The Abominable Bride
| "The Abominable Bride" | |
|---|---|
| Sherlock episode | |
| Directed by | Douglas Mackinnon |
| Written by | |
| Produced by | Sue Vertue |
| Featured music | |
| Cinematography by | Suzie Lavelle |
| Editing by | Andrew McClelland |
| Original air date | 1 January 2016 |
| Running time |
|
"The Abominable Bride" is a special episode of the British television programme Sherlock. The episode was broadcast on BBC One and BBC One HD on 1 January 2016. It shows the characters in Victorian London for the first time in the series. The title is based on the quote ("Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife") from "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual", which refers to a case mentioned by Sherlock Holmes.[2]
Plot
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2016) |
The episode starts with a recap of previous episodes including Moriarty shooting himself in the head. It continues with Watson being introduced to Sherlock in Victorian London, with almost identical dialogue to the first episode of the modern day series.
The episode continues in parallels reconformed to the time period, using flashback and flashforward; Lestrade is a police officer, while Molly Hooper, disguised as a man, works in the mortuary with Anderson. Mary is a normal housewife, with an interest in women's rights. Mycroft spends his days in the Diogenes Club, overweight and betting his own life away with his brother.
Months after their meeting, Holmes & Watson are visited at Baker Street by Lestrade, who informs them of a recent death. Mrs Ricoletti, a consumptive bride gone mad, fired on passers-by in the street, before turning a pistol on herself and shooting through her mouth. Later that evening, however, while exiting an opium den, her husband is encountered by what appears to be her spirit, which shoots him twice through the chest with a shotgun and then vanishes mysteriously in the fog.
The 'Bride' resurfaces months later after a client (referred to by Mycroft) comes to Sherlock with a case that her husband (Sir Eustace Carmichael) had been threatened by her. Holmes arrives at the manor but Sir Eustace refuses to cooperate. After giving instructions to Lady Carmichael to retire early, Holmes and Watson wait in an outhouse.
Suddenly the bride appears and disappears in front of them and the sound of a breaking window is heard. Sir Eustace's screams are heard followed by Lady Carmichael's. Holmes goes up and finds Sir Eustace stabbed seemingly by the Bride. The 'Bride' scares Watson and escapes through a broken window. Later Lestrade arrives and consoles Holmes and mentions a note found attached to the dagger. The note says, 'Miss me?', a phrase used by Moriarty.
While Holmes meditates, Moriarty visits him in his home. Moriarty tries to distract Holmes with the mystery of the Bride shooting herself but still being alive. This is similar to Moriarty shooting himself (The Reichenbach Fall).
The shaking sensation is revealed to be the plane landing where Holmes, in the present, returns to London. Mycroft, Watson and Mary board the plane, Holmes is annoyed he was disturbed from his thought process. He used drugs to open his mind. When he hears Watson saying "What is it for today? Morphine or cocaine?" he wakes up in the past again (resuming his thought process).
Holmes receives a note from Mary, she's waiting at a church. A ritual is taking place there and Emilia Ricoletti seems to have had help from a secret congregation. Holmes has solved thhe mystery and recounts the story to the congregation. Emilia did not kill herself but used a body double that was transported to the morgue. Mr Carmichael mistreated Emilia and he had to be punished. The bride was an illusion created with the Pepper's Ghost technique. Holmes surmises that Mrs Carmichael killed her husband.
Moriarty shows up again and Holmes switches back to the present after the drugs wear off. He is intent on digging up Mrs Carmichael and finding Moriarty. Suddenly the corpse exclaims "Do not forget me" but this was another dream. Holmes "wakes" up again in the past at the ledge of a waterfall. Moriarty is there too and says Holmes is stuck in his mind palace. Both men have a fight but Watson suddenly appears and points a gun at Moriarty. Watson kicks Moriarty off the ledge and asks Holmes how he can wake up in the present. Holmes decides to fall again saying he will survive it.
Waking up in the present, Holmes tears the list of drugs into small pieces. Mycroft asks Watson to look after Holmes, hoping he would not use drugs again. After Watson leaves the plane, Mycroft retrieves the small paper pieces and opens his notebook revealing the word "Redbeard". Meanwhile Holmes deduces Moriarty is truly dead but has planned events after his death.
The episode ends with Holmes in the past describing an airplane and telephone to Watson. But Watson mocks the idea as lunacy. Watching out of the window Holmes of the past looks at Baker street in the present.
Filming
Filming took place at Tyntesfield House, a National Trust property at Wraxall, near Bristol. Scenes were also shot in the cellars of Colston Hall and at Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol, and other locations in Bath, Somerset. Tyntesfield was mainly used as Sir Eustace's house but also the Watsons' London home.[3]
Broadcast and reception
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2016) |
.jpg)
The episode was broadcast from 9pm on BBC One and PBS. It received both positive and negative reviews.
In a special extended version featuring twenty minutes of additional footage, including a guided set-tour of 221B Baker Street with executive producer Moffat and a short making-of with Cumberbatch and Freeman, The Abominable Bride was granted a limited release in theatres in Australia on the 2nd January 2016 [4] and will be granted a limited release across the United Kingdom and the United States on 5-6 January 2016.[5] In the United Kingdom it was Simulcast in 100 cinemas nationwide.[6]
References
- ^ "Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
- ^ Jones, Paul (24 October 2015). "What does the title The Abominable Bride tell us about the Sherlock special?". Radio Times. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ^ Cork, Tristan (31 December 2015). "Revealed: How Sherlock's The Abominable Bride took over Tyntesfield near Bristol". Western Daily Press. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
- ^ "Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Australian cinema dates confirmed". Scott Ellis. The Sydney Morning Herald". 5 October 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
- ^ "'Sherlock' coming to theaters for first time". James Hibberd. Entertainment Weekly. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Creighton, sam (2 January 2016). "big Screen Benedict": Page 15.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
External links
 | This article relating to television in the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |