Sherlock

TV Show
STUDIOBBC
RELEASED2010

A modernised series of adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. John Watson (Martin Freeman), an army doctor, is wounded in Afghanistan and invalided out of the Army. Back in London his search for a place to stay leads him to share a flat with Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch), a brilliant but eccentric private detective. Together they solve baffling, and often bizarre, murder mysteries. They must also compete with Holmes' nemesis, the criminal genius Moriarty.

Knowledge

View All
SherlockSource

Cumberbatch's Sherlock Training Regime

While filming, Cumberbatch cuts out drinking and smoking entirely and gets into swimming and Bikram yoga sessions in a sauna. It's a nice bit of accidental accuracy too, since sauna-going was actually something Holmes enjoyed in Conan Doyle's original stories.

SherlockSource

Sherlock Was Nearly Six One-Hour Episodes

The original plan for Series One was six standard hour-long episodes. After the pilot was shot in that format, the BBC decided to turn it into more of a TV event and asked for three feature-length 90-minute films instead. Moffat's actually credited that change as one of the reasons the show survived as long as it did, since fitting six episodes around Cumberbatch and Freeman's schedules would've been brutal.

SherlockSource

The Real Baker Street Was Too Sherlock-y to Film On

You'd think the show would film outside the actual 221B Baker Street, but by the time production started there was so much Sherlock Holmes signage and tourist clutter around the real street that it wasn't usable. The crew ended up shooting exteriors about a mile east, on North Gower Street instead.

SherlockSource

Real Violins, Real Money

Every violin Sherlock plays on screen across the three series is a genuine instrument on loan from Cardiff Violins, not a prop. The one used in Series Three was reportedly worth around £1200, and the company was apparently pretty touched when the BBC sent it back with a nice letter.

More TV Shows

Arcane

STUDIONetflix
RELEASED2021

One Piece Live Action

STUDIONetflix
RELEASED2023

Avatar: The Last Airbender

STUDIOParamount
RELEASED2005

The Witcher

STUDIONetflix
RELEASED2019