Yay! A premiere date for Season 3!
Yeah, that's in America. We've been promised that the Brits will get it first, but the BBC won't release an air date until they have the three episodes in their hands. The general belief is that episode 1 will either be aired on New Year's Day (which seems unlikely because then the other two episodes would presumably also have to go out midweek) or the first Sunday of January.
The Empty Hearse airs in the UK on Wednesday 1st January.
The Sign of Three airs four days later, on Sunday 5th.
His Last Vow airs a week after that, on Sunday 12th.
I am never going to be able to write the first transcript in four days. *cries*
Sherlock Holmes meets the Doctor. This video is very good, I was almost convinced it was an actual episode (well, The Moff produces both shows, so this COULD happen, of course, it would have to be another Doctor now that Matt Smith has left):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3bGYljQ5Uw
Of course I'll never forget Conan-Doyle's gullibility about the Cottingley Fairies. He couldn't tell the difference between a hatpin holding up the cutouts and a belly button.
Of course I'll never forget Conan-Doyle's gullibility about the Cottingley Fairies. He couldn't tell the difference between a hatpin holding up the cutouts and a belly button.
Judi, that was almost a century ago, the science of determining photographic fakery was nowhere near as advanced as it is now.
In fact, it was not debunked for good until the 1980's, when the two old ladies (who were girls in 1917, when all this happened), admitted it was a fake.
Furthermore, Mr. Doyle may have been seeing what he wanted to see. He lost a lot of family in the First World War and sought comfort through spiritualism. Then these girls turn up with these photos, his judgement probably was clouded from Day One.
What an awful season of Sherlock. The first episode was ok, the second was awful and the third was just, I dunno, dumb. If this is the last season of the show then maybe it deserved it. Cumberbatch and Freeman were really just going through the motions. Gatiss looked bored throughout the whole thing and quite honestly, the producers were just trying too hard to be clever.
*opens mouth and draws in a sharp breath*
*pauses, remembering that this is a family-friendly site*
*closes mouth again*
*exits*
I'm guessing Rodney is dead to you now, Callie?
No, he's entitled to his opinion. His opinion is wrong, of course, but he can't help it. ;-)
He's not in a minority. A lot of people hated most of Season 3. I wasn't too taken with episode 1, but I think that episodes 2 and 3 were bloody fantastic. The Sign of Three has currently replaced A Study in Pink as my favourite episode of the series. That may change once it settles in with all the other episodes, but right now it's the one I would take if I was being sent to a desert island and could only take one episode with me.
I see you've been learning moderatorial tact from Emily, Callie.
I just couldn't get into the season. Maybe when I watch it again at some point I may appreciate it more but on first viewing I simply felt underwhelmed.
You're getting mellow, Callie. You were ready to hang me a few years ago when I said I didn't know who Benedict Cumberbatch was.
However, I can see why you're such a fan of him now, Callie. He hit it out of the ball park playing Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness.
Although he has yet to make an appearance on Doctor Who, his mum, actress Wanda Ventham, has. Among her Who roles is Thea Ransome/Fendahl Priestess, in Image Of The Fendahl.
I'm getting old, mate! Also, I'm knackered after typing the transcripts, and haven't got the energy to kill anyone right now. Maybe in a week ...
Rodney, you have a week to enter the Witness Relocation Program
Meh. I've put up with Emily for 15 years. Think I can take on her protege. But nevertheless, here's a peace offering...
... Ummm.
*looks round vaguely*
Wasn't I supposed to be hanging someone, or killing someone, or something?
Meh. Never mind.
*Clicks the link again and goes back to looking at the pictures of The Pretty.*
Fans have been pointing out that, throughout the Series 3 episodes, there seem to have been some subtle (or not so subtle) references to the work that Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch did in between Series 2 and 3. I’m not convinced that all of them were deliberate, and let’s face it, we fans will always see a connection where one wasn’t intended. (*reads that last bit back and sniggers at the connection she didn’t intend*) Anyway, the ‘references’ that I’ve noticed, or have seen mentioned online, are:
Benedict:
Little Favour - this was a short independent film made by Benedict and some friends of his; it’s available on iTunes. Like Sherlock in Serbia, Ben’s character gets the living daylights beaten out of him in that film too and ends up covered in blood and injuries.
The Fifth Estate - this one’s a bit of a stretch, but at the end of the above scene when Sherlock smiles through his long straggly hair, the hair is lit very strongly and looks almost as if it’s blond. Possibly a reference to the blond hair Benedict had while playing Julian Assange.
