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The Abominable Bride

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"The Abominable Bride"
Sherlock episode
Directed byDouglas Mackinnon
Written by
Featured music
Cinematography bySuzie Lavelle
Editing byAndrew McClelland
Original air date1 January 2016 (2016-01-01)
Running time89 minutes
Episode chronology
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"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.[1]

Plot

In Victorian London, Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are presented with a puzzling case by Lestrade. Emelia Ricoletti, a consumptive bride gone mad, fired on by-passers in the street, before committing suicide by shooting herself in the head through her mouth. Later that evening, however, while exiting an opium den, her husband is confronted by Emelia, who shoots him before disappearing into the fog. Intrigued by the question of how Emelia apparently survived, Sherlock takes the case. At the morgue, he is informed by Dr Hooper that the woman who killed herself, the woman who murdered Mr Ricoletti, and the body on hand, have all been positively identified as Emelia. Stymied, Sherlock loses interest in the case. When the bride apparently returns to murder other men, he deduces that these must be copycat crimes.

Months later, Sherlock's brother Mycroft refers a case to Holmes. Lady Carmichael's husband, Sir Eustace Carmichael, had been threatened with orange pips which had been sent to him in an envelope. Eustace is uncooperative, describing his wife as "hysterical". That night, Holmes and Watson stake out the house. The bride appears and disappears in front of them and the sound of breaking glass is heard. Eustace's screams are heard followed by that of Lady Carmichael. Sherlock finds Eustace stabbed to death, seemingly by Emelia, who scares John and escapes through a broken window. Later Lestrade arrives, consoles Sherlock, and mentions a note found attached to the dagger which Sherlock notes was not there when he found the body. The note reads, 'Miss me?', a phrase used by the present-day Moriarty. After insisting that the solution to the case is so simple that even Lestrade could solve it, Sherlock meditates. Moriarty appears and taunts Sherlock about the mystery of Emelia shooting herself but still being alive, alluding to the similarity to Moriarty shooting himself in the present, before he once again shoots himself in the head.

Sherlock is jolted back to the present with his plane landing. Mycroft, John, and Mary come aboard as Sherlock—ostensibly delirious—rambles about the Ricoletti case from the past. He confesses to Mycroft, Watson, and Mary that he had used drugs to enter a simulation in his mind palace. In attempting to solve the Ricoletti case, he hopes to learn how Moriarty has returned. Ignoring warnings from Mycroft and Watson, he once again enters the mind palace.

He is then awakened by John in the past with the events of the present seemingly a delusion from the diluted cocaine solution he had injected into himself. Sherlock receives a telegram from Mary saying she has found Emelia's co-conspirators at a desanctified church. There they discover and interrupt a secret group of the Women's Rights Movement. Holmes explains that they had used a double to fake Emelia's death allowing her to kill her husband and create the persona of the avenging bride. She was later killed at her request by being shot through the mouth; the duplicate corpse is replaced by her actual corpse, the one Sherlock and John saw at the morgue, for a positive identification. Since then, they have used the persona of the bride to murder men who have wronged them. Sherlock surmises that Lady Carmichael, being a member of the congregation, killed her husband. He makes his accusation to the approaching bride assuming that it is Lady Carmichael. But to his shock, it is Moriarty.

Sherlock awakens in the present after his drugs wear off and insists on digging up Emelia's grave to discover the double which she used to fake her own death. While doing so, he hears Emelia's corpse repeatedly whispering, "Do not forget me". He is attacked by her corpse before awakening in the past on a ledge next to a waterfall. Moriarty says Holmes is still stuck in his mind palace. Both men fight and Moriarty gains the upper hand, but John appears and points a gun at Moriarty. John kicks Moriarty off the ledge and then asks Sherlock how he can wake up in the present. Sherlock decides to fall over the ledge, having confidence he will survive it.

Sherlock wakes up in the present on the plane. Mycroft asks John to look after Sherlock, hoping he will not use drugs again. After John leaves the plane, Mycroft opens Sherlock's notebook, revealing the word "Redbeard". Sherlock concludes that Moriarty is indeed dead but had planned events to occur even after his own death. The episode ends with Sherlock in the past describing an aeroplane and telephone to a sceptical John, then looking out the window onto Baker Street in the present.

Filming

Panoramic view of the entrance area of Tyntesfield

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.[2]

Broadcast and reception

In the UK, 'The Abominable Bride' pulled in strong ratings overnight, scoring more than 8.4 million viewers on New Year's Day for BBC One.[3]

Una Stubbs pictured in costume as Mrs Hudson for the episode in February 2015

The episode was broadcast from 9 p.m. on BBC One, PBS and OTE Cinema 4 HD[4] and in the United Kingdom it was simulcast in 100 cinemas nationwide.[5]

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 Denmark and Australia on 2 January 2016[6] in Finland on 3 January 2016, a full release in China on 4 January[7] and will be granted a limited release across the United Kingdom and the United States on 5–6 January 2016[8] and in Italy on 12-13 January 2016.

In cinemas, the film (along with the bonus footage) held strong, particularly in China and Korea bringing in $5.39 million (£3.68m) on its opening day alone (January 4) in China , according to Deadline, as 1.7 million people in the country saw the one-off episode. It grossed $5 million in the latter country, Korea. [9] On these successful ratings, BBC Worldwide's Sally de St Croix said "Following on from a strong performance on BBC One, the show has now seen multi-million dollar success at the Korean and Chinese box offices - an outstanding achievement for a British TV show." [10]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Paul (24 October 2015). "What does the title The Abominable Bride tell us about the Sherlock special?". Radio Times. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  2. ^ Cork, Tristan (31 December 2015). "Revealed: How Sherlock's The Abominable Bride took over Tyntesfield near Bristol". Western Daily Press. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  3. ^ http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/sherlock/news/a778890/theres-no-stopping-sherlock-the-abominable-bride-tops-chinas-box-office/
  4. ^ . The Huffington Post. 31 December 2015 http://www.huffingtonpost.gr/2015/12/30/ote-special-epeisodio-sherlock_n_8852416.html. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ Creighton, sam (2 January 2016). "big Screen Benedict": Page 15. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ "Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Australian cinema dates confirmed". Scott Ellis. The Sydney Morning Herald". 5 October 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Sherlock hits Chinese Cinema". Yao Xinyu. 人民网". 5 Jenuary 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "'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)
  9. ^ http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/sherlock/news/a778890/theres-no-stopping-sherlock-the-abominable-bride-tops-chinas-box-office/
  10. ^ http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/sherlock/news/a778890/theres-no-stopping-sherlock-the-abominable-bride-tops-chinas-box-office/
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