BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / The other brother - my head just exploded

**Posted by Ozma** January 13, 2014 12:54 am

You know how Mycroft mentiones this other brother they have.

Well, someone on Tumblr just posted something interesting. When they are in the parents' house and Mary is talking to daddy Holmes, she holds a book, which is written by Professor James Moriarty.

Could it be........oh my god I don't even want to say it....

**Posted by tonnaree** January 13, 2014 12:57 am

I thought book Mary was reading was by Mummy Holmes? Mary and Daddy Holmes were discussing how smart Mummy is.

**Posted by Ozma** January 13, 2014 1:06 am

yes, sorry, as my head exploded I think everything got muddled up... The book she was reading was by Mummy Holmes, but the title (Dynamics of combustion) was similar to the one written by Moriarty - this makes much more sense.

The correlation here is that both mummy holmes and Moriarty are scientists...

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** January 13, 2014 1:08 am

Maybe Mummy Holmes and Moriarty's father dated each other at one time and that Jim Moriarty is actually Sherlock and Mycroft's half brother.

**Posted by Ozma** January 13, 2014 1:15 am

I hope he isn't but... oh God.

**Posted by Wholocked** January 13, 2014 2:51 am

**Posted by KeepersPrice** January 13, 2014 3:34 am

Sherlock Holmes wrote:
Maybe Mummy Holmes and Moriarty's father dated each other at one time and that Jim Moriarty is actually Sherlock and Mycroft's half brother.

Now that would be amazing! I think you're on to something, boss!

**Posted by dartmoordoggers** January 13, 2014 9:27 am

This was floating around the twittersphere between S1 and 2. Basically Mycroft upset mummy by exposing an affair. The result of that affair, Moriarty being the half brother of Sherlock. 'You are me'.

**Posted by beekeeper** January 13, 2014 9:40 am

dartmoordoggers wrote:
This was floating around the twittersphere between S1 and 2. Basically Mycroft upset mummy by exposing an affair. The result of that affair, Moriarty being the half brother of Sherlock. 'You are me'.

I think that is consistent with previous pastiche-it is the Seven Percent Solution? I am sure I remember Moftiss saying that they were seeing that as their backstory. An affair between the parents exposed by Sherlock. BUT BUT BUT I really wonder if they have changed their minds. I actually love the idea of Sherlock as being a rather overindulged, very bright kid from a family that is entirely normal in a British eccentric way.

To me, it no longer FEELS right that this should be the backstory. The Holmes parents felt like kind, loving parents, who are possibly the only people who can actually handle these boys they have produced.

Also, - genuis mother, genuis kids, ordinary father, affair. Isn't that actually Frasier?

I really hope Moriaty is not the half brother. Its too X files (Krycek as Mulder's brother via Cigarette Smoking Man) for me. Yes it all adds up beautifully. It explains both moriaty's genius and his obsession with the Holmes brother. But it is still a serious shark jump. Just once, maybe a serious antagonist could NOT be biologically related to the protagonist.

Last edited by beekeeper (January 13, 2014 9:44 am)

**Posted by lil** January 13, 2014 10:29 am

Wasn't there a third brother Sherringford.....somewhere .
Was Sherlock ref. To him in his best man speach... family idiot with a career in the church?

**Posted by silverblaze** January 13, 2014 11:28 am

Or maybe Mycroft just invented the brother in order to look tough.

**Posted by besleybean** January 13, 2014 4:59 pm

I doubt it.

**Posted by beekeeper** January 13, 2014 5:36 pm

lil wrote:
Wasn't there a third brother Sherringford.....somewhere .
Was Sherlock ref. To him in his best man speach... family idiot with a career in the church?

Its Baring-Gould , the Sherlockian's kind of first fanboy, who invented this whole headcanon universe back around the 1950s. One of this headcanons was the idea that if Holmes' ancestors were county squires then someone had to have inherited the land and title, since it was neither Mycroft nor Sherlock there had to be an older brother.