Star Trek Into Darkness - when Sherlock sits up from the barber’s chair with his hair wet and straight and glowers at Mycroft, saying, “You were enjoying it,” [i.e. watching him getting beaten] he does have a very John Harrison demeanour.
Cabin Pressure - in an episode of the BBC Radio 4 series, Benedict’s character speaks in a diabolically-bad French accent; and Sherlock’s French accent drifts into a very poor impersonation at times during the restaurant scene.
Star Trek Into Darkness (again) - when Sherlock punches out the door of the crack den with a furious roar, his Khan is definitely showing.
August: Osage County - finally there seems to be a proper explanation for Mycroft’s odd reference to Oklahoma. That’s where this film was made.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - two possible references here: some people have cited the slow-motion shot of Sherlock’s face when he reaches the end of the bungee rope, and have posted side-by-side pictures of that image and a comparable one of Smaug. The second reference is when Mycroft says to Sherlock, “Here be dragons.” (Admittedly he also refers to Sherlock as a ‘dragon slayer’ which seems a bit wrong!)
Martin:
Obviously Martin’s biggest role during the Hiatus was in The Hobbit (and in fact the filming of Sherlock was delayed between episodes 2 and 3 so that Martin could go back to New Zealand to do more filming). I’ve not seen references to anything else he worked on at the time. Anyway, there are a couple of moments that seem to reference the film and so, just to complete the list:
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - this is a very tenuous link but it’s been quoted as a possible reference: at the wedding while trying to solve The Bloody Guardsman case, Lestrade suggests that “we’re looking for a dwarf.”
And when the boys are in Magnussen’s office, John suggests they should call the police, to which Sherlock replies, “During our own burglary?! You’re really not a natural at this, are you?”
As I said above, not all of these references may have been deliberately inserted by the writers; but I like to think that at least some of them were Moffat and Gatiss having a bit of fun.
There's a glorious Sherlock spoof here. Very rude, very shippy, and utterly hilarious.
Thanks. I'm just back from work and I needed something like that.
Oh Callie- any message you want me to pass on to Benedict when I see him on the weekend?
Ooh, yes please! Can you ask him what he's doing over there when he should be in my bed?
You are a jammy jammy so-and-so and I am jealous as heck. I hope he's on good form for you - he's been running round like a maniac in the last couple of weeks, so he might be a bit knackered.
And the sequel to Oklahomo is here. Even ruder than the original. If the last line doesn't make you fall off your chair laughing, I'll be very surprised!
And in case anybody is struggling with the accents and/or fast dialogue of either of the spoof videos, I did transcripts here.
So I met Mr. Cumberbatch on the weekend and I mentioned you Callie. His response-
"that reminds me, must check with my lawyer about restraining orders"
Yeah, I really ought to withdraw that. But he was becoming such a nuisance, turning up at my flat all the time with those big puppy dog eyes, begging me to let him in ...
Were you at the sitting-round-tables and chatting with him session as well, or just the photo session? Either way, how's your underwear?
(Go on, admit it - you did squee just a little bit, didn't you?)
I was at his Q and A panel and I had my photo with him and he autographed my blu-rays of Sherlock for me.
And whilst I didn't squee- I can certainly see why so many people do. He has a charisma and magnetism that negates the fact he is very ordinary looking. Also, he's not as tall as i thought he would be.
There will be four upcoming episodes of Sherlock as there will be a Special prior to the three episode season 4:
http://www.warpedfactor.com/2014/07/confirmed-four-new-episodes-of-sherlock.html
Sadly, no real clue as to potential broadcast dates. With the Special being recorded in January 2015, its broadcast could be any time from Easter to Christmas. We can only hope that if it is aired at Christmas, it doesn't delay the broadcast of series 4, which we're still hoping for January 2016.
Mark Gatiss and Sue Vertue have both confirmed that the Special will be a full-length 90 minute episode.
Special edition DVD sets for Season 3 will be released by the BBC on 4 November.
In the US it will be a boxset (costing $180) containing all three seasons together with Many Happy Returns, audio commentaries for The Empty Hearse and His Last Vow), outtakes from Seasons 2 and 3, and a deleted scene from Season 3. It also includes mini-busts of Sherlock and John, and some art cards.
