“Let us judge the situation by this new information”
BBC Sherlock: It’s Four & Maybe More!
Benedict Cumberbatch has been telling Radio Times that a fourth series is definitely on the cards, contrary to the popular perception that Series 3, due to start filming today (18 March 2013), will be the last one.
Cumberbatch has also revealed that he is keen to carry on with Sherlock, even beyond a fourth series, provided that it can be fitted into his hectic schedule, something he shares in common with Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman.
“An Absolute Stonker”
Following a read-through of the script, Cumberbatch has also been talking to Radio Times about the up-coming Series 3. “You are in for an absolute stonker of a resurrection. It’s going to be a treat,” Cumberbatch told them.
In the first Episode of the new series, viewers are going to get the solution to the unresolved problem of Series 2, Episode 3: How did Sherlock survive his fall from the roof of St Bart’s Hospital?
Transmission of Series 3 on BBC One is not expected before late 2013.
Sherlock Unravels Mystery Tweeter
Benedict Cumberbatch recently turned real-life detective to foil a nosey neighbour, according to the Daily Star.
Can Leslie Klinger Free Sherlock?
One of the world’s leading Sherlockians Leslie Klinger, who is also a prominent attorney, has filed a civil lawsuit in the US federal court against the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd to determine that the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are in fact in the public domain.
Klinger was planning an anthology of new stories involving Holmes and Watson but the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd informed his publisher that a licence fee must be paid to the Estate for the publication of the book or they would convince major distributors (e.g. Amazon) not to sell it. The publishing company, understandably concerned about the possible implications, has therefore put the book’s publication on hold.
As its stands at present, all but 10 (The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes collection) of the 60 original stories still enjoy copyright protection in the US. Klinger’s arguement goes that these non-copyrighted books have fully established the characters of Holmes and Watson and as they are in the public-domain, therefore should be construed as free to use.
Klinger’s considerable body of literary work includes editorship of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library and The Grand Game.
A Free Sherlock website has been set up to promote the campaign and you can also read what Klinger has been saying about the matter on his own website.
To try and get a handle on the story, this New York Times report is particularly worth reading, as indeed are the links here, here and here. Naturally there’s a lot of overlap.
‘Gently the music fades away’
According to the experts, a violin belonging to Wallace Hartley leader of the S.S. Titanic orchestra is the genuine article. The violin, which is thought to be worth a six figure sum, is due to go on display at Belfast City Hall next month (no exact dates yet). The BBC News story can be read here.
Conan Doyle wrote a tribute to Hartley and his fellow musicians who played on as the tragic liner went to her watery grave that fateful night in April 1912. You can read the poem within this article.
Visit Titanic Belfast
‘Holmes would talk of nothing but violins’
Still on violins, police have been looking into the possibility that a Stradivarius recovered in Bulgaria recently, was stolen at a London train station more than two years ago. The violin is possibly worth $1.8m. The Reuters report can be read here.
This story would have been of particular interest to Holmes whose own violin was a Stradivarius, which he had purchased ‘at a Jew broker’s in Tottenham Court Road for fifty-five shillings’. In the same story (Card), Watson revealed that the violin was now ‘worth at least five hundred guineas’, proof if it was needed, that Holmes had more than one string to his bow.
Prepare for a Giant Rat Story!
What is it about Giant Rats that piques the interest of your average Sherlock Holmes enthusiast? We pin the blame on Watson’s reference to “the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared” (Suss). Regrettably, we still can’t read Watson’s account, but we can see this latest giant rat story here.
They’re having a laugh!
Whatever way we look at it, the most famous Sherlock Holmes adventure, The Hound of the Baskervilles, doesn’t quite come across as a bundle of laughs. So why is it then that so many people want to send it up? Is it something to do with the Hound itself that sends otherwise sensible folk into fits of helpless laughter? Your guess is as good as ours, but while chewing it over, here’s news of a new Hound comedy that might be heading down your way. No sign of it coming over to this neck of the woods, though you never know when it may turn up.
Comedian Joe Pasquale (he’s the one with the squeaky-voice) leads the cast of Ha Ha Holmes! in a nationwide tour starting September 2013.
Reviewing “Little puzzles”
You may remember reading about John Addy’s latest monograph, 100 Sherlockian Word Puzzles in Bulletin 109. You can now read more about it in our member Joe Marino’s new review.
STOP PRESS!
BBC Sherlock New Episode Title Revealed!
News has just reached us that Mark Gatiss has confirmed the title of the first episode of Series 3.