BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Who is Magnussen?

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** February 16, 2014 2:10 pm

I am working on my fan fic and I have had the best idea ever (if you ask me). Anyhow it involves a lot of knowledge on Charles Augustus Magnussen...

Who is he really? How old is he; is he married, could he have children... What are the names of the newspapers he owns?

I am pretty convinced he is Danish since he pronounces his name in Danish at the start of HLV.

Any help and insight in Magnussen is very much appreciated!

**Posted by TeeJay** February 16, 2014 2:34 pm

Yes, he's most certainly Danish. I'm guessing he owns newspapers more along the lines of yellow press, because John makes a comment that he knows Magnussen owns a few newspapers, but none that he reads.

Age... I'm guessing in his early or mid-forties. How old is Lars Mikkelsen? I'd work with that.

I can totally see him leading a perfect family life outside of his day job. If you wanted to be a bit more cliché, you could make him live the perfect life of a wealthy man, with a Barbie-doll Botox wife and children that see their nanny more than their parents.

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** February 16, 2014 2:41 pm

Lars Mikkelsen is turning 50 this year... so I think I will go on that; it fits into my idea perfectly!

Thank you so much for your insight; it's very helpful to build this story!

Also, do you reckon it becomes common knowledge how Magnussen died? I.e. Sherlock killing him?

**Posted by TeeJay** February 16, 2014 2:51 pm

I'm pretty sure Mycroft would try his best not to make it public record how Magnussen died -- to protect Sherlock from possible repercussions.

Last edited by TeeJay (February 16, 2014 2:51 pm)

**Posted by tobeornot221b** February 16, 2014 2:54 pm

Here's one of his newspapers as shown in "Many Happy Returns":

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** February 16, 2014 3:01 pm

Thank you! I can really, really use this!

**Posted by dartmoordoggers** February 16, 2014 3:57 pm

I suppose the obvious connection to real life would be a Rupert Murdoch character. Particularly given whats happened in the UK over the past few years. i.e, Leveson Inquiry, closure of the News of the World, phone hacking scandal, etc.
The 'pissing' scene. Has been linked to a number of newspaper editors over the years.
The satirical comedy 'Hacks' 2012 shows some of the methods employed by a Magnussen character.

**Posted by Song** February 17, 2014 8:14 am

Well he's based off Charles Augustus Milverton. But very little is given about his private life, though in the books he is british. You could always mention..that brother of his... the one with a taste for...people.

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** February 17, 2014 8:19 am

Ah Hanibal you mean! Seriously I would love to see Magnussen and Dr. Lector together sometime... that would be deadly!

I think I have about pieced my version of Magnussen together for my fan fic... But I can't say too much in case anyone at all is reading my stuff. It's a major plot twist.

**Posted by SusiGo** February 17, 2014 8:39 am

This sounds very interesting. Remember to post a link as soon as it is published.

**Posted by SherlocklivesinOH** February 17, 2014 10:49 pm

dartmoordoggers wrote:
I suppose the obvious connection to real life would be a Rupert Murdoch character. Particularly given whats happened in the UK over the past few years. i.e, Leveson Inquiry, closure of the News of the World, phone hacking scandal, etc.
The 'pissing' scene. Has been linked to a number of newspaper editors over the years.
The satirical comedy 'Hacks' 2012 shows some of the methods employed by a Magnussen character.

I know the News of the World and some of Murdoch's team obtained information in sleazy ways, but they did use it to get money or favors in exchange for NOT publishing?

Since I don't follow celebrity gossip much, I'm not sure what the deal was with Prince Harry and the other royals whose privacy was invaded...but another web site said something happened that was a lot like SiB and HLV.

It would have been easy to make this character a little more ambiguous...to raise more of a question as to whether the people he was holding something over deserved our sympathy or whether they deserved to be exposed, such as MP who was indicted for corruption.

But the acting and writing, in this case, did a pretty good job of convincing us of CAM's evilness.

Of course, most of the blackmail material in the original Milverton story wouldn't be scandalous today (in the case of one client, not even premarital sex, necessarily, just a love letter written to someone before the client met her current fiance). Through a modern lens, you feel like, the victims would be better off if he published...they would see that everyone they were hiding from was also hiding something.

I was glad at that least they upped the ante and had the modern CAM focusing on more serious things (i.e., the sexual matter involved someone underage.)

Last edited by SherlocklivesinOH (February 24, 2014 4:35 am)