MAsters of the universe?
145
Similar examples of Sherlock’s writers creating small rewards for the
intrepid transmedia viewer include the interactive trailer for series three,
released in December 2013, featuring unlockable content for those able to
solve clues in the trailer. Or there was the picking out, in the end credit
sequence of the US broadcast of “The Empty Hearse,” of red letters, which
spelled “Weng Chiang,” Gatiss and Moffat’s playful reference to a 1977
Doctor Who story (“The Talons of Weng Chiang”) set in Victorian London,
in which Tom Baker’s Doctor wears a deerstalker and Inverness cape. 43
References like this, plus some of the case names on Sherlock and John’s
blogs, which (like the show’s episode titles) adapt Conan Doyle’s story titles
with an additional modern twist, 44 reveal Sherlock to be a strong example
of what Jason Mittell has called a “drillable text.” 45 Certain television
shows with complex characters or storytelling patterns, Mittell proposes,
encourage a form of “forensic fandom” where engaged viewers can “drill
down” into deeper layers of content, find and exchange clues with other
fans, compare notes, and trade interpretations. 46 In Sherlock’s case, in
addition to the hidden or deeper content of the series itself, there is the
pleasure for viewers of comparing this Sherlock Holmes adaptation with
the characters and stories in the Conan Doyle source text and its many
other adaptations.
For Shari Laster, fandom uses the expression “the feels” to explore the
emotional resonances of climactic dramatic situations of the sort that shows
like Sherlock routinely construct: situations in which only the audience
is aware of all the calculations, deceptions, behavioral curbs, promises,
secret hopes, and so on of each of the characters involved, and possess
the necessary contextual information to see the incident in the round.
Using the example of the series two climax where John watches Sherlock
appear to commit suicide, Laster remarks “real life is rarely this perfectly
constructed, and when it is the consequences are often too horrible to
iteratively contemplate.” 47 Moffat and Gatiss seem particularly skilled in
engineering such moments in Sherlock (and arguably in Doctor Who, too)
where the more the viewer knows, the more emotionally complex and
resonant a narrative moment becomes.
43 Jones, “Sherlock and the mystery of the Doctor Who message.”
44 For example, “The Geek Interpreter” for “The Greek Interpreter,” “The Speckled Blonde” for
“The Speckled Band,” and “The Six Thatchers” for “The Six Napoleons.”
45 Jenkins, Ford, and Green, Spreadable Media, 135.
46 Quoted in ibid., 135–136.
47 Laster, “The Reichenbach Feels,” 231.
145
Similar examples of Sherlock’s writers creating small rewards for the
intrepid transmedia viewer include the interactive trailer for series three,
released in December 2013, featuring unlockable content for those able to
solve clues in the trailer. Or there was the picking out, in the end credit
sequence of the US broadcast of “The Empty Hearse,” of red letters, which
spelled “Weng Chiang,” Gatiss and Moffat’s playful reference to a 1977
Doctor Who story (“The Talons of Weng Chiang”) set in Victorian London,
in which Tom Baker’s Doctor wears a deerstalker and Inverness cape. 43
References like this, plus some of the case names on Sherlock and John’s
blogs, which (like the show’s episode titles) adapt Conan Doyle’s story titles
with an additional modern twist, 44 reveal Sherlock to be a strong example
of what Jason Mittell has called a “drillable text.” 45 Certain television
shows with complex characters or storytelling patterns, Mittell proposes,
encourage a form of “forensic fandom” where engaged viewers can “drill
down” into deeper layers of content, find and exchange clues with other
fans, compare notes, and trade interpretations. 46 In Sherlock’s case, in
addition to the hidden or deeper content of the series itself, there is the
pleasure for viewers of comparing this Sherlock Holmes adaptation with
the characters and stories in the Conan Doyle source text and its many
other adaptations.
For Shari Laster, fandom uses the expression “the feels” to explore the
emotional resonances of climactic dramatic situations of the sort that shows
like Sherlock routinely construct: situations in which only the audience
is aware of all the calculations, deceptions, behavioral curbs, promises,
secret hopes, and so on of each of the characters involved, and possess
the necessary contextual information to see the incident in the round.
Using the example of the series two climax where John watches Sherlock
appear to commit suicide, Laster remarks “real life is rarely this perfectly
constructed, and when it is the consequences are often too horrible to
iteratively contemplate.” 47 Moffat and Gatiss seem particularly skilled in
engineering such moments in Sherlock (and arguably in Doctor Who, too)
where the more the viewer knows, the more emotionally complex and
resonant a narrative moment becomes.
43 Jones, “Sherlock and the mystery of the Doctor Who message.”
44 For example, “The Geek Interpreter” for “The Greek Interpreter,” “The Speckled Blonde” for
“The Speckled Band,” and “The Six Thatchers” for “The Six Napoleons.”
45 Jenkins, Ford, and Green, Spreadable Media, 135.
46 Quoted in ibid., 135–136.
47 Laster, “The Reichenbach Feels,” 231.