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visiontothedark · 7 years

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I don’t at all want to falsely raise anyone’s hopes, but

the more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that there has to be a fourth episode. I know that’s a conspiracy nutter, off-the-deep-end thing to say, I know that. But once you’ve eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. It’s literally the only theory that fits all the data.

- “Sherlock’s in love, but with who?” fucking good question that they never answered

- “help us make television history” how exactly have they made history? maybe you could argue that they made Holmesian history by giving Sherlock a sister (though even that’s a stretch), but television history?

- “groundbreaking, insane wish fulfillment” WHEN?! WHAT GROUNDBREAKING THING HAPPENED?!

- “love conquers all” love for your random sociopathic mystery sister yeah okay whatevs

- EMP or extended dream (or possibly the drugging of our narrators, though that seems less and less likely the more I think about it) are the only theories that really explain all the gaping plotholes and impossibilities that TPTB are refusing to address

- what was the point of Sherlock hacking Twitter? why bring up that particular case?

- how did the same people who wrote the previous 3 seasons + TAB go from being two of the best TV writers we’ve ever known to being carelessly sloppy and abjectly lazy seemingly overnight?

- how could someone like Mark Gatiss, who’s gone on and on about the importance of queer representation–who’s contributed so much to London’s Switchboard, and has become a gay beacon of hope in the film industry–all of a sudden do a complete 180 and betray his own community by completely ignoring the Johnlock arc that’s been built into the show since the unaired pilot? Moftiss aren’t idiots; they know exactly that this is the story they’ve been writing. would they really queerbait us like this? is that in character of them?

- speaking of characters, why was every single one OOC so much during this series?

- if not for the Johnlock arc, why tell us to pay so much attention to the subtext?

- why the radio silence on social media following TFP?

- why would The Princess Bride parallels suddenly just…stop?

- Arwel never knew what the elephants meant? is that even possible at this point in the game?

- why did TPTB more or less advertise the episode leak? why not make people sign NDAs at the screening three days before the public release?

- why else would everyone involved, including the actors, keep insisting that this series is the best one yet? did they all succumb to temporary insanity at the same time? was there something in the water at Cardiff?

- where was the 26 page dialogue? what scene did Martin need to film alone while everyone else was at SDCC? what happened to the John and Mary restaurant scene?

- TFP made no sense. I’m sorry, but even if you liked it, you have to admit that it was all over the place and almost completely detached from the rest of the series. a secret sister with mind-control powers that Sherlock wiped from his memory who can make glass come and go at will and escaped prison but still needed Moriarty brought to her and who made an entire building with fake walls in the space of a couple hours just for Sherlock to spend two minutes in and who paints ceramic dog bowls in her free time and apparently slung John over her shoulder before climbing down a well and chaining him to the bottom with chains that can magically disappear with the power of brotherly love? Sherlock temporarily forgetting that glass reflects shit? paintings that cry blood? random clowns coming out of nowhere? Mycroft not realizing that to open doors in your house all you need to do are fucking unlock them? drones carrying patience bombs? surviving the explosion without injury and somehow appearing in a boat in the middle of the ocean out of nowhere? why did they even need to sneak into Sherrinford in the first place, when Mycroft was apparently calling the shots all along; he even stole the director’s office almost immediately after his “I’m not really a fisherman” reveal. and Mycroft, in a fisherman costume? do they deliver coffins to top-secret island prison asylums now? why throw away the three Garridebs, one of Moftiss’s favorite ACD stories, when they could have chosen any three names? “you were always the grownup Sherlock”? what’s with all the tranquilizers? why was Greg the one to respond at the end of the episode? asylum escapees aren’t his division. how did they even get to the Holmes house in the first place in that amount of time? and where exactly did Mycroft disappear to when John was being tossed into a well and Sherlock was running around a fake cemetery with a Victorian lantern to light his path like he was fucking Elizabeth Bennet traipsing around a field at dawn? and a fake cemetery? what? do you want me to keep going?

- “everyone gives up after three” why three? why that particular number? I’m genuinely asking here–was that a coincidence or did they deliberately pick it for a reason?

- I realize that this has happened before with different shows on accident, but why are some official websites suddenly advertising a fourth episode that will air on the 22nd?

