BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Find the original & post other nods to the canon (merged topic)

kazza474 · March 6, 2012 5:17 am

OK. Time to get serious. So BBC Sherlock is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's canon. Throughout the shows so far, it has been interesting and sometimes amusing to watch the interpretations into modern times. (OK Actually. mostly amusing, lol)
But they don't just come straight from the adventure/case of the same name. Ohhhh no no no, that would be TOO easy! There are smatterings of several tales in each of the episodes Moftiss has made for us.

So let's see what scenes are very similar. Now this DOES mean you really have to start reading the originals as the similarities are buried in the text. Most are short stories anyway, and as a fan you owe it to the great ACD to give them another read. (It may also help get you ready for the next series. Imagine your surprise when you recognise something straight up!!)

kazza474 · March 6, 2012 5:35 am

I'll start. (yes, it's long think of it as practice for reading the stories)

Study in Pink has Sherlock & John meeting. Sherlock deducts quite a lot from John's phone.
Now, at the start of "The Sign Of Four" we have this excerpt.

"I handed him over the watch with some slight feeling of amusement in my heart, for the test was, as I thought, an impossible one, and I intended it as a lesson against the somewhat dogmatic tone which he occasionally assumed. He balanced the watch in his hand, gazed hard at the dial, opened the back, and examined the works, first with his naked eyes and then with a powerful convex lens. I could hardly keep from smiling at his crestfallen face when he finally snapped the case to and handed it back. “There are hardly any data," he remarked. “The watch has been recently cleaned, which robs me of my most suggestive facts."
“You are right," I answered. “It was cleaned before being sent to me." In my heart I accused my companion of putting forward a most lame and impotent excuse to cover his failure. What data could he expect from an uncleaned watch? “Though unsatisfactory, my research has not been entirely barren," he observed, staring up at the ceiling with dreamy, lack-lustre eyes.
“Subject to your correction, I should judge that the watch belonged to your elder brother, who inherited it from your father."
“That you gather, no doubt, from the H. W. upon the back?"
“Quite so. The W. suggests your own name. The date of the watch is nearly fifty years back, and the initials are as old as the watch: so it was made for the last generation. Jewelry usually descents to the eldest son, and he is most likely to have the same name as the father. Your father has, if I remember right, been dead many years. It has, therefore, been in the hands of your eldest brother."
“Right, so far," said I. “Anything else?"
“He was a man of untidy habits,—very untidy and careless. He was left with good prospects, but he threw away his chances, lived for some time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity, and finally, taking to drink, he died. That is all I can gather."
I sprang from my chair and limped impatiently about the room with considerable bitterness in my heart.
“This is unworthy of you, Holmes," I said. “I could not have believed that you would have descended to this. You have made inquires into the history of my unhappy brother, and you now pretend to deduce this knowledge in some fanciful way. You cannot expect me to believe that you have read all this from his old watch! It is unkind, and, to speak plainly, has a touch of charlatanism in it.
“My dear doctor," said he, kindly, “pray accept my apologies. Viewing the matter as an abstract problem, I had forgotten how personal and painful a thing it might be to you. I assure you, however, that I never even know that you had a brother until you handed me the watch."
“Then how in the name of all that is wonderful did you get these facts? They are absolutely correct in every particular."
“Ah, that is good luck. I could only say what was the balance of probability. I did not at all expect to be so accurate.“
“But it was not mere guess-work?"
“No, no: I never guess. It is a shocking habit,—destructive to the logical faculty. What seems strange to you is only so because you do not follow my train of thought or observe the small facts upon which large inferences may depend. For example, I began by stating that your brother was careless. When you observe the lower part of that watch-case you notice that it is not only dinted in two places, but it is cut and marked all over from the habit of keeping other hard objects, such as coins or keys, in the same pocket. Surely it is no great feat to assume that a man who treats a fifty-guinea watch so cavalierly must be a careless man. Neither is it a very far-fetched inference that a man who inherits one article of such value is pretty well provided for in other respects." I nodded, to show that I followed his reasoning.
“It is very customary for pawnbrokers in England, when they take a watch, to scratch the number of the ticket with a pin-point upon the inside of the case. It is more handy than a label, as there is no risk of the number being lost or transposed. There are no less than four such numbers visible to my lens on the inside of this case. Inference,—that your brother was often at low water. Secondary inference,—that he had occasional bursts of prosperity, or he could not have redeemed the pledge.
Finally, I ask you to look at the inner plate, which contains the key-hole. Look at the thousands of scratches all round the hole,—marks where the key has slipped. What sober man’s key could have scored those grooves? But you will never see a drunkard’s watch without them. He winds it at night, and he leaves these traces of his unsteady hand.

