‘Sherlock’ 3: How did Sherlock Holmes Beat Death in Sir Doyle’s Story?
BBC's hit mystery series "Sherlock" is a modern day adaption of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" short stories. The television series has not directly lifted everything from the book. The creative minds behind "Sherlock" have taken the plot and characters from Sir Doyle's book and have put their own spin on them.
In the final episode of BBC "Sherlock" Season 2, "The Reichenbach Fall', Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) faked his own death by showing that he fell to his death from the roof of St Bartholomew's Hospital after Prof. Moriarty killed himself. In the closing scene of the episode, Sherlock was standing in the shadows, watching Watson walk away from his grave.
The first episode of "Sherlock" Season 3, "The Empty Hearse," will reveal how he was able to fake his death. At the Comic-Con, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, the show's co-creators, had said that, there is a "rational explanation" and there is no "black magic" involved.
In Sir Doyle's short story, "The Adventure of the Empty House," a smiling Sherlock Holmes appeared again in front of Dr Watson "across his study table." In the original story "The Final Problem," Sherlock falls into the abyss of Reichenbach Falls and Watson thinks that his friend has met his end.
In the short story, Sherlock tells Watson that his knowledge of "bartistu," or the Japanese system of wrestling, was helpful.
Sherlock Holmes says to Dr Watson:
"He (Prof. Moriarty) knew that his own game was up, and was only anxious to revenge himself upon me. We tottered together upon the brink of the fall. I have some knowledge however, of baristu, or the Japanese system of wrestling, which has more than once been very useful to me. I slipped through his grip, and he with a horrible scream kicked madly for a few seconds, and clawed the air with both his hands."
"But for all his efforts he could not get his balance, and over he went. With my face over the brink, I saw him fall for a long way. The he struck a rock, bounded off, and splashed into the water."
In Doyle's short story, Sherlock Holmes went into hiding to destroy other criminals who were more dangerous than Prof. Moriarty.