- Moffat just said in an interview that electing Trump was possibly one of the worst decisions in human history. you know what would make television fucking history? advertising a secret gay episode during his inauguration coverage–something everyone will be watching–so that instead of allowing a right wing conservative to have the world’s attention, it’s instead redirected to a liberal, LGBTQ positive, groundbreaking show. what a giant “fuck you” that would be towards homophobes who are cheering Trump and Pence on. could you imagine how many new Sherlock fans that would garner? how much the BBC could gain from that? how much the queer community could gain from that?

- “oh yeah TPLOSH that was great, great job writing a confirmed homosexual Holmes who takes drugs to repress his love for Watson, Thank you Billy Thank you Wilder, yeah we steal lines from that movie all the time and included the name Gabrielle Ashdown in T6T and tucked a flower behind John’s ear, we’re going to fix what Wilder always regretted never doing.” two minutes later “what? Johnlock? don’t be ridiculous, that’s not the story we’re telling, we don't even like that movie.” lying liars who lie

- “we’re going to fix something that we think everyone else has gotten wrong” what exactly have they fixed? if there’s a possibility that this is the last season, this is sort of your last chance mate

- is “grumpy bisexual” even a stereotype outside of John? if it is I’ve never heard of it, and I’m bi, so…

- “well, John Watson, get the hell on with it” why that build up only to give John like four lines total during TFP

- literally, what was the entire point of TAB? Sherlock realized that he always needed John to defeat the villain, and yet he ignored Vatican Cameos without second thought? why is he regressing back to his series one attitude of “I work alone”?

- even if they planned on doing EMP and/or Johnlock in order to fix TFP’s mess, would they really risk waiting another three or four years? unless they air it this coming week, their ratings next series will plummet because of the bad taste they left in people’s mouths

- “I think I’m going to write a poem in response to a critic accusing me of making Sherlock too James-Bondy” followed by TFP, one of the most ridiculously James-Bondy things I’ve ever seen? they jumped from an exploding building for fucks sake

- why did they make Mary follow so closely to ACD’s Moran if to not confirm her as a villain?

- WHAT WAS IN JOHN’S LETTER!!!

- do they really expect us to believe that Rosie’s a real, living baby? who are these people who are volunteering to raise John’s child for him while he’s out being bros with the Holmes boys? John’s friends all hate him, why would they agree to do that?

- the final problem was Eurus? the final problem was Redbeard? the final problem was saving an imaginary child from an imaginary plane? what exactly was this “final problem” supposed to be?

- what exactly did Mark mean when he said there might be too many endings? what was with the cheeky wink?

- again, HOW WAS ANY OF THIS GROUNDBREAKING, INSANE WISH-FULFILLING, TELEVISION HISTORY?!

Again, I don’t want to falsely raise anyone’s hopes; to be perfectly honest, I’ve been desperately trying to talk myself out of believing in a secret fourth episode since TFP aired, because I don’t want to be crushed again like I was after seeing TFP. But at this point, I don’t know what else to think.

I can’t think of anything else that makes sense.

#sherlock #series 4 #spoilers #tjlc #fourth episode #secret episode #moftiss

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cupidford · 7 years

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denofgeek com/uk/tv/sherlock/46250/sherlock-33-nerdy-spots-in-the-six-thatchers

Oh cool! Although I’m pretty sure fandom caught most. (oh, and I was even cited in this one! as was finalproblem! how swanky!)

THIS IS INTERESTING THO:

10. The bus/flower scene was inspired by the same thing happening in real life to a friend of Mark Gatiss called, aptly enough, Edmund Moriarty: “His daughter was very young and he’d been up all night with her and he got on the tube to White City and this very beautiful girl started smiling at him and he thought ‘Still got it!’ and he got all the way there and got to work, looked in the mirror and he had a flower in his hair and that’s what she’d been looking at” Gatiss told the audience at a December screening of the episode.

Here’s the article, under the cut!