Last edited by kazza474 (March 6, 2012 5:36 am)

Sherlock Holmes · March 6, 2012 6:00 am

This is a great idea. Started re-reading the canon two days ago. I'm getting through 3 stories per day, so far I've read 6 and already, oh my God, the references, it's just littered with things from the series. Moftiss really are serious Sherlockian geeks and I'm having SOOOO much fun spotting all the little bits, so much so I decided to start writing them all down, so I'm going to enjoy this topic.

I'd strongly encourage everyone to start reading them, if you haven't done already. Don't be put off by the fact that they are old or anything, as soon as I started reading I kep imagining Benedict and Martin reading all the lines, and it was only the odd mention of things like horse and carriage that I was like, "oh yeah", lol. Honestly, they're so well written and so easy to read that it's just a real pleasure.

But anyway, back to the task...

I don't know if they're all the same, but my copy of canon starts out with Scandal in Bohemia. Obviously it's pretty easy to spot the references in that one because they pretty much did the whole story and used all the same details - incriminating photos of royal, Sherlock dressing up as priest and pretending to get injured to get into Irene's house, John starting a fire to trick Irene into revealing the location of the photos and ultimately Irene disappearing without them actually getting the photos back.

At the end she leaves them with a letter and a single photograph of herself, and Sherlock asks if he can keep the photograph. This to me was similar to him keeping the phone at the end. Just something to remember "the woman" by.

But anyway, the thing that really made me smile in this episode was this line for line modernisation. "I'd be lost without my Boswell" becomes "I'd be lost without my blogger"! Yay, genius! And they didn't even use it in the same episode I don't think. I'm pretty sure he says that line in Great Game.

I'll leave someone else to have a go now, don't wanna do too many at once.

Sherlock Holmes · March 6, 2012 6:04 am

BTW, awesome quote Kaz, never knew they got that scene from there. Will be re-reading the novels too once I've got through the short stories! This is so much fun!

kazza474 · March 6, 2012 6:36 am

Nice one!
Yes always hard reading when you are smiling or laughing but it does make it more fun!

Sherlock Holmes · March 6, 2012 9:48 am

OK so I started reading Sign of Four this morning, despite saying I would wait until I'd read the short stories first I couldn't hold off any longer, and I've already noticed three more similarities that crop up very early on:

- Sherlock mentions his study of tobacco ash
- He makes fun of John's write up of Study in Scarlet just like our Sherlock makes fun of the blog
- He only takes drugs because ordinary life is "dull" and is pleased when Watson offers him a mental challenge and says it will stop him taking more drugs, ie. Stop him being bored.

kazza474 · March 6, 2012 9:58 am

I just finished watching that one! lol
Yes, those 3 things were there and I had a chuckle. Also he did repeat his ' when you've eliminated...' speech ... again.

Sherlock Holmes · March 8, 2012 10:01 pm

Also in Sign Of Four...Sherlock explains his role as "consulting detective"...you can see how Moftiss have lifted some of the lines directly from the text:

"My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession,—or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world."

"The only unofficial detective?" I said, raising my eyebrows.

"The only unofficial consulting detective," he answered. "I am the last and highest court of appeal in detection. When Gregson or Lestrade or Athelney Jones are out of their depths—which, by the way, is their normal state—the matter is laid before me."

kazza474 · March 16, 2012 7:12 am

Nods to the original canon - find BBC Sherlock references to the canon.

.On reading many reviews etc, it is a common theme that even experts with decades of Sherlock experience & study have openly said 'we can never get them all' or 'another one just came to light!'.
Now the nod may come in the form of the Title, a case, a name, a place, a set prop or an action. The possibilities are endless, but please let's not get too obscure & fanciful, you need to prove your case. Let's not list the major characters, they are too obvious.

So, while we too shall never get them all, we may as well try to list them.
If we also try to number them & make bold the actual title of the original, that will help us keep count.

I guess I will start & post the obvious that come to mind, no doubt we've all caught these ones.

#1. A Study in Pink - nods by an adjusted title to - A Study in Scarlet
#2. The Blind Banker - nods by having a cipher to decode & by proving someone else was in the room of an alleged suicide to - The Adventure of the Dancing Men
#3. A Scandal in Belgravia - nods by an adjusted title to - A Scandal in Bohemia
#4. The Hounds of Baskerville - nods by an adjusted title to The Hound of the Baskervilles
#5. The Reichenbach Fall - nods by storyline and reference to a painting of the same name to -The Final Problem
#6. The Great Game has a plot of lost plans: Bruce-Partington Plans - by plan name, crime , characters involved and solution all nods to The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
#7. The Great Game has a note written on Bohemian note paper - nods to a note being sent on the same type of paper in A Scandal In Bohemia
#8. The Great Game uses the Five Greenwich Pips on the phone messages as a nod to - The Five Orange Pips with the pips being interpreted as the same meaning (a warning).
#9. The Great Game has a photo sent as a clue, of an empty house - nods to The Adventure of the Empty House
#10. The Great Game shows Sherlock shooting at a yellow face on the wall - nod toThe Adventure of the Yellow Face

