SHERLOCK: 2.01 A Scandal In Belgravia BBC Synopsis

Hot on the heels of the latest promotional gear comes story details for the Sherlock Season 2 premiere — “A Scandal In Belgravia”. We also have a bunch of interviews with co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss and stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.

Sherlock returns for a second series of three, 90-minute ‘films’ (as the producers are describing them) – A Scandal In Belgravia, The Hounds Of Baskerville and The Reichenbach Fall. A Scandal In Belgravia is described as follows:

Compromising photographs and a case of blackmail threaten the very heart of the British establishment, but for Sherlock and John the game is on in more ways than one as they find themselves battling international terrorism, rogue CIA agents, and a secret conspiracy involving the British government.
But this case will cast a darker shadow over their lives than they could ever imagine, as the great detective begins a long duel of wits with an antagonist as cold and ruthless and brilliant as himself: to Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler will always be THE woman.
Cast:
Benedict Cumberbatch is Sherlock Holmes
Martin Freeman is Dr John Watson
Mark Gatiss is Mycroft Holmes
Una Stubbs is Mrs Hudson
Rupert Graves is Detective Inspector Lestrade
Louise Brealey is Molly Hooper
Andrew Scott is Jim Moriarty

The Beeb has also issued Sherlock Season 2 ‘Introduction’ interviews with co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, along with stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, who play Sherls and Watts, respectively.

Moffat compares the ground-breaking first series and the upcoming second:

“I think the first series was more about John Watson being redeemed from being a massively traumatised war veteran into a bit of a hero. This year it’s more about the forging of the mighty Sherlock Holmes.”

He also explains the thinking behind the second series and the different sides to Sherlock that will be explored:

“Well this year, knowing we were a huge hit, I suppose we felt let’s do the three big things, The Woman, the Hound and the Fall. Instead of making people wait years and years, we thought – to hell with deferred pleasure, let’s just do it now, more, sooner, faster!”
“That also means we see three different sides to Sherlock. We have Sherlock and love, Sherlock and fear and Sherlock and death. He definitely goes through the mill in this new series.”

Gatiss (who also portray’s Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft), sheds some light on the second episode of the new series, which he penned, “The Hounds Of Baskerville”:

“My idea for Baskerville was, as ever, to look for the ‘modern’. So rather than setting it in a spooky old house, I wanted to find the sort of thing that frightens us today. We’re still a very credulous species but we tend to be more afraid of secret goings-on and conspiracy theories. So I thought, what about a scary weapons research place out on Dartmoor? Where secret animal experimentation or something similarly terrible was taking place.”
“The reputation of the story was obviously a challenge, it’s the most famous and best-loved of them all. No pressure! At its heart, though, it’s a horror story and horror is a big part of the appeal of Sherlock Holmes. I wanted to make it the scariest version there’s ever been. Trying to work that out almost killed me!”

Cumberbatch talks about the relationship between Sherlock and Watson, and the detective’s new love-interest, Irene Adler:

“Yes, the last series played on [Sherlock and Watson's relationship] quite a few times, with two men living together, and so many people getting it wrong. But episode one presents a very definite female presence in the form of Irene Adler, and she is more than a match for Sherlock. It’s really nice to have a female counterpart.
“Irene Adler is someone who has an incredible amount of power. She’s very beautiful, very smart and intelligent, quick-thinking and resourceful. She’s got a lot of attributes that mirror Sherlock and she doesn’t suffer fools gladly, Steven and Mark are very clear though, this is Sherlock ‘and’ Love, not Sherlock ‘in’ Love. But viewers can expect a lot of flirtation!”

Cumberbatch teases direction of the new series:

“With series two we wanted to move the characters on, but at the same time you want to tick some of the boxes that made the first series so popular. Now, John and Sherlock are established as a team, there are still a few ‘I can’t believe he’s doing that’ moments, but on the whole they form a united front. The characters are evolving, and they’re facing some of their biggest challenges yet. I think if anything has changed, he (Sherlock) is gaining humanity.”
“I think the audience can expect three incredibly different films. The first episode is going to be about the heart, whatever that may be for Sherlock. The second episode is about horror and suspense and the third is going to be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster and a thriller, so expect love, horror and thrills!”

Martin Freeman weighs in on what fans can expect from Watson:

“Well, John is not about to start doing deductions, but you kind of need John there, what he brings to ‘the game’ isn’t the same as Sherlock, but it’s kind of useful doing, as Mycroft says with disdain, ‘the legwork’. John can do different legwork to Sherlock, but he’ll do it all the same. It’s pretty much more of that really, I mean there’s only so much you can develop John’s role in the deduction because then it’s not Sherlock anymore. it has to be primarily about him, and that’s the only way to do it, with John as backup.
“All that I require, as an actor, and as an audience, is that it’s good backup, that it’s interesting and it’s three-dimensional, because otherwise I can’t see the point of being here, and I certainly wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t interesting.”

Source: BBC

Sherlock Series 2 is set for early 2012

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