After taking a fine-toothed comb to new Sherlock episode The Six Thatchers (well, watching it with one finger hovering over the pause button) here are a few items of note discovered, in addition to a handful of discoveries made by some very fine Sherlock detectives elsewhere…1. We know that Lady Smallwood’s British Intelligence code name is ‘Love’, leaving the Holmes brothers and Sir Edwin to divvy up ‘Antarctica’, ‘Langdale’ and ‘Porlock’ between them. Porlock (as well as being a village in Somerset whence came S.T. Coleridge’s famed interrupting ‘person from Porlock’) was the alias of an agent working for Moriarty in Conan Doyle novel The Valley Of Fear. Langdale Pike was a character in The Adventure Of The Three Gables. But Antarctica? Perhaps that’s a fittingly chilly name for “never been very good with [humans]” Mycroft?2. It looks as though the opening credits have been updated for series four. They now feature a post-swimming-pool-fight Sherlock, Watson standing in what looks like a well and a lump of something odd in one of Sherlock’s posh Ali Miller teacups.

3. It’s hardly hidden, but there seemed to be plenty of focus on 221B’s skull décor in the episode, which was all about the impossibility of outrunning death. Symbolism! Additionally, the black fish mobile in Rosie’s nursery could either be foreshadowing the location of her mother’s death, or, you know, just some fish.

4. This is what John was typing in his “221Back” blog entry:

And we’re back! Sorry I haven’t updated the blog for such a long time but things really have been very busy. You’ll have seen on the news about how Sherlock recovered the Mona Lisa. He described it as “an utterly dreary affair” and was much more interested in the the case of a missing horseshoe and how it was connected to a bright blue deckchair on Brighton beach.

I’ll try to write everything up when I get a chance but it’s not been missing portraits and horseshoes that have taken up my time.

I’m going to be a dad.

I mean, I thought I’d spent the last few years being a Dad to Sherlock, but it really doesn’t compare. The baby runs all of our lives. Maybe not THAT different to [….] I’ve fought in two wars, my best friend once faked his own death but none of that [….] terrifying and amazing and the biggest adventure I’ve been on.”

5. There's a teensy error here, apparently. Look closely at the screenshot of John Watson writing his blog and the filename revealing him to be ‘typing’ into a static JPG image file is on display. Source: Daily Edge

6. In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story A Scandal In Bohemia, Sherlock Holmes tells John Watson “You see, but you do not observe.” In The Six Thatchers, he makes the same complaint to baby Rosie Watson.

7. The number 626 bus, which John takes to work, is a real bus line running from Finchley to Potter’s Bar.

8. The advert on the side of John’s bus is for ‘Strawb Fizz’, sweets with ‘explosive flavour’. That’s not a real product as far as know, so must have been custom-made, but why? Could there be an explosion in Sherlock’s future? Or some strawberries...

9. As John gets off the bus with the flower behind his ear, a passenger can be spotted carrying a newspaper with a headline ending “…be in two places at once?” a possible reference to the case of The Duplicate Man that flashed up earlier on screen asking: “How could Derek Parkinson be in two places at the same time? And murdered in one of them?”. It’s never twins, remember.

11. The big hint for episode two, The Lying Detective, is spotted behind John’s texting partner ‘E’ at the bus stop. It’s a poster featuring Toby Jones in character as Culverton Smith, advertising either a new film, TV series or book featuring the character titled something containing the words ‘business’ and ‘murder’. The words ‘coming soon’ and ‘he’s back’ are also clearly visible… (Watson also walks past a poster for The Book Of Mormon, but not sure that's strictly relevant here.)

12. ‘E’, the woman John meets on the bus, appears in the credits as Elizabeth and is played by Sian Brooke, who played Ophelia to Benedict Cumberbatch’s much-publicised Hamlet at the Barbican in 2015. Look away now if you don’t want a potential spoiler revealed: Brooke was also spotted filming scenes for episode two The Lying Detective, and is referred to by setlockers as “The Lady In Red”.

13. A tenuous one this, but here goes: when John is texting ‘E’ late and asks if she’s a night owl, she replies “vampire”. The Adventure Of The Sussex Vampire is a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story about a dysfunctional family and a jealous, abusive brother attempting to do away with his younger sibling. Could her jokey answer be a clue to Elizabeth’s back story?

14. There may be a long list of things Sherlock Holmes doesn’t know about (former prime ministers?), but William Shakespeare isn’t on it (Conan Doyle’s “the game is afoot” catchphrase comes from Henry V, incidentally). In The Six Thatchers, Sherlock quotes “by the pricking of my thumbs” from Macbeth. Unless of course, he’s quoting from that other classic British detective writer, Agatha Christie…

15. The Power Ranger strapped to the front of Charlie Welsborough’s Ford was the Blue Ranger. Not sure if that’s relevant, but just being thorough.