ok, taking a break to allow others to post I'll limit mine to 10 at a time, lol

Davina · March 16, 2012 8:02 am

John's blog article 'The Speckled Blonde' nods to The Case of the Speckled Band

Sherlock Holmes · March 16, 2012 10:16 am

Also from John's blog of previous cases - The Geek Interpreter = The Greek Interpreter

kazza474 · March 17, 2012 2:09 am

From the Final Problem:

All that I have to say has already crossed your mind,’ said he.
“ ‘Then possibly my answer has crossed yours,’ I replied.

Here it is in JB's Sherlock:

kazza474 · March 17, 2012 2:29 am

Also note in the video, Moriarty's head movements. (at the start, at 3:45)
In "The Final Problem" he is described as such:

"His shoulders are rounded from much study, and his face protrudes forward, and is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion."

Andrew Scott also used these little creepy movements throughout his time as Moriarty, the end of this clip shows one of those times. around 3:14 (The scene on the rooftop holds more as well.)

Oh and of course the "everything I have to say" line are there too.

Last edited by kazza474 (March 17, 2012 2:30 am)

Sherlock Holmes · March 17, 2012 6:56 am

Great lines! I almost jumped up and down when I read that bit.

Davina · March 18, 2012 6:04 pm

In Reichenbach Fall in the courtroom scene Sherlock talks about Moriarty being a spider at the centre of a criminal web. This is lifted exactly from Sehrlock Holmes' description in the original story of The Reichenbach Fall.

In The Great Game it is the dead man's prospective brother-in-law who opportunistically steals the memory stick with the Bruce Partington Plans on. In the original story of The Naval Treaty although there is no murder the prospective brother-in-law opportunistically steals the plans. In The Great Game it is because he has been dealing in drugs, whereas in the original story he has been dabbling in stocks, in both cases he has run up debts.

Davina · March 18, 2012 7:43 pm

Again in The Reichenbach Fall John receives a call to say that Mrs. Hudson has been shot and is dying. In the original story a letter arrives to tell Dr. Watson that and English woman is dying of consumption. In both cases these pull the Doctor away from Sherlock Holmes's side.

Sherlock Holmes · March 18, 2012 8:30 pm

The Great Game:

“All I have to say has already crossed your mind."
“Then possibly my answer has crossed yours."

Dialogue from The Final Problem

Last edited by Sherlock Holmes (March 18, 2012 8:31 pm)

tobeornot221b · March 18, 2012 8:42 pm

The Reichenbach Fall
JOHN: There were times I didn't even think you were human.

The Sign of Four
WATSON: There is something positively inhuman about you sometimes.

Davina · March 20, 2012 10:01 pm

The Hound of the Baskervilles and the Sherlock episode have the exact same phrase, 'Mr. Holmes it was the footprints of a gigantic hound.' The stories are both set in Grimpen, the original in Grimpen Mire and the Sherlock episode has Grimpen mine field. In story and episode Stapleton appears and Henry is the person Sherlock and Juhn help. Doctor Mortimer also appears in both.

In the original story of A Study in Scarlet we hear of Sherlock Holmes beating dead bodies with a stick and in Study In Pink he does so with a riding crop, in both cases it is to determine how bruises form after death. In this story Watson also draws attention to Sherlock's complete ignorance of the solar system and this is a big part of The Great Game. ' if we went round the moon it would not make a pennyworth of difference to me or my work'.

As the only 'consulting detective' this appears in Study in Pink and also in the original Study in Scarlet. The analysis of John by Sherlock appears in both tv programme and Study in Scarlet with him being a doctor, bearing of a military man, not naturally brown skinned and just returned fron Afghanistan.

Lauriston Gardens off the Bixton Road appears in both Study in Scarlet and Pink. The proof of the word Rache being written as a reason against suicide is in both stories, although interestingly Rache is the word used in the original but Rachel is meant in the tv episode which is discounted in the original. In both stories pills are used, one of which is harmless and the other of which contains poison. Also, in both stories it is the cabbie, or cabman, who is responsible for the murders. In both stories the cabbie is also suffering from an aneurism. In both stories the cabbie gets the 'victim' to choose a pill whilst he takes the pill that reamians.

Sherlock Holmes · March 21, 2012 12:18 am

Hmmm. Interesting. Looking forward to reading Study In Scarlet now!