BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / John's blog and its connection with the show (including TAB)

**Posted by SusiGo** January 6, 2016 9:48 pm

I know we have a thread for the blog but I think this deserves a thread of its own. There has always been the discussion whether the blog is tied to the show/gives crucial information/is necessary for understanding or is just an additional feature for those who want to read more about the characters.

I always tended to the former opinion and the special has confirmed this to me. Please have a look at this blog entry:

http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/16amarch

Sadly the videos on the site have been deactivated for some time. This video here showed Moriarty sniffing around in 221B, touching Sherlock's things and generally being quite intrusive. Please correct me but as far as I know this has never been mentioned in the show. As you can see, it is the last entry before Sherlock's death.
And now we get a variation on this very scene in Sherlock's mind in TAB. Of course it is different, distorted and interpreted by Sherlock himself, but it nevertheless is a connection to something we got in the blog but not in the show.

The same goes for the fact that in the blog John knows about the snipers on the roof and Sherlock protecting John, Mrs Hudson, and Lestrade. We never hear John acknowledging this in the show, only in here.

And there is another thing - since TAB aired, the counter that was stuck on 1895 has disappeared.

All this leads me to the conclusion that the blog should not be discounted when interpreting and speculating about the show.

**Posted by Vhanja** January 7, 2016 10:52 am

SusiGo wrote:
And there is another thing - since TAB aired, the counter that was stuck on 1895 has disappeared.

I read on Tumblr that this isn't quite right. The coutner was taken down way before that, although I can't remember exactly when. Either after TRF or during S3.

I do agree with you that the blog is part of the show, though. Everything written there is read-through and approved by Moftiss before it's posted.

**Posted by Mothonthemantel** January 18, 2016 2:24 am

Am I right in thinking the blog came at the same time as each season of the show -
The dates everywhere are confusing , does it update after or during the episodes.
Did anything come of the secret code thing on Sherlocks blog, or was that just Moriarty wanting attention .
Just before asib , the case of the aluminium crutch , Sherlock goes out by himself to a theatre and happens upon a murder live on stage, seems unlikely, any theories thoughts on that anywhere.

Thanks if you can help.

**Posted by ukaunz** January 18, 2016 4:02 am

Here are some links to copies of the video Moriarty posted in John's blog (16 March, entry titled "Hello Boys!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OH-nPEEtNc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enIwRGc8XlM
(have two just in case one gets deleted in the future!)

I get the feeling it was someone's idea to do a walk-through of 221B as fan service, so we got to see more details of the set, and then they decided to make it into Moriarty's creepy stalker thing. But that scene in TAB is an interesting callback, I think we can assume that some parts of the blog may be/become relevant to the show as the writers see fit. I don't think it can be considered crucial though, as I think the majority of casual viewers have no idea that it exists. Was it ever promoted in any way? It's not mentioned in the extras or DVD packaging or anything, is it? I was late coming to Sherlock, so I'm not really sure about this, but I didn't find out about the blog until I came to this forum. Anyway, it's a shame that some of the dates conflict with the show, the "voice" of John isn't quite right and other details are a bit off too. It's not really all we could wish for, I'd expect better writing from John personally.

@Mothonthemantel, I don't know when the entries were originally updated, so I can't answer that. I actually never got around to trying to work out the coded messages... As for the stories that don't appear in the episodes (e.g,The Aluminium Crutch) I have a feeling it was partly to pad John's blog out, to make it seem as though they always have cases but we don't hear about all of them (similar to ACD's Watson mentioning other cases that are never elaborated on), but also I think there are little Easter eggs of information for the fans, clues and references that may or may not be important to the story arc... I have a strong feeling they are telling us something with that particular case (and the one titled "Happily Ever After") but we'll never be sure exactly what.

I just wish there were some new entries since s3!

Last edited by ukaunz (January 18, 2016 4:45 am)

**Posted by ukaunz** January 18, 2016 4:27 am

I think this is the missing video from the "Untitled" blog entry (16 June), the BBC breaking news item about Sherlock's fall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iqXHoebOjc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnMmAkc1LmM

Last edited by ukaunz (January 18, 2016 4:47 am)

**Posted by ukaunz** January 18, 2016 4:34 am

This is the Jacob Sowersby video from "Actually, Happy New Year" (1 January) entry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtveProD0M0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JptUrgjEYbA

Last edited by ukaunz (January 18, 2016 4:48 am)

**Posted by ukaunz** January 18, 2016 4:40 am

And this is the wedding video Sherlock posted in the entry titled "The Sign of Three" (11 August)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhSC9GfXWP8

Are there any other videos that have been deleted from the blog?