In the UK it will be a Season 3-only DVD, costing £14 (more expensive on Blu-Ray), containing hopefully all the DVD extras listed above, but without the busts or cards.
One of the outtakes has already been released and can be seen on various sites, including here. I believe that Sue Vertue has confirmed that another outtake will be the much-talked-about moment when Benedict, wrapped in his sheet in Buckingham Palace, trod on the sheet and fell over.
The outtakes and missing scene will only be five minutes long in all, at least on the American version, so presumably it'll be the same on the UK version.
Fandom is going bonkers over what the missing scene might be, many praying that it will be the moment when Sherlock and John went into a bar during their pub crawl, only to realise after a while that it was a gay bar. Others hope it might be Sherlock teaching John to waltz.
The rather gloomy belief is that it will probably simply be John cycling to work. We know that that scene was shot because there have been photos blogged by the crew.
I'm rather peeved that, once again, there will only be audio commentaries for two of the episodes. After we have already bought the main Season 3 DVD, then a lot of us in the UK bought a 3-season boxset in order to get the scriptbook for A Study in Pink, I think it would only be fair that if we've now got to buy another DVD, the least the producers could have done was provide a commentary for all three episodes, especially when they've had so much extra time to do it.
I'm so sorry Callie. I'm so, so sorry....
Ah, darling BenophiePie, as they're being called by the many delighted fans (including myself) who are dancing in the streets at the news of the engagement and are not sending hate mail to Sophie and/or crying ourselves to sleep, like the press would have you believe.
In other news, I've just finished transcripts of the audio commentaries (by Moffat, Gatiss and Vertue, along with Una Stubbs) to The Empty Hearse and His Last Vow which appeared on the Season 3 Special Edition DVD. Links to both of them, as well as transcripts of the Deleted Scene and the Outtakes, are here.
For anyone interested in hearing certain scenes without the background music, someone on Tumblr has posted several music-less clips from various episodes.
The one of John in the Baskerville lab is terrifying with no background music because you can hear far more of the 'hound' growling and skittering around the lab. The rooftop phonecall in Reichenbach is even more devastating when you're forced to concentrate only on the boys' voices.
The extracts from the stag night are good, too, especially the one which finally confirms that Sherlock does say, "I know ash ... Ashtray. I know ashtray," rather than putting an 's' at the end of 'tray'.
The maker of these clips is planning to livestream an entire episode without music shortly, so if you're on Tumblr and are interested, you might want to follow her for future news.
The latest of the Sherlock parodies is out.
This may need a bit of background explanation for those who don't follow the fandom: before the programme-makers of the real show started filming the (apparently) Victorian special which is believed to be airing at Christmas, they took photos of Benedict and Martin in their Victorian costumes. For some reason they couldn't get a picture of the two of them at the same time so they photoshopped the two pictures to make a single publicity shot. Unfortunately someone messed up the picture and it was only after it had been published that anyone noticed that part of one of Benedict's shoulders was cropped out. (You can currently Google "missing shoulder" and it's the first picture that appears in the results.)
So, the guys who made Oklahomo and Mind Phallus have now produced a third episode: The Case of the Missing Shoulder.
Additionally, in an interview a month or so ago, Benedict inadvertently referred to 'coloured' people rather than 'black,' which explains the "Nice collar," "You can't say 'collar'('colour')" lines.
And for anyone struggling with the dialogue, here’s a transcript.
Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover from Newzoids: The Writing Quality Falls:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7U7bvOodaI
Funny debate between the Doctor and Sherlock whether this should be a Doctor Who or Sherlock episode.
That’s hilarious, even if the vocal impersonation of Sherlock isn’t very accurate.
Favourite bits:
Stick. Mud. Over used gimmick.
“You great stretched-out Picasso-faced numpty.”
“There’s just been a ridiculously over-acted death ... which means it’s an episode of Doctor Who, you pudding-headed barmpot.”
Moffat and Gatiss will be the only people writing Season 4. Steven will write one, Mark another and they'll write the other one together.
Steve Thompson is busy with writing his own series. I can't say that I'll miss him because his plots have regularly been the most ridiculous of the lot, although Mofftiss aren't exactly renowned for producing plothole-free scripts either.
I don't know if anyone here follows the Sherlock fandom outside Nitcentral, reading fanfic or looking at fanart, but today came the sad announcement of the passing of br0-Harry, one of the most well-known and talented Sherlockian fanartists. The announcement, made by his widow and my friend, the equally well-known and talented fanfic writer VerityBurns, is here.
