Written by Prof. Jenn

Back at Easter we had a timely look at five of the most interesting and easily missed ‘Easter Eggs’ across the three series of Sherlock. Well, because Sherlock is such a layered, detailed show with much you can overlook we’ve decided to bring you 5 more Easter Eggs from the show. Gold stars for anyone who spotted any of these…

1. The certificate on Sherlock’s bedroom wall

BBC

In the canon, one of Sherlock Holmes’ lesser known talents is his knack for the fictional Japanese martial art of “baritsu”  – so knowing how Moftiss are such big Sherlockians a modern equivalent needed to be found for Sherlock. Judo was the showrunners’ choice, as can be seen by the traditional Judo certificate that hangs above the detective’s bed in A Scandal in Belgravia. Sherlock also alluded to his knowledge of “Japanese wrestling” in The Empty Hearse.

The Holmes of the novels is also quite the skilled fighter and we’ve seen Sherlock bust some moves when dispatching the CIA agent in that same episode and nearly breaking Mycroft’s arm in His Last Vow. You definitely don’t wanna mess with this detective; Miss Marple he ain’t…

2. “The woman who beat you”

Well, here’s the problem, right? Despite it being her most famous attribute in the canon, Irene Adler isn’t actually the Woman Who Beat Sherlock in A Scandal in Belgravia – the events of the original story are changed enough that Sherlock in fact beats her. So…how do we get a mention of this iconic line? By making Adler a dominatrix, of course, and literally “beating” Holmes in their first meeting.

Interestingly, Moffat has revealed that there exists an extra scene set after Sherlock rescues Irene – in which she gets one up on him by leaving him naked in the middle of nowhere! Hmm, maybe that’s Sherlock 1 Irene 1…

3. “Dear me, Mr. Holmes. Dear me.”

When Moriarty receives Adler’s text about the Bond Air plan, he sends a text in turn to Mycroft, which reads as follows: “Jumbo Jet. Dear me, Mr. Holmes. Dear me.” To which we see Mycroft proceed to melt down.

In the original canon, it’s Sherlock, not Mycroft, Holmes who receives a telegram (the Victorian equivalent of a text) reading only: “Dear me, Mr. Holmes. Dear me.” This is at the conclusion of Holmes’ investigation into the events of The Valley of Fear. Interestingly enough, Watson laughs at the telegram, thinking it’s a joke, while Holmes is much grimmer: he knows it means death to his client, and sure enough, he’s right. Just another example of how Moftiss lace Sherlock with tiny references that hardly anyone will notice!

4. The can of yellow paint on the coffee table

BBC

When Sherlock shoots live rounds into the wall at Baker Street (something he does in the original canon too, by the way), he does so to trace a yellow smiley face he has painted on the wall with spray paint. We see said can of paint on the coffee table in front of the couch on which he flounces, pouting, after John procures his gun. This can is exactly the same yellow and indeed the same paint we see used in the Dancing-Men-inspired The Blind Banker. It’s that special yellow that allowed Sherlock, with help from a graffiti artist, trace that episode’s murderer.

5. The cab driver’s name

BBC

The cab driver from A Study in Scarlet (yes, he’s a cab driver in the original) who gives his victims a choice between two pills (yep, he does this in the original too, though not in the same way and certainly not for the same reasons), has a name: Jefferson Hope. Now, the cab driver in A Study in Pink is never named in the episode itself, but if you look at the credits, you can see his name is “Jeff.” Well played, Mofftiss, well played…

Honourable mention: John’s wound in the leg but, no, the shoulder actually

BBC

Doyle is well known among Sherlockian scholars as being wretched with continuity. There are many examples of this throughout the canon, from Mrs Hudson changing to Mrs Turner, Watson himself being called James by his wife in one story (both errors of which have been nodded to by Mofftiss throughout the series), but probably the most ostentatious of all these is the issue of his war wound.

In the very first story, we learn Watson took a Jezail bullet to the shoulder. In the second, it’s mentioned as being in his leg, and in another, Watson merely mentions it as in one of his limbs. Mofftiss treated this problem very cleverly: John has a psychosomatic limp (wound in the leg), but also a real bullet wound in the shoulder. Thanks for clearing that up, guys!

Read Prof. Jenn’s The More You Holmes series at Daily Cross-Swords