16. The continued references to the Black Pearl of the Borgias are a connection to The Adventure Of The Six Napoleons. Said pearl was the treasure hidden inside one of six plaster busts of Napoleon in the original story.

17. Writer Mark Gatiss didn’t only borrow the premise of The Adventure Of The Six Napoleons from Conan Doyle for this modern update but also some names. Thatcher bust distributors Gelder and Co. were also the distributors of the Napoleon busts in the original story. Barnicot, Harker and Sandeford, bust owners, are also repeated between the two.

18. Toby the bloodhound proved a difficult co-star, as Steven Moffat told the Q&A audience in December: “It didn’t move! That was an immobile dog! You know that scene where they’re talking about the dog that won’t move, me and Mark [Gatiss] wrote that on the street to account for the fact the dog wouldn’t move. It just sat there like an ornament!”

19. Toby lives with Craig the hacker. In Craig’s room is a street sign for Pinchin Lane, which is where the original Toby the dog lived (with a Mr Sherman) according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in The Sign Of Four. Source: Vanity Fair

20. This isn’t the first time Ajay actor Sacha Dhawan has appeared in a Mark Gatiss-written script. He played Waris Hussein in 2013 Doctor Who docudrama An Adventure In Space And Time and then the lead in that year’s The Tractate Middoth.

21. According to this website, there’s a real-life hotel in Tbilisi, Georgia called The Sherlock. Now you know.

22. Mary-in-disguise’s fellow plane passenger was played by James Holmes. No relation.

23. A close-up of one of Mary’s fake IDs reveals one of her aliases to be Gabrielle Ashdown. ‘Gabrielle’ was the fake name used by spy Ilse von Hoffmanstal in 1970 Billy Wilder film The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes, and ‘Ashdown’ was the alias she used when pretending to be married to Holmes, then later alone in Japan. Source: Vanity Fair

24. The name painted on the boat Mary walks past in Norway, Flekkete Band, means Speckled Band, another Conan Doyle story title. Source: @ingridebs

25. Apparently the name on the boat behind, Løvens Manke, means Lion’s Mane, yet another original Holmes adventure reference, as spotted by Tumblr user Cupidford here.

26. We won't repeat them all here, but this terrific Tumblr page is full of links between Sherlock’s flurry of cases at the beginning of the episode and the original Conan Doyle stories. Find out how the man with the Japanese girlfriend tattoo relates to The Adventure Of The Red Headed League and many more.

27. Throughout the harrowing London Aquarium scenes, filmed in a single day, the team kept themselves amused by inventing facts about sharks, as relevant to their location. “Sharks like beans”, “sharks cannot spell” and so on…

28. Unlike that popular myth, sharks do sleep. In fact, the ones at London Aquarium have to be in bed by 2am, which made filming there difficult and is perhaps why it looks very much as though some scenes are set against a video screen of fish swimming rather than the real thing. “One of the things we did find hard was the aquarium,” said producer Sue Vertue, “which we tried for ages to work out if we could film everything in the aquarium and then we realised that sharks sleep at night. So we had to find another way around doing that.”

29. Mark Gatiss said at the Q&A in December that they had always planned for Mary to die sacrificing herself: “It was always going to be saving Sherlock.”

30. When Sherlock asks Mrs Hudson at the end to say the word ‘Norbury’ to him if she ever thinks he’s becoming “cocky or overconfident” he’s paraphrasing his literary counterpart, who asked John Watson in The Adventure Of The Yellow Face “Watson, if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little overconfident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper 'Norbury' in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you." Source: Metro

31. When Mycroft arrives home and sees the “13th” note on his fridge, it’s hidden underneath a menu for a Reigate Square takeaway restaurant. The Adventure Of The Reigate Squire is an 1893 Sherlock Holmes story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

32. Prompted by the note on his fridge, Mycroft makes a phone call and asks to be put through to “Sherrinford”. First introduced by Holmes scholar William S. Baring-Gould, Sherrinford is a hypothetical older brother to Mycroft and Sherlock. “I’m not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. You know what happened to the other one” hinted Mycroft in His Last Vow. At this year's SDCC, Mark Gatiss, Amanda Abbington and Benedict Cumberbatch were photographed holding up signs saying "Thatcher", "Smith" and "Sherrinford". So we can expect to have the Sherrinford mystery solved by The Final Problem?