Say whatever you like about fandom, but this was a true love story of two people who wouldn't have met any other way, and it's such a tragedy that Harry died so young and couldn't stay with his soulmate longer.
This is hilariously awful: someone - without asking my permission first - has run my transcript of A Study in Pink through a computer programme which has narrated the entire transcript in a shockingly awful robotic voice, and has put it up on Youtube. It's like being narrated by Stephen Hawking (though if it actually sounded like Hawking I wouldn't mind so much). It can't pronounce 'Sherlock' (it adds about three extra r's); it can't pronounce 'Mycroft' (it calls him Mick-roft); it can't pronounce 'Lestrade' (it calls him Less-trayde).
Every time a character simply says "No." [i.e. the single word and a full stop] it translates that as "Number". (JOHN: So you’ve got a boyfriend then? SHERLOCK: Number.)
Worst of all, it narrates my snarky and/or shippy comments, which I deliberately wrote struck-out to show that I wasn't being serious. You haven't lived until you've heard a machine say in a flat robotic voice the very last line of the transcript:
Hero!shot as our boys walk in slow motion towards the camera before turning and smiling at each other as they mentally plan where and how many times they’re going to roger each other senseless once they get home.
Obviously I can't speak for the visually impaired, but I imagine I'd get more sense from listening to the episode than to the stilted voicewhichsuddenly runs several words.Together or breaks a sentence in the wrong place and then emphasises the wrong words or puts emphasis on the wrong syllAble. But anyone who hasn't read the transcripts and doesn't know my style will probably take the snarky bits seriously. I'm cringing at the robotic narration of:
He looks into Sherlock’s eyes. Sherlock holds his gaze for a long moment and John falls deeply and instantly in love realises how serious he’s looking.
because the sentence doesn’t even make sense when the struck-out bit is included. It’s nonsensical to include those bits and is of no help to the listener whatsoever. Also, the listener may assume that it was me who cocked up the sentence.
When I complained in the Comments below the video, the creator of the video snarked that I'd effectively given permission by asking for a credit or link back to the transcript "if you take extracts from this transcript for use elsewhere." He (I don't know why, but I think it's a 'he') does actually provide a link, but it's under the Show More which most people probably don't look at. And more importantly, there's a huge difference between taking 'extracts' and taking the whole bloody thing!!
This thing is very hard to follow. There is zero emotion and timing cues. You can barely tell where one sentence ends and the next begins. I gave up after five minutes.
The recording is terrible, isn't it?! I listened to more random bits last night and cracked up when it narrated "Mmm," as "Em-em-em"! It'll be interesting to see whether he plans to load any more episodes. Considering how much snark I added to the next episode - The Blind Banker - I'm not keen to see that one go up in an unrefined form. If he does so without discussing it with me first, I might be tempted to report him to Youtube for intellectual theft (if that's even the right term).
And as for including my asides? Number. Just Number.
Free audiobooks? Still overpriced. ;-)
I think it'd be termed copyright infringement, and IIRC YouTube is based in the US so it would be subject to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
The copyright situation is interesting. He's providing an audiobook using dialog that is copyright to whoever has copyright to Sherlock (Moffet? The BBC?) and your descriptions and snarky comments. So theoretically two separate copyright holders could go after him.
My major concern is that if the channel 'owner' refuses to comply with my requests and I kick up a fuss with Youtube, they might take down the entire channel and the 'owner' might then go on a vendetta against me.
Truth is, I still have no idea how much in breach of copyright my transcripts are. I've never heard of any fansite being shut down for posting transcripts, but technically I could well be in breach of copyright of the BBC's or Hartswood's material.
More than one person in the fandom has said to me that Mofftiss must know of the existence of the transcripts and might even have read a bit of them, and so far they've not issued me with a Cease and Desist order, so hopefully they don't have a problem with them. However, if FreeAudiobooks went on a rampage of complaining to the BBC about the transcripts' copyright breach, either they or Hartswood (Mofftiss' production company) might feel obliged to take action.
I've rather reluctantly handed over an email address to him so that he can contact me direct, so we'll see what happens next.
There’s a new parody fanvideo here. It’s done by a different group from the people who did Oklahomo and Mind Phallus.
Despite its apparent popularity I really don’t like it, but YMMV. The production itself is extremely good: the film quality is superb and the fact that much of it was shot in the proper locations is praiseworthy. They’ve also done a really good job of finding locations/making sets that match the originals where they couldn’t film in situ.
