17 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Sherlock

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in “Sherlock” Season 3. (Photo: BBC/Robert Viglasky/Hartswood Films for MASTERPIECE)

The BBC’s mega-popular mystery drama Sherlock is about to kick off its fourth season. But how much do you know about what goes on behind the scenes? We’ve got some fun facts that might surprise you.

Sherlock Holmes has been around for over a hundred years. As a result, there have been many different adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s great detective during that time, in every kind of medium. Holmes is so popular there are three different incarnations of the character being portrayed in various entertainment properties right now. The most critically acclaimed of these entries is probably the BBC television series Sherlock, a contemporary reinterpretation of the classic stories, set in modern-day London.

Since its premiere in 2010, the detective drama has become a global phenomenon. Seen by millions upon millions of viewers worldwide, Sherlock made stars out of leads Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman and introduced a whole new generation of fans to the original Doyle stories. With the show set to return for its fourth season, everyone’s general excitement levels are ridiculously high. (This may have something to do with the fact that the show only releases new episodes once every two years.)

With only ten episodes of Sherlock currently in existence – though soon to be thirteen, woo! – it’s easy to feel like you know everything you possibly could about the show. It’s possible you can recite most of Sherlock’s best deductive monologues from memory at this point. But how much do you know about the show’s production and behind-the-scenes goings on?

Here are some fun facts about the show and its production, picked up thanks to fandom. (As well as an obsessive desire to listen to the DVD commentaries over the years.) The hardest of hardcore Sherlockians probably knows most of the things on this list already. But maybe not. (And if you’re a more casual consumer of all things Cumberbatch, there’s probably a nugget or two that’ll be new to you here.)