Amanda Abbington Reveals Her Guest Role in ‘Sherlock’ Series 3
However, one bit of news has cropped up that seems worth sharing. Most of you know that the BBC confirmed back in March that Freeman’s real-life romantic partner (and Mr. Selfridge star) Amanda Abbington would be joining Sherlock Series 3 as an unidentified character who ““significantly impacts…the lives of John and Sherlock”.
Well, now we know who Abbington’s playing for sure – straight from the horse’s mouth.
The rumors have been flying ever since Abbington’s casting was announced that she was set to play Mary Morstan, love interest and eventual wife of John Watson. Given her off-screen relationship with Freeman, as well as the fact that one of this season’s episodes is ostensibly based on The Sign of Four, which is the story in which Morstan first appears, these rumors seemed pretty logical. But, as with an kind of internet rumor, it’s always safe to take such things with a grain of salt.
However, that admonition turned out to be rather unnecessary this time, as the rumors would appear to be completely, 100% true.
Abbington herself confirmed her role as Mary Morstan in a recent interview with The Scotsman, describing her as a “great character” who “has some fantastic secrets”.
Abbington is full of nothing but praise for her new co-stars Cumberbatch and Freeman. “I remember doing a scene very early on with Martin and Ben,” she said. “And I was standing in between them and I thought ‘I really have to up my game, this is proper’. They really bounce off each other.”
“When I was at the read-through, I remember watching them, and the chemistry between them is just amazing,” she continued. “They do have this beautiful relationship, so getting in between that – which is what Mary does, she becomes this kind of third wheel – was scary. Also, the fans love these two together, so I’m sure Mary won’t be particularly liked by them, but I hope that on the whole people really like her, because she’s a great character and she has some fantastic secrets.”
The “fantastic secrets” bit should be enough to get the internet rumor mill buzzing again as we all start racking our brains as to what that could mean. To be honest, there’s not a tremendous amount to go on based on the Mary Morstan from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, as she doesn’t do a great amount in her own right, besides be a governess, have a father whose disappearance is related to the mystery in The Sign of Four, marry Watson and die (and the particulars of her death are never even revealed in the canon). Thus, there’s a lot of space to work with as far as her character goes. And we all know that creator Steven Moffat, in particular, loves to shock fans with unexpected twists, so basically anything is possible.
Is she some sort of secret agent sent to get to Watson? Is she related to Sebastian Moran? Is she Sebastian Moran? Is she a criminal? A former MI-5 agent? Is Mary Morstan a stolen identity? Does she have some unknown connection to the new villain arriving this season? Who knows. It really could be anything, but it seems safe to assume that Mary will be much more than a background character in this version of the Holmes stories.
Though Sherlock Series 3 finished filming back in August, we’re still no closer to finding out when the drama’s highly anticipated third series might actually air, on either side of the pond. The smart money’s probably on a UK airdate of some time around Christmas or New Year’s, with an American transmission to follow in 2014. Total speculation, but it makes a certain amount of sense, so keep it in the back of your mind. If you need an immediate fix, the latest behind the scenes photos and the Series 3 teaser trailer are small comfort, but work in a pinch.
Thoughts? Are you pleased to see Mary Morstan entering the picture this season? What do you think her “fantastic secrets” might be? Wow us with your theories!