Incidentally. I am assuming the "William" of "William Sherlock Scott Holmes" is after William S Baring Gould (no idea what the S stands for btw)

(or it could be WIlliam Gillette-who I THINK was the first adaptor of Sherlock Holmes and to whom ACD gave the carte blanche to change anything and everything about the canon, Sherlock, what have you?)

Last edited by beekeeper (January 13, 2014 5:37 pm)

**Posted by Mrs.Wenceslas** January 13, 2014 6:16 pm

beekeeper: interesting facts! thanks*

**Posted by beekeeper** January 13, 2014 6:30 pm

Randomly noticed something else too. Mrs Hudson and Sherlock's mother both have the same initials - MLH (in both cases, their married names). I could even go a step further with that. Mrs H's maiden name is Sissons. It is reasonably common to give kids, esp in wealthy families, their mother's maiden name as a third middle name so Scott, in Sherlock, could well be her maiden name. Making both their initials originally MLS. I shall ponder on any significance to this.

(well, its going to be a LONG time til series 4....)

Last edited by beekeeper (January 13, 2014 6:32 pm)

**Posted by Ozma** January 13, 2014 6:30 pm

lil wrote:
Incidentally. I am assuming the "William" of "William Sherlock Scott Holmes" is after William S Baring Gould (no idea what the S stands for btw)

(or it could be WIlliam Gillette-who I THINK was the first adaptor of Sherlock Holmes and to whom ACD gave the carte blanche to change anything and everything about the canon, Sherlock, what have you?)

I think they said something like that yesterday at the Q&A...but then again I could have easily dreamt it. Too much data in my head at the moment

**Posted by beekeeper** January 13, 2014 6:33 pm

Ozma wrote:
lil wrote:
Incidentally. I am assuming the "William" of "William Sherlock Scott Holmes" is after William S Baring Gould (no idea what the S stands for btw)

(or it could be WIlliam Gillette-who I THINK was the first adaptor of Sherlock Holmes and to whom ACD gave the carte blanche to change anything and everything about the canon, Sherlock, what have you?)

I think they said something like that yesterday at the Q&A...but then again I could have easily dreamt it. Too much data in my head at the moment

cool .

turns out the S in baring gould is stuart, so I am going with the theory that its his mother's maiden name. Its nice for her and Mrs H to have matching initials.

Last edited by beekeeper (January 13, 2014 6:36 pm)

**Posted by tobeornot221b** January 13, 2014 6:46 pm

To me, all this "three brothers" business ACD and his unclear, sometimes sloppy writing style are to blame for (Mrs.Hudson/Mrs.Turner, John/James Watson, Watson's injury of leg/shoulder).
This rumoured third brother refers to the Moriarty family.

The stories give contradictory indications about Moriarty's family. In his first appearance in "The Final Problem", Moriarty is referred to as "Professor Moriarty" — no forename is mentioned. Watson does, however, refer to the name of another family member when he writes of "the recent letters in which Colonel James Moriarty defends the memory of his brother". In "The Adventure of the Empty House" Holmes refers to Moriarty on one occasion as "Professor James Moriarty". This is the only time Moriarty is given a first name, and oddly, it is the same as that of his purported brother; to wit The Valley of Fear (written after the preceding two stories, but set earlier), Holmes says of Professor Moriarty: "He is unmarried. His younger brother is a station master in the west of England."

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_Moriarty

So, no mysterious Holmes family history, but a nod to ACD.

**Posted by shezza** January 13, 2014 11:53 pm

In any case, I guess they'll tell us more about this third brother in the next series now they've mentioned him.

**Posted by beekeeper** January 13, 2014 11:57 pm

Actually its even more complex re the name

Yes its because of baring-gould but its not after him-he suggested the name William etc...So this has been around a VERY long time.

With that in mind I am really sure that the reference is to the third brother, Sherringford. But because it is quite a subtle fanfic reference I wonder if that might be all we get.

Last edited by beekeeper (January 13, 2014 11:58 pm)