BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / This wedding is an extremely strange one!

**Posted by Vhanja** April 19, 2015 12:53 pm

My first thought was that it's a practical solution to re-use actors/actresses for minor parts. Just like in LotR, some stuntmen play maybe two or three different orcs or uruk-hais in the same movie. Convenience.

**Posted by SusiGo** April 19, 2015 1:33 pm

There are thousands of actresses looking for jobs. Why use the same one twice? And I would not compare these parts with more or less faceless Uruk-Hai.

Last edited by SusiGo (April 19, 2015 1:34 pm)

**Posted by Liberty** April 19, 2015 1:39 pm

Great find! I suspect that they might just be re-using an extra too (she has glasses in the courtroom, but not at the wedding), but it would be great if there really was a connection. I feel we never get to find out enough about the guests.

**Posted by tonnaree** April 19, 2015 3:12 pm

Wow, that gives one pause.

**Posted by mrshouse** April 20, 2015 7:18 am

Sorry to be a downer, but think of the fact, that we talk about a creative team here that hardly goes beyond the borders of their own families for main castings, not even the dogs. As much as I would love to believe that this might show a connection between Mary and Moriarty I could very well believe it's just lazy casting. Maybe I'm just not a firm believer in conspiracies.

**Posted by SolarSystem** April 20, 2015 9:56 am

I'm afraid I'm with you on this one, mrshouse. And same with me, as much as I'd love this to be evidence for a connection between Mary and Moriarty, I think that in this case they would have had to make it a bit clearer. I personally had to take a really close look to see that it's the same actress in the courtroom and at the wedding.

**Posted by lil** April 20, 2015 10:24 am

Thats interesting @Susie...as the nightclub bouncers/thugs at the wedding also seem to double as the Waters gang bank robbers.
Perhaps Marys family...could see her now....

**Posted by Harriet** April 20, 2015 11:29 am

Mary's family - I that idea

**Posted by SusiGo** April 20, 2015 11:34 am

Yes, indeed. And it would fit her reaction to the telegram as well. Could be fear of having her criminal family ties exposed. I will have a closer look at the guests and the Waters gang again.

**Posted by mrshouse** April 20, 2015 12:10 pm

If I consider the guests as her (criminal) family, that gives a whole new spin indeed...

**Posted by SusiGo** April 20, 2015 12:12 pm

I love this idea. One might argue that Sherlock checked them but we do not know if he checked everyone as thoroughly as David (he was her ex, after all). And he did not see through Mary either.

**Posted by mrshouse** April 20, 2015 12:18 pm

I doubt he checked each one. Analyzing hand writing and card stocks, yes, but going into further details? I think even Sherlock lacked the time for that. His concerns mostly waved around John's wellbeing at that particular day. And overall he missed A LOT in S3.

**Posted by SusiGo** April 20, 2015 12:21 pm

We only see him checking David and Sholto, and in both cases he had strong reasons to do so. So, yes, others might have slipped through his net.

**Posted by mrshouse** April 20, 2015 12:28 pm

Sherlock has to learn so much in this series. Maybe it just didn't occur to him that a wedding could have its fishy elements?

**Posted by SusiGo** July 23, 2015 12:55 pm

I just read something on tumblr that made me think:

Major Sholto never replies to the wedding invitation (we see John and Mary both being surprised when he makes his appearance). We see him putting on his dress uniform before the church ceremony (immediately following Sherlock's "Into battle") but he does not go to church. He does not even appear at the door of the banquet room where all guests are received by the couple and their best man. He only appears when the reception has already started although he must have been in his uniform for hours. Which is strange.
But what is even stranger: How could he have been in the wedding picture rehearsals and get stabbed by the photographer? When does this take place? We see him coming into the room where he is greeted by John and next everybody is sitting down for the meal and the speech.

**Posted by Vhanja** July 23, 2015 3:20 pm

Never thought of that, that's a good point. I don't know if it's different in UK, but Sholto doesn't play any particular role in the wedding (not related, or best man, to bride or groom, not the usher, or any other functional role). So why would he even be in the wedding picture rehearsals? (And is there such a thing as a wedding picture rehearsal at all?!)

I can't remember right now, but was John and Mary in that particular wedding picture rehearsal? Because if they were, it makes no sense at all. If they weren't, then that could have been done in between the church and the reception (that is normally a waiting time in Norwegian weddings, because that is when the bride and groom wil go off to take their pictures).

But if that is the case, then the photographer should have been with John and Mary, not with the rest of the guests. No, it doesn't make sense. Unless everybody got dressed and made up a day or two before for the rehearsal, but that sounds kind of stupid.

**Posted by SusiGo** July 23, 2015 3:30 pm

Of course they needed the rehearsal for the case to work but there is actually no time for doing this. It must have happened after Sholto entered the banquet room because Sherlock, Mary, and John were surprised to see him. But there is definitely no time after that. And it cannot have happened days before the wedding because then John would have known that Sholto was going to attend.

**Posted by Kittyhawk** July 24, 2015 11:50 am

What makes you think that there were wedding picture rehearsals? From what I see the photographer was taking pictures on the wedding day, staged pictures in front of the church, snapshots at the reception.
I suppose at some moment the photographer must have asked groups of guests to pose for him, which gave him the opportunity to stab Sholto. On-screen-time is rather compressed for the wedding reception.
Sholto couldn't have been stabbed at a rehearsal (I'm assuming that any rehearsal would have taken place at least the day before the actual wedding) because we are supposed to believe that the stabbed person bleeds out once the belt is removed.

**Posted by SusiGo** July 24, 2015 12:04 pm

My mistake. Mix-up with the explanation of the previous stabbing. It still does not change my opinion that we do not get any hint when the photos were taken. And they put stress on showing us how late Sholto was for the wedding.

**Posted by nakahara** July 24, 2015 7:46 pm

SusiGo wrote:
I just read something on tumblr that made me think:

Major Sholto never replies to the wedding invitation (we see John and Mary both being surprised when he makes his appearance). We see him putting on his dress uniform before the church ceremony (immediately following Sherlock's "Into battle") but he does not go to church. He does not even appear at the door of the banquet room where all guests are received by the couple and their best man. He only appears when the reception has already started although he must have been in his uniform for hours. Which is strange.

Major Sholto gets frequent death threats and must live in a hidden place, in a solitary confinement, for his own safety, so I guess, he plans to appear at John´s wedding unpredictably, after they almost gave up on him. That makes a chance of a sudden attempt on his life a bit lower - most people would probably think he won´t come and give up the plan to murder him. It was a pure chance this murderer was so tenacious.....

SusiGo wrote:
But what is even stranger: How could he have been in the wedding picture rehearsals and get stabbed by the photographer? When does this take place? We see him coming into the room where he is greeted by John and next everybody is sitting down for the meal and the speech.

From the look of it, the guest were photographed shortly before Sherlock´s long speech. In my opinion, that´s why Major Sholto didn´t bleed to death during the speech itself.