I like the dance sequence at the swimming baths, and the guest appearances near the end.
However, the music – especially at the beginning of the video when it was so loud and irritating that I almost turned off – is annoying. The chorus is repeated far too frequently and becomes grating after a while.
And – I checked the transcripts – Sherlock has said the word “bloody” just once in all ten episodes, and that was when he was talking about John’s blog entry entitled “The Bloody Guardsman.” Using that word as the ‘punchline’ of each chorus smacks of giggling schoolgirls daring to use a very slightly rude word. Neither – unsurprisingly – has Sherlock ever said, “awesome.” Not even John has said, “awesome,” in the series! Surely the purpose of clever parody is to stay as close as possible to the personality and vocal style of the person you’re parodying.
However, it’s worth watching for the production standards alone, and there were moments when my lips twitched a bit. Also, if you do watch and don’t get annoyed enough to switch off, stick with the video to the end because it carries on for quite a while after the apparent ending.
Despite me only watching it twice, the damned tune is determined to become an earworm in my head. I am equally determined not to let it, and have been humming anything else to keep it out!
When someone pointed this out on Tumblr, I was sceptical until I went to the transcripts and saw it proven:
The two “farewell” conversations between Sherlock and John in Seasons 1-3, i.e. the phone call from Barts’ roof in Reichenbach, and on the tarmac in Vow, each consist of two hundred and twenty one words.
I got the shivers when I did the word count on each.
I have no idea whether Steve Thompson deliberately wrote 221 words in Reichenbach, or whether Mofftiss edited the script afterwards to produce the requisite number of words, or whether it was even a delicious coincidence that nobody noticed until later. I can only assume, however, that they knew by Season 3 and that the tarmac scene was deliberately word-counted.
So much for fandom noticing everything! Sometimes it takes a very long time to catch up, but I’m deeply impressed that somebody finally did notice this. I guess I won’t be the only one watching any emotive and/or parting scenes in Season 4 very carefully indeed. I suspect that I’ll be delaying posting the transcripts while I word-count every important scene!
There’s a tradition in Sherlock Holmes fandom and fanfic-writing, begun long before Sherlock aired, of writing 221B stories – self-contained stories consisting of 221 words with the final word starting with a ‘b.’ If there is a 221-word conversation in Season 4 and this time it ends with a ‘b’ word, the entire fandom will fall over and be unable to get up.
And just to prove the above in case anyone wants to cut/paste and word count:
The Reichenbach Fall
John.
Hey, Sherlock, you okay?
Turn around and walk back the way you came now.
No, I’m coming in.
Just do as I ask. Please.
Where?
Stop there.
Sherlock?
Okay, look up. I’m on the rooftop.
Oh God.
I can’t come down, so we’ll just have to do it like this.
What’s going on?
An apology. It’s all true.
Wh-what?
Everything they said about me. I invented Moriarty.
Why are you saying this?
I’m a fake.
Sherlock.
The newspapers were right all along. I want you to tell Lestrade; I want you to tell Mrs Hudson, and Molly – in fact, tell anyone who will listen to you that I created Moriarty for my own purposes.
Okay, shut up, Sherlock, shut up. The first time we met – the first time we met, you knew all about my sister, right?
Nobody could be that clever.
You could.
I researched you. Before we met I discovered everything that I could to impress you. It’s a trick. Just a magic trick.
No. All right, stop it now.
No, stay exactly where you are. Don’t move.
All right.
Keep your eyes fixed on me. Please, will you do this for me?
Do what?
This phone call – it’s, er, it’s my note. It’s what people do, don’t they – leave a note?
Leave a note when?
Goodbye, John.
His Last Vow
So, here we are.
William Sherlock Scott Holmes.
Sorry?
That’s the whole of it – if you’re looking for baby names.
No, we’ve had a scan. We’re pretty sure it’s a girl.
Oh. Okay.
Yeah. Actually, I can’t think of a single thing to say.
No, neither can I.
The game is over.
The game is never over, John, but there may be some new players now. It’s okay. The East Wind takes us all in the end.
What’s that?
It’s a story my brother told me when we were kids. The East Wind – this terrifying force that lays waste to all in its path. It seeks out the unworthy and plucks them from the Earth. That was generally me.
Nice(!)
He was a rubbish big brother.
