Comic Con Goes Crazy For Sherlock

Sherlock at Comic Con 2013The first official day of Comic Con usually starts the insanity-filled 5 day experience,  and 2013 is no exception.  The buzzword on everyone’s lips today was – Sherlock.

The BBC America booth on the exhibit floor, which carries merchandise for “Sherlock” as well as a huge display for “Dr. Who” and items for their new show “Orphan Black”, saw lines of 300 people snaking around the hall who were all waiting to buy merchandise.

Sherlock at Comic Con 2013

Fans camped out overnight to gain entrance to Ballroom 20 for the 2:15pm Sherlock panel which featured Creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss and Executive Producer Sue Vertue.  Stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were unavailable to be at the con, but sent along a hilarious videotaped message, which can be found on the Entertainment Weekly website.

Sherlock at Comic Con 2013

Season 3 of Sherlock will see three great new episodes which involve Sherlock’s re-entry into the lives of friends who believed him to be dead as well as the wedding of Dr. Watson, among other revelations.

Sherlock at Comic Con 2013

The first episode of the season will be called “The Empty Hearse” and is loosely based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s story “The Empty House”. The return of Sherlock and the impact that this has on John Watson will be the focal point of the story.  In the original Conan Doyle stories, Watson forgives Sherlock and they move on quite quickly.  This is not the case in “Sherlock” Season 3. The creators wanted to show how Sherlock’s faked suicide affected his friends and extended family. In the first episode of the new season, the reunion of John and Sherlock goes “On and on” says Mofatt. “It was amazing to watch when we were filming it”.

Mark Gatiss, who also plays Sherlock’s older brother Mycroft Homes in the show, says that ” Mycroft will turn up in season 3 quite a lot.  I can’t say what or how without giving a lot away.” But fans of the character will not be disappointed.

Sherlock at Comic Con 2013

 

Both Moffatt and Gatiss are huge fans of the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  When asked what he would say if he had the opportunity to speak to Conan Doyle today, Gatiss says “We owe everything to Conan Doyle.  He is possibly the best writer of short stories ever so I would simply say, Thank You.”

 

All three panelists expressed great love and admiration for the shows stars.  They also revealed that many people would be surprised on first meeting the pair if they thought that they would be like their on-screen characters.  “Benedict is actually the goofy one and Martin is the sardonic one, which is almost opposite of their characters”, stated Mark Gatiss. “Benny is very puppy-ish and bumbling and Martin is very earthy.” Even though both men have become huge film stars since they stated filming the first series, they are both well-loved by cast and crew.  “We have the two biggest British film stars at the current time in our show” says Moffatt.

Executive producer Sue Vertue confirmed that there will be a Series 4, they just have to work out the details of when they will go into production.  Steven Moffatt said that the “tradition in television is to make a lot of episodes over a short amount of time which eventually makes everyone burn out.  We want to make a lot of episodes over a long period of time so that no one gets sick of it. The characters will get older and the audience will be getting older with them as well.”

Sherlock at Comic Con 2013

The panel received a standing ovation and a great reception from the huge number of fans in attendance.  Sherlock, Series 3 will start airing in early 2014 on BBC and PBS.

 

Author: Suzanne Philips
Film, TV, Theatre reviewer. Mad Dance Skillz, Crazy in a good way.