BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Kitty Riley

**Posted by tobeornot221b** March 8, 2012 7:23 pm

I don't like Kitty Riley and she's definitely not smart. Sherlock was right.
When Rich Brook enters the flat, blabbing about coffee, she should at the latest have seen that there was something wrong with her “actor� boyfriend.
In my opinion the only appropriate sentence for Brook to say would have been: “What’s wrong with our door – did we have a break-in?�
No, she is really so hungry for her editor’s notice that she has no doubt about Moriarty and doesn’t catch that he uses her for his own purpose.
By the way: Praise for clever Molly – she did end her relationship with Moriarty!

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** March 8, 2012 9:24 pm

Did Molly ditch Moriarty then...not the other way around??

Agree with what you said about Kitty...boy she is annoying! I love that bit where Moriarty walks in acting all normal...he is a very good actor, almost had me going....well....not really, but it did mess with my mind first time I saw it.

**Posted by tobeornot221b** March 8, 2012 9:30 pm

Molly: "Jim actually wasn’t even my boyfriend. We went out three times. I ended it." Reichenbach, scene where Sherlock and John come to Bart's with crisps.

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** March 8, 2012 10:16 pm

Ahhh, yeah I remember now.

**Posted by kazza474** March 9, 2012 6:34 am

Kitty was shown to be one eyed by one very simple fact that she overlooked.

Moriarty had just been on trial in a widely publicised court case.
If he had in fact been an actor, Rich Brook in a popular medical soapie or as a children's show host, wouldn't there have been someone who recognised that fact?
Wouldn't there have been a "I Believe in Rich Brook" movement going on?
Wouldn't his employers at least have come forward?
With only printed matter and a website that anyone could make, she apparently believed his whole story?

OR (and I believe this to be the actual importance of her character)

More to the point, was she representative of Moftiss's feelings for the British Press in general?
"Be damned with researching anything that may de-sensationalise the story we've whipped up here and just add layers and layers of nonsense so that these layers can be rehashed time and time again to save us from doing any REAL journalism."

I think Moftiss did a brilliant job at slapping the media right across the face with this one.
You will never see the above paragraph in any review in any British media, the truth hurts too much.

**Posted by Davina** March 9, 2012 7:22 am

Agree with the role of Kitty Riley. She is representative of an impression commonly held about he British Press as a whole. 'I don't see intelligent and I definitely don't see trustworthy'. This is reiterated later by Moriarty on the roof of St. Barts when he says about how he loves newspapers because they sell fairy tales. The point about the trial is a good one, although I think this may just be a hole in the plot. I must say that the appearance of Rich Brook was an excellent one and certainly sowed the seed of doubt in my mind. I loved the fact that the doubt sown in the public's mind in the story is introduced into the viewers mind as well, albeit for a moment, if like John we believe in Sherlock.

**Posted by kazza474** March 9, 2012 8:18 am

Oh it's not a hole in the plot. One of the Moftiss duo said as much in an interview. I'll try & find it.

Basically, the storyline of Rich Brook was so suddenly thrust in our faces, that we failed to process that information too well. Which is what the press does to the public all the time.

And think about it, the court case is such a central part of this story. Everyone has watched it, taking careful note of the media releases that came from it, yet few have actually realised if this was real life, someone would have said "Hey that's Rich Brook" !

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** March 9, 2012 3:49 pm

I think that's also making fun of the people that read the tabloids. None of them question the facts, they just accept what they're told as the truth and think that just because they've never heard of Richard Brook, doesn't mean no one else has, and if it's in the papers it must be true etc.

**Posted by kazza474** March 9, 2012 4:09 pm

hmmmm
Who reads tabloids?
The public = the audience of these shows.
Moftiss likes us, they won't make fun of us. They will perplex us/stump us/completely baffe us, but not laugh at us.
I don't think they are making fun of us; what they are doing is showing how simple it is to be taken in.

**Posted by Davina** March 9, 2012 5:34 pm

They are also highlighting how dangerous it is to believe everything you read in the press. Many people just assume that it must be true if it is in print.

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** March 9, 2012 6:27 pm

Davina wrote:
They are also highlighting how dangerous it is to believe everything you read in the press. Many people just assume that it must be true if it is in print.

Yeah that's what I was trying to say - that people are too easily led.

**Posted by tobeornot221b** April 30, 2012 7:55 am

Did anyone notice this little tongue-in-cheek thing?
In Kitty's flat Rich Brook is standing below this slogan all the time until running from the scene.
(Difficult to take an exact screenshot, sorry)
Seems to be Kitty's motto as a journalist.

**Posted by Davina** April 30, 2012 9:33 pm

Now I'm just going to have to go back and watch it AGAIN!

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** April 30, 2012 11:47 pm

Oh my God yes, I just noticed that the other day. It's kind of ironic given the whole Richard Brook story. Nice touch.

**Posted by KeepersPrice** July 18, 2012 11:38 am

I'm sure this has been posted elsewhere, but I caught a 'Doc Martin' episode last night and there was 'Kitty' as his secretary. I haven't watched the show enough to realize she was in it. It was kind of like seeing an old friend - even though I hate her . I'll take anything Sherlock related is good during the hiatus.

**Posted by MaggieM** September 25, 2012 3:42 am

Agreed. She was foul. Still funny she got a reaction from Sherlock when she opened her shirt, and he was rather uhm, aggressive towards her (took exception for once at the comment towards his and John's relationship).

Btw, he and John are not a couple, I don't get that at all. They are bosoms mates, deep friends and it's really great to see (on a more trivial note, it really is a bit like chandler and joey--except john is smart and a VERY GOOD doctor ;).

I'd add Lestrade "king arthur" to the club, too. NICE.

**Posted by Jammeez** September 27, 2012 12:50 am

One of my favorite pastimes is recognizing actors and figuring out where I've seen them before. BBC TV is especially fun, since almost everyone ends up on almost every show eventually. Kitty is no exception.

**Posted by veecee** October 4, 2012 9:42 pm

Jammeez wrote:
One of my favorite pastimes is recognizing actors and figuring out where I've seen them before. BBC TV is especially fun, since almost everyone ends up on almost every show eventually. Kitty is no exception.

My husband and I are always joking that they only have 10 actors, and they just keep switching them around.

And thanks for pointing out the other "Kitty" sighting. I've only seen a little Doc Martin, but I thought I'd seen Kitty someplace before.

**Posted by besleybean** October 6, 2012 7:56 pm

I saw her in Season's Greetings with Mark and in the Crimson and the White thing...

**Posted by aWorldlyPhilosopher** October 18, 2012 7:59 pm

kazza474 wrote:
Kitty was shown to be one eyed by one very simple fact that she overlooked.

While this might be a plot hole, there is a curious possible explanation: SH didn't get JM to play a role....JM got Kitty to do so.

Look at the courtroom scene at ~19:00 when we learn that JM will not offer any evidence. He turns and looks up into the pews at an in-focus JW, but Kitty is sitting right in front of him. Could that glance have been directed at her?

Sherlock described Kitty as hungry and desperate...just the traits of a reporter who would consider contacting a consulting criminal for a story?