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The latest from Mark Gatiss. You may now dissolve into tears, Sherlockians, for only twenty-four days remain. Rapture is finally at hand.

The latest from Mark Gatiss. You may now dissolve into tears, Sherlockians, for only twenty-four days remain. Rapture is finally at hand.

In the interest of keeping all my followers up-to-date on the latest Sherlock news, this article invaded Tumblr today and has cause a cavalcade of excitement. It doesn’t explicate a great deal about Series 2, but the phrases “at it for nine months now” and “married or whatever” should sustain the Sherlockians for at least a week or two. Enjoy!

The Stripey Mugs

The stripey mugs nearly broke Tumblr as a result of the sheer volume of crack that they produced. During the filming of series two, this photo was taken on the set (http://vicivefallen.tumblr.com/tagged/on+set) and at some point ended up on Mark Gatiss’s Twitter:

Remember these?

Showing Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman’s matching mugs full of tea (and revealing that Martin Freeman apparently takes milk in his). With the hiatus getting to them rather pitifully, the fandom spun this photo into its own universe of mug-porn, mug-fanart, mug-replicas, and mug jokes. There is literally fanfiction written about these mugs. It is beyond reason. It is very popular to depict Sherlock and John with these mugs, even though the mugs have never actually been used by the characters. It is unclear whether Martin and Benedict actually picked out matching mugs or if the crew provided them for use on set, but the latter seems more likely.

Examples of mug-obsession to follow.

I know that I’ve talked about Gatiss being an internet troll, but it seems that Moffat wants his moment on the receiving end of some fist-shaking from the fans. Not that this hasn’t happened before. Moffat is close on Gatiss’s heels.

I know that I’ve talked about Gatiss being an internet troll, but it seems that Moffat wants his moment on the receiving end of some fist-shaking from the fans.

Not that this hasn’t happened before. Moffat is close on Gatiss’s heels.

All the Sherlock people trolling each other on twitter. This was apparently in response to something that happened on the set of Sherlock.

All the Sherlock people trolling each other on twitter. This was apparently in response to something that happened on the set of Sherlock.

Mark Gatiss, being weird some more.

Mark Gatiss, being weird some more.

Mark Gatiss being a troll (not about Sherlock, but very revealing of Mark Gatiss’s sense of humor)

Mark Gatiss is an Internet Troll

Mark Gatiss, the co-writer and co-creator of Sherlock (along with Steve Moffat) is very fan-savvy. One of his favorite hobbies is using his twitter feed to troll fans by offering them tantalizing bits of information about filming Sherlock that actually may mean absolutely nothing. Moffat has been known to do this as well, but to a much lesser extent. Perhaps the most interesting one, and the most overlapping with the exposition of the “fourth wall” is this image:

which refers to a well-known Sherlock fandom blogger. This is supposedly a picture of Martin Freeman, and it may very well be, but I personally suspect that it could in fact be Gatiss himself hiding behind the parka hood. It really is John Watson’s parka from the series, but the hands don’t really look like Freeman’s. Compare:

There could be a number of contributing factors, but given that we already know how much Gatiss likes to mess with people, it seems entirely believable that he would do such a thing.

He also posted this picture during the filming of series 2, knowing that fans would see “bed” and immediately jump to sexy, sexy conclusions, which he purposefully did not bother to correct:

Further Gatiss tweets to follow.

Breaking the Fourth Wall (They Know About the Porn)

The phrase “breaking the fourth wall” is used among theatrical types to refer to the imaginary “fourth wall” that separates the actors from the audience. In the case of theater, the edge of the stage generally represents the literal “fourth wall,” and in the case of television, the screen obviously is what separates the action from the audience. To “break the fourth wall” is to do something that causes the actors and audience to acknowledge one another. This can be done either by the audience or by the actors, but usually consists of addressing the audience directly in one way or another.

Regarding the Sherlock fandom, it means that the cast and crew of Sherlock are aware of and somewhat involved with the fandom. Of course, any actors are aware of their fans in general, but the cast and crew of Sherlock have, on multiple occasions, gone out of their way to make fandom-specific references for the benefit of Sherlockians. The first incidence of this came to light in summer of 2011, when a photo surfaced of what is apparently Martin Freeman holding a sign that reads “Te quiero Jan y Rosalia xxx,” (I love Jan and Rosalia), who run a blog about Martin Freeman.

My apologies for the demotivational reframe, this is apparently the default mode of this photo now. Since the photo, there have been multiple troll posts on Tumblr, most notably from Mark Gatiss, good-humoredly acknowledging the insanity of the fandom.

“Tell Us About Rupert Graves, Benedict.”

This little gem of a quote can be found on the cast commentary of The Great Game, in which Mark Gatiss, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Martin Freeman discuss briefly a few questions that seem to constantly come up in interviews. Mark Gatiss prompts abruptly: “Tell us about Rupert Graves, Benedict.” to which Benedict replies “Rupert Graves is good at football and has five children (well, the fifth on the way).” In a ludicrously effeminate voice. Apparently, when on interviews, Rupert Graves (who plays Gregory Lestrade) is constantly asked to talk about his talent for football and his ever-proliferating army of children. In response to this, many people now seem to feel the need to photoshop pictures of Rupert Graves to make it appear that he is handling a football (soccer ball, for the Americans) and is surrounded by multiracial children who are clearly not related to him. 

The quote and an example of the aforementioned tendency are as follows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvlmQdGbXjE