hepzibah · June 5, 2012 6:33 pm

It was during the first episode when Molly asked Sherlock if he would like to go out for coffee and he said "Yes, black with two sugars" and I nearly fell off my chair laughing. Any man who can make me laugh out loud is my kind of guy!

tobeornot221b · September 27, 2012 3:28 am

This old thread.
Due to current reason I'm going to bring it up again.
I've always found it interesting to read when you guys had your moment of "being hooked".

Today I celebrate my first anniversary.
I can't believe that it's been a full year now. Frankly, I didn't expect my addiction to last THAT long.
I'm afraid you won't be able to get rid of me in the near future.

And:
May I introduce the BRAVEST DVDs I'VE EVER KNOWN:

I can say now that these two are indestructible - going by the strains they had to go through with me!
I just can't tell how often they have been playing in my DVD player – must have been more than a hundred times. Each. Almost cracked up the player…
But both are still alive! I take this as a good omen for the future of the series.