BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / sherlock series 4 (spoilers inside)

**Posted by Liberty** December 12, 2016 10:32 am

It's on the Telegraph website too http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/12/12/revealed-mystery-sherlock-baby-name/ , so I think it's official. I'll see if I can get hold of a paper copy today to make sure. But yes, the date is odd. We think we know that Mary was pregnant on the 25th and also right up until the end of TAB (whatever date that was). Or was she? Now it could be that they just wanted to make the announcement a good while before the first episode airs, but why would they mess up the dates like that?

If Mary had secretly delivered and was wearing a false bump at Christmas, then there wouldn't be a happy announcement on the 12th, would there?

It's interesting that the baby has been given Mary's fake name as a middle name - I'm surprised at that. I wonder if Rosamund is the R in AGRA?

Last edited by Liberty (December 12, 2016 10:37 am)

**Posted by nakahara** December 12, 2016 10:45 am

Rosamund MARY Watson?

"No, Sherlock, we will not name our daughter after you... I will honour your murderer by naming my baby after her instead!"

BLEH!

Last edited by nakahara (December 12, 2016 10:46 am)

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** December 12, 2016 11:37 am

That is... I don't even know.

Rosamund is a pretty name... but... yeah.

**Posted by nakahara** December 12, 2016 12:21 pm

Really, John must be the first parent to name his child after the FAKE identity.
(shakes head in disbelief)

**Posted by SusiGo** December 12, 2016 12:22 pm

The fact that something is in the papers does not necessarily mean it is real. If we have learned one thing from the show, then it should be this.

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** December 12, 2016 12:33 pm

Fairy tales... Rosamund would fit well in a Grimm story

**Posted by nakahara** December 12, 2016 12:34 pm

LOL, yes, the newspapers are quite like fairy-tales nowadays.
It´s true that the birth dates are very bizarre here. Mary was heavily pregnant in HLV and TAB (in January) and yet she gives birth in December?

**Posted by tonnaree** December 12, 2016 12:45 pm

Note to self: Remember to call your doctor and have him up your anxiety meds before Christmas.

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** December 12, 2016 1:42 pm

The math of this confuses me (dyscalculic)

But I can see it is off.

Again... with the maths... but it doesn't even fit with the gestation of an elephant, sadly.

**Posted by Liberty** December 12, 2016 1:44 pm

I did have a look at an actual paper Telegraph when I was out shopping earlier, and can confirm that this announcement is published in it. So it's very public news now.

I was tempted to buy it because I wondered if there were any other clues hidden there, and it seemed a coincidence that the death next to it was "Leinster" (I was thinking Leinster Gardens). But I looked into that death and it seems that the person did sadly pass away, and the announcement is genuine. I feel a little bad for treating the announcements as a puzzle, so I'm posting this in case anybody else ends up doing the same thing!

**Posted by SusiGo** December 12, 2016 1:48 pm

Thank you for checking, Liberty!

But evil me had another spontaneous thought:

"I read it in the paper, so it must be true. I love newspapers. Fairytales."

Or:

"Proof? What would I need proof for? I’m in news, you moron. I don’t have to prove it – I just have to print it."

This is how the show usually deals with things that appear in the news.

Last edited by SusiGo (December 12, 2016 1:49 pm)

**Posted by Liberty** December 12, 2016 1:59 pm

Yes, I was thinking along those lines too. Now I do think the baby's real (not 100% certain, of course, but if I had to put money on it either way, I'd go for real). But I have also suspected that they might be doing something interesting with meshing fact and fiction, real life and TV. There may be more to this than a simple little bit of publicity for the show.

The other thing that struck me, is that printing in The Telegraph is a little odd. We know that Mary's a Guardian reader (unless she's actually a guardian - I don't think that's ever been clarified). For those outside the UK, the Guardian is left-wing paper, whereas the Telegraph is more of a right-wing, establishment paper.

The other thing that's odd, is that you'd think the last thing Mary would do is seek publicity. In her position, I'd want to be hiding my family away from the public eye. So it's strange to announce the birth and possibly have a flashy christening as well (mind you, I thought the wedding was odd for the same reasons). If Rosamund is actually the R in AGRA, which I suspect although I have no good reason to apart from liking the symmetry of the real name balancing out the fake one, it's even more foolhardy!

**Posted by SusiGo** December 12, 2016 2:02 pm

Yes, I agree. And I also thought of this - remember the setlock incident in April when someone spotted the call sheet with the baby's name on it? And they made quite a fuss telling people not to spread it? So if it was THIS name what could have been so spoilery or damning? Why were we not allowed to know then and now they put it in the paper?

**Posted by This Is The Phantom Lady** December 12, 2016 2:04 pm

Unless it was a 'legal' thing that had been agreed with the Telegraph a while back?

**Posted by SusiGo** December 12, 2016 2:19 pm

This might be possible.

**Posted by Schmiezi** December 12, 2016 2:45 pm

nakahara wrote:
LOL, yes, the newspapers are quite like fairy-tales nowadays.
It´s true that the birth dates are very bizarre here. Mary was heavily pregnant in HLV and TAB (in January) and yet she gives birth in December?

The thing about the dates is only bizarre if the reconciliation scene in HLV has been real and not MP...

**Posted by SusiGo** December 12, 2016 2:57 pm

Lol, have you seen this happy family pic? The lovely colours, the caring mother holding her, both parents looking proudly at their child … cough.

**Posted by Schmiezi** December 12, 2016 3:00 pm

This is scary. For many reasons.

**Posted by SusiGo** December 12, 2016 3:03 pm

Yes. And can we please appreciate their thrift? Mary wearing one and the same blouse for the whole of S4? Doing promo, giving birth, taking a walk with the dog, filming at NGS, always in the same costume? Wow.

**Posted by SusiGo** December 12, 2016 3:09 pm

No, this is even better. Mary has become a placeholder for Sherlock. John is wearing the same shirt as in the promo pic with Sherlock. Mary is wearing either Sherlock's jacket or one that looks exactly the same. They have become exchangeable.