Sherlock Series 3: First Production Hints and Tidbits
What do we know? The basics: Series 3 filming starts in March, will probably run into some point in May, and we’ll likely see a UK transmission date of very late 2013 (my personal guess is Christmas). America, despite everyone’s best intentions, I don’t think we’ll be seeing Sherlock on our side of the Pond until 2014.
But fear not, fellow Sherlock fans, though we’ve all got a significant wait still to go no matter where we live, the wheels have finally started to turn a bit on Series 3. (FINALLY!) Though principal photography doesn’t start until March, the magical people behind-the-scenes are starting to get things rolling. Click through for the latest behind-the-scenes news on the return of everyone’s favorite consulting detective, including confirmation of our first Series 3 director, early details on what sorts of villains we might see and some fun photos from production team.
Co-creator Mark Gatiss has shared the tiniest bit of information about what we can expect to see from Sherlock going forward, particularly now that Holmes’ great nemesis Moriarty is no more. Gatiss told the Radio Times that he and Steven Moffat are interested in creating their own villains in the new season, rather than dipping into the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle canon, which contains such recognizable figures as Sebastian Moran or Charles Augustus Milverton. (Personally, I don’t think they can do The Empty House without touching on Moran in some fashion, but that’s merely my opinion, so that and $3 will get you some coffee at Starbucks.)
“Doyle got it right first time, he invented the supervillain,” said Gatiss. “All great heroes have their Moriarty and after that you have to be very clever about trying to come up with someone who’s the equivalent otherwise they just look like a watered down version, so it’s about telling different kinds of stories.”
So, we’ll have to (as always, sigh) wait and see. Gatiss also implied that Series 3 will see a Sherlock hiding-in-plain-sight, rather than wearing elaborate disguises to hide his actually-quite-alive-thanks status. This is disappointing only in the sense that trying to see Cumberbatch transform himself into the elderly bookseller that Holmes masquerades as in the stories would undoubtedly be sort of hilarious.
But, all of this of course is qutite far in the future, so how about something a bit more immediate to , production designer Arwel Wyn Jones has been helpfully keeping us all from going crazy by tweeting bits of behind-the-scenes action as he starts to get the Sherlock sets back together. It’s a bit ridiculous how excited seeing a photo of some wallpaper in a box can make you, but you’d be surprised.
First, we got a shot of the empty soundstage that will become Baker Street. An empty house, if you will. (I know, I know, I’m awful. But the joke was right there.)
S3 - And so it begins again!? twitter.com/arwelwjones/st…
— Arwel Wyn Jones (@arwelwjones) January 21, 2013
Some familiar looking wallpaper. Be still, my heart!
A hard working Art Director. twitter.com/arwelwjones/st…
— Arwel Wyn Jones (@arwelwjones) January 22, 2013
Buildings! Doorways to places! Where? We don’t know!
Who lives in a house like this? twitter.com/arwelwjones/st…
— Arwel Wyn Jones (@arwelwjones) January 24, 2013
Well, to 221b at least. Or so it would appear:
Now this reminds me of something! If only I could remember what? twitter.com/arwelwjones/st…
— Arwel Wyn Jones (@arwelwjones) January 23, 2013
My very favorite wallpaper:
Friday Feature ! What's in the Box? twitter.com/arwelwjones/st…
— Arwel Wyn Jones (@arwelwjones) January 25, 2013
Jones has been tweeting production updates almost every day for the past week – it probably wouldn’t hurt to give him a follow on Twitter. Even the smallest hints that yes, Sherlock Series 3 is actually real and going to happen eventually and not something we all came up with in a shared fever dream – are pretty much guaranteed to make you feel better about the long wait still before us.
