BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / What is the Special about? (Spoilers)

**Posted by ukaunz** October 8, 2015 10:44 am

But are there any ACD ghost stories? I think I've read them all, and I don't recall any mention of ghosts.

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** October 8, 2015 11:20 am

This is probably a really stupid question... forgive me...

I was just wondering about Mary's black dress... Is anyone a bit more History-buff than I am?
I know in Denmark there was a time when wedding and confirmation dresses were black. Was there a time in England when that was the case as well? And does it fit with this?

**Posted by ukaunz** October 8, 2015 11:38 am

I assumed it was because when Watson meets Mary Morstan in canon (The Sign of the Four) her father has just died, so she's in mourning.

Edit: Well, he's missing presumed dead, and then the case is solved and she learns of his fate. So if the Special is set just after, she would be in mourning. One thing I'm not sure of, is if a woman stops dressing in black once she gets married?

Last edited by ukaunz (October 8, 2015 11:52 am)

**Posted by La Jolie** October 8, 2015 2:47 pm

I don't recall any ghosts either. "Baskerville" is the only story that relies heavily on the supposed supernatural aspect. There's the Sussex vampire, too, of course, although that one isn't really about supernatural phenomena, just about people supposedly acting like a psycho. Ghosts, none, as far as I'm aware. It's really odd.

Phantom Lady, I know nothing about wedding traditions in Victorian Britain, re: Mary's dress. But I still love your signature. Just saying.

As for how long one would have worn mourning, for a dead husband, a year. Not so much out of piety but to make sure that you didn't remarry until the new husband could be sure that your next kid was his, and not the deceased's.

For someone else near and dear, I believe around a month would have been traditional, but if you felt like extending that period, you were certainly free to.

All this without academic footnotes to back it up, just what I seem to remember to have read.

I'd like to raise the question whether black wasn't an acceptable dress colour outside mourning at that time, too. At least for women in professional roles, like housekeepers, maids etc. Mary Morstan in ACD canon worked as a governess when she met John, so maybe the black dress is just her semi-uniform-like work wear.

**Posted by SusiGo** October 9, 2015 2:40 pm

Here are some very interesting comparisons between the trailer and TPLOSH:

http://teaandforeshadowing.tumblr.com/post/130812428008/wellthengameover-wellthengameover

**Posted by Solenn** October 9, 2015 3:05 pm

Or she is mourning the death of her baby 😈

**Posted by ukaunz** October 10, 2015 1:11 am

Mark Gatiss, on the subject of "ghosts" (found on tumblr). I wonder what we can deduce about the Special from this, given there are no ACD stories about actual ghosts?

"I realised that the thing we're most afraid of nowadays is faceless government and conspiracy theories. There's a conspiracy theory about everything and they're almost the modern equivalent of ghost stories. And the great thing is, they can have all the tropes of a ghost story." - Mark Gatiss, 2012
"There are lots of people in happy marriages who turn out to have terrible secrets or to have done some awful deed in the past that must be paid for in the present. In Doyle's stories, those are the ghosts you need to worry about." - Mark Gatiss, 2012

Also this:
“Of all ghosts the ghosts of our old loves are the worst.” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

**Posted by tonnaree** October 10, 2015 1:40 am

ukaunz wrote:
Mark Gatiss, on the subject of "ghosts" (found on tumblr). I wonder what we can deduce about the Special from this, given there are no ACD stories about actual ghosts?

"I realised that the thing we're most afraid of nowadays is faceless government and conspiracy theories. There's a conspiracy theory about everything and they're almost the modern equivalent of ghost stories. And the great thing is, they can have all the tropes of a ghost story." - Mark Gatiss, 2012
"There are lots of people in happy marriages who turn out to have terrible secrets or to have done some awful deed in the past that must be paid for in the present. In Doyle's stories, those are the ghosts you need to worry about." - Mark Gatiss, 2012

Also this:
“Of all ghosts the ghosts of our old loves are the worst.” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Ooooooh, this makes my brain tingle

**Posted by SusiGo** October 10, 2015 6:26 am

Very interesting, ukaunz. And it goes perfectly with the trailer quote about the past and the sunny days.

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** October 10, 2015 9:54 am

Oooh! Good catch ukaunz! That is surely very interesting!

**Posted by SusiGo** October 10, 2015 9:59 am

Mark's last quote also throws an interesting light on HLV.

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** October 10, 2015 10:04 am

*shivers* It does! It makes an awful lot of sence about HLV

**Posted by nakahara** October 12, 2015 12:11 pm

Some theories on the content of the Special:

http://finalproblem.tumblr.com/post/130896543905/matchmaker-matchmaker

**Posted by SusiGo** October 12, 2015 12:38 pm

I love this. Brilliant. And even if does not turn out to be the plot of the special, someone the hell write a novel about it.

Last edited by SusiGo (October 12, 2015 1:49 pm)

**Posted by Liberty** October 12, 2015 1:45 pm

I really like this! A very interesting read, regardless of whether it turns out to be "correct".

**Posted by Solenn** October 12, 2015 4:20 pm

I honestly didnt understand half of it but the point about the KKK hats and women's height is clever

**Posted by Lilythiell** October 12, 2015 5:31 pm

ukaunz wrote:
Mark Gatiss, on the subject of "ghosts" (found on tumblr). I wonder what we can deduce about the Special from this, given there are no ACD stories about actual ghosts?

"I realised that the thing we're most afraid of nowadays is faceless government and conspiracy theories. There's a conspiracy theory about everything and they're almost the modern equivalent of ghost stories. And the great thing is, they can have all the tropes of a ghost story." - Mark Gatiss, 2012
"There are lots of people in happy marriages who turn out to have terrible secrets or to have done some awful deed in the past that must be paid for in the present. In Doyle's stories, those are the ghosts you need to worry about." - Mark Gatiss, 2012

Also this:
“Of all ghosts the ghosts of our old loves are the worst.” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Oh, what an excellent catch, ukaunz!

I've read the theory on Matches/Women/Secret Society, I admit the theory is interesting (and let's be frank, it's always a pleasure to read something rather well thought out...especially when there's only 1'30'' of original source material, but I digress), but I don't believe in it. No, I haven't another theory to propose.
To be honest, I'm more on board with all those parallels with TPLOSH (it has a special place in our hearts, and in Mark's as well, does it not?).
That whole article (the parallels) is just another echo to Arwel's tweet and "easter special", I rather think.

**Posted by Zatoichi** October 12, 2015 6:57 pm

I love the theory, it would be hilarious if someone got that much right from the tiny tidbits of source material they released so far. Looking at the picture I agree that the secret society looks like women, not just the average height but also the postures and cuts of the robes. But I guess we have to hear some of their incantations to be sure..

**Posted by ukaunz** October 12, 2015 9:24 pm

Well I like that theory better than KKK.

**Posted by SusiGo** October 12, 2015 9:27 pm

Zatoichi wrote:
I love the theory, it would be hilarious if someone got that much right from the tiny tidbits of source material they released so far. Looking at the picture I agree that the secret society looks like women, not just the average height but also the postures and cuts of the robes. But I guess we have to hear some of their incantations to be sure..

I wonder whether the secret society will be The People's Front of Judea or the Judean People's Front.