So what about you, then? Where are you actually going now?
Oh, some undercover work in Eastern Europe.
For how long?
Six months, my brother estimates. He’s never wrong.
And then what?
Who knows? John, there’s something I should say; I-I’ve meant to say always and then never have. Since it’s unlikely we’ll ever meet again, I might as well say it now. Sherlock is actually a girl’s name.
It’s not.
It was worth a try.
We’re not naming our daughter after you.
I think it could work. To the very best of times, John.
Sherlock season 4 trailer #2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOXZgRTfSUA
The name of the final episode of season 4 is now known and it is called The Final Problem but probably not the series' final episode.
The new arrival:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpYsFqAPXsg
Back on set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a2ZS29cmhw
Timelapse: Building 221B Baker Street:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFFz3-v5WOw
A much better season than season 3. Like, I actually don't feel like gauging out my eyes and bleaching my brain after watching it....
The last episode, IMHO, was the weakest of the three.
The DVD Extras for Season 4 are now transcribed here. I particularly enjoyed typing the Timelapse: Building 221B Baker Street, mostly because there are no spoken words in it. ;-)
There were no audio commentaries, so I'm sure that the greedy BBC/Hartswood will release a Special Edition in due course, and we mugs will pay them even more money for just a few extra bits. In fact I won't be surprised if we can only get the S4 commentaries on a boxset of all four seasons. Just what I need, even more copies of episodes that I've already got at least three times in varying forms (single copies, and two different boxsets, plus the S3 Special Edition).
If, like the last time they did this for Season 3, there are only commentaries of two episodes, I'll turn them into shoes. They don't even have the excuse this time that they won't commentate on an episode they didn't write themselves.
Almost makes me want to watch the thing 
So Sherlock is the Tin Man and Watson is the Scarecrow? ;-)
Some more episode scripts have appeared online. They're allegedly early drafts of The Reichenbach Fall and The Sign of Three, together with what seems to be a later draft (i.e. nearer to the final version) of The Lying Detective.
However, the general consensus amongst the fandom is that the two Thompson scripts - Reichenbach and Three - are probably faked. They're appallingly bad at times and if they are genuine then Steve Thompson had absolutely no idea how to write a Sherlock episode ... as proven by his final script for Blind Banker. His lack of understanding of the character of Sherlock is shocking, especially in Reichenbach when Sherlock is babbling about how he loves his friends. Ugh.
If they really are true early drafts, then (a) it's no wonder that Mofftiss rewrote both of them so extensively and (b) I'm starting to believe the rumours that Thompson has got incriminating photos of Moffat and that's why they had to keep hiring him.
Anyway, for what they're worth - which might be nothing - all the currently available scripts, including the ones which were released earlier and probably are official, are here.
A couple of years ago I posted the revelation that the two farewell speeches between John and Sherlock – i.e. the phonecall at Bart’s and the conversation at the airfield – each add up to 221 words. I said in that post further up this thread that if Mofftiss put a 221B into Season 4 it would be the best Easter Egg ever, but I didn’t see anything which immediately stood out. The obvious place would have been to extend Mary’s voiceover at the end of the final episode from 138 to 221 words and reverse the last two sentences so that it ended, “Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. My Baker Street boys,” and it would have been a perfect 221B (and yes, I know the last line had to be ‘Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson’ to match the end of A Study in Pink).
But I think I finally found it. Not only 221 words, but ending with a word starting with ‘b.’
Just text her. Phone her. Do something while there’s still a chance, because that chance doesn’t last forever. Trust me, Sherlock: it’s gone before you know it. Before you know it. She was wrong about me. She thought that if you put yourself in harm’s way I’d ... I’d rescue you or something. But I didn’t – not ’til she told me to. And that’s how this works. That’s what you’re missing. She taught me to be the man she already thought I was. Get yourself a piece of that.
I cheated on her. No clever comeback? I cheated on you, Mary. There was a woman on the bus, and I had a plastic daisy in my hair. I’d been playing with Rosie. And this girl just smiled at me. That’s all it was; it was a smile. We texted constantly. You wanna know when? Every time you left the room, that’s when. When you were feeding our daughter; when you were stopping her from crying – that’s when. That’s all it was, just texting. But I wanted more. And d’you know something? I still do. I’m not the man you thought I was; I’m not that guy. I never could be. But that’s the point. That’s the whole point. Who you thought I was is the man who I want to be.