Last edited by ukaunz (January 18, 2016 4:49 am)

**Posted by SusiGo** January 18, 2016 7:40 am

I think this is all, thank you very much for looking them up. I have no idea how long the blog has existed. I came into the fandom in June 2012 and then it was already there. Some months before series 3 aired (I think) they started updating again. Since the wedding entry nothing has happened anymore. It is true that the timelines are conflicting which I never really understood, but there is something interesting stuff in there and very good metas about who is hiding e.g. between theimprobableone who keeps commenting. LSIT's comprehensive M-Theory draws heavily from the blog as well.

It was my first thought when watching the scene in TAB that this referred to what we got on the blog years before.

**Posted by Mothonthemantel** January 18, 2016 11:42 am

Yes thankful ukaunz , I did find some before ,but missed others so thanks X , and yes I think does tell us quite a lot of extra stuff.
It's intriguing.Moriarty was obviously following and commenting , John writes Sherlock is like a kid at Christmas when someone does something clever and then TGG happens with a clue about astronomy which John wrote Sherlock knew nothing about. Then John writes Sherlock wanted a nice juicy murder for Christmas and then the woman happens on christsmas day etc .
The text is funny the subtext is funnier.t not just in tab .
It is fun to read too with the comments and John is an unreliable narrator - #confirmed.

Last edited by Mothonthemantel (January 18, 2016 11:44 am)

**Posted by ukaunz** January 19, 2016 7:25 am

If anyone's interested, here is a Meta: BBC Sherlock Timeline of Series 1 and 2 (condensed edition)
(revised 19 June 2012) by lyrical_sky, and a Meta: A Timeline for Sherlock Series 3 by Kizzia. They include dates from the show and all the blogs (John's, Sherlock's and Molly's etc.)

**Posted by ukaunz** January 22, 2016 10:20 pm

I just realised there is still a missing video from John's blog, the entry titled "The Empty Hearse (7 November), can anyone help find it?

**Posted by Lilythiell** January 26, 2016 3:45 pm

Oh yes, Susi, the blog should be taken into account.
Very much so.

Thank you for the video of "the visitor", ukaunz! I had never (shame on me) thought to look for it.
As for it being known, well, I suppose that the mere fact of seeing it online (still can't believe the counter disappeared...on that note, I connected a few days before STAB aired and it was still there.) should be evidence enough and prompting viewers into looking for it. Same goes for Sherlock's.

**Posted by ukaunz** January 27, 2016 11:46 pm

I just wish I could find this video

Has anyone seen it?

**Posted by besleybean** January 28, 2016 6:38 am

No, but nice one Kitty!

**Posted by SusiGo** January 28, 2016 7:52 am

This is amazing. I cannot remember that I have ever seen it and I greedily checked the blog before series 3.

**Posted by SusiGo** November 5, 2016 5:16 pm

I discovered by change one of the old videos from the blog and this is really amazing. It cause a little deductive explosion on tumblr. Have a look:

http://loveismyrevolution.tumblr.com/post/152773055717/nhtm-in-de-may-shepard-monikakrasnorada

**Posted by Liberty** November 5, 2016 7:42 pm

Good find! I can't really see what's in the picture - is it really a child dressed as Sherlock? The colour of the "cloak" looks wrong. I can see something that look like the Eiffel Tower perhaps, on the previous page - maybe some other landmark. But I agree it's very interesting - it's quite clear that Jacob has been fan for "ages", but only "recently" discovered his website. So how did he know about him? How could he follow his work, when he was doing secret consultation work with the police? The only person whom we know was stalking Sherlock for years was Moriarty. Looks like he's had another fan/stalker all along.

I do find it funny when he says "I found this in a shop". Where else would you find one?

I wonder if it's a comment on fandom too, although I'm not sure what the point is!

**Posted by SusiGo** November 5, 2016 7:50 pm

I still have no idea why they deactivated the videos. I have tried to find the one above mentioned by ukaunz, but I could not find it anywhere. Why is a shame because the videos are important. Especially the Moriarty one which ties directly to TAB.

As for the Jacob video - it is interesting how far it goes back. Having been a fan for so long, did he meet Sherlock when they were boys, all of them - Carl, Sherlock, Jacob, and Jim?

**Posted by Liberty** November 5, 2016 8:21 pm

Well, yes, that's the interesting question. How did he become a fan in the first place? Because it seems that Sherlock does not have any public presence before ASIP ... in fact he's not really a public figure until S2, I don't think. He does have the blog, but that seems to be very recent, and really oddly (given that he claims to be a long-term fan), Jacob has only just become aware of it after Sherlock has become a public figure. If he had been stalking/following him, wouldn't he have noticed it earlier?

So yes, something else made him a fan, years ago. He wasn't stalking a public figure, but a private, unknown one.

There have been hints about schools, swimming pools, going back to the begining, etc. from setlock. I do wonder ...

**Posted by SusiGo** November 5, 2016 8:39 pm

Yes. So do I.