33. The therapist Sherlock sees at the end of the episode is Ella Thompson (played by Tanya Moodie), who formerly appeared as John’s therapist in A Study In Pink and The Reichenbach Fall. Who better to tell him what to do about John than the doctor who treated him for PTSD and grief?

#s4 press #tst review #e meta #ish #Anonymous

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jess511 · 7 years

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“The Six Thatchers” thoughts!

THIS POST CONTAINS MANY AND MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR “THE SIX THATCHERS” IN DETAIL.

IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE SPOILED DO NO LOOK ANY FURTHER!!!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

Okay. As I’m starting this it’s been nearly 24 hours since the end of the first episode of series 4 of Sherlock. In that time I’ve had quite a few discussions and watched little bits again and I’ve just done a full re-watch for the first time and I watched with my dad who was watching for the first time. I made some notes while I watched. A lot of these are things I've gathered from around the fandom but some are my own - or at least ideas i haven’t seen anywhere else yet!

Part of this is to join in the discussion. Part of it is just to get it all out of my head!

This is mostly in chronological order of events in the episode though I do jump around a bit when I get things like are linked together.

(Also i haven’t proof read this because effort so apologies for any inconvenience).

I want to actually just start with my thoughts on the John cheating plot-line as this seems to be the thing that has caused the most discussion (and rightly so. I think reactions to this particular thing are very different and often personal to each viewer).

· I believe/know that Little Miss Bus Stop (Tor I stole your name sorry...i love it) or “E” or “Elizabeth” as she will be known, will be back. I am hoping this will elaborate on the story-line and we will see things clearly. I suspect she has been sent in to get to John/Sherlock but this still doesn’t mean John had to do what he did.

Purely based on what we have been led to believe so far here are my thoughts:

· I believe the implications were it went no further than texting such as “it was nice getting to know you a little”.

· I think it is one of the many debates in the world as to whether this counts as cheating. Example, my dad who just watched it with me was like hmm *shrug*, whereas I would say it does. It is as least an emotional affair. The intent behind it seems to be there.

· Contrary to some believes I do not think it was particularly out of character for John based on what we have seen from him in the previous series’.

o See the “addicted to a certain lifestyle” scene in HLV, he has Sherlock Holmes as a best friend and an assassin as a wife. “Because you chose her” “he’s right, it’s what you like”.

o The man has never been perfect. He missed being in the war he is absolutely addicted to risk taking on whatever scale – hence his happiness around Sherlock and backed up by the fact he was happily storming a drug den for something interesting to do 1 month into married life.

o The man is the biggest flirt on the planet and never seemed to be a particularly good boyfriend.

o I admit I do believe we have been shown he is loyal. This is the one trait that I thought got a kick in the teeth and I am very much aware that it is very different being a bit of a flirt when you’re single or just started dating than being married with a child so I understand that.

o He does have “trust issues” though. Maybe the lying from Mary set that off. Who knows? He trusts Sherlock though. Usually.

· “I always liked Mary” “Me too…I used to”. I’m interested in what he meant by this and when he decided he wasn’t so keen.

· John is one angry man with a lot of issues and flaws. I adore him though he clearly can be a bit of a twat, and I believe he is generally a good man. Not unlike another main character of our show. Sherlock also being one of the reasons I just cannot hate John. Sherlock loves him so much.

ANYWAY where was I?

· I’m going to need more of Sherlock and Rosie in the future. That was ADORABLE.

· I thought the car seat case was amazing! Really clever albeit brief. I’ve actually just been having conversations about theories with a friend – I love this fandom – and we were talking about Lestrade using the word “Strasse” (German for ‘street’) when saying “right up your Strasse”. Odd choice of word. Though could just be Lestrade having a bit of fun and just putting the word in there and nothing more. This led to conversations about further references to Germany like the conversation about ‘Ostalgie’ (the German phrase from, if I remember correctly from my German A Level days watching “Goodbye! Lenin” that describes nostalgia from when Germany was split into East and West. After the wall fell there was nostalgia (nostalgie) for how it used to be in East (Ost) Germany. Actual Germans or historians or just people generally may correct me on that. This led to (it’s coming back round I promise) my saying that it is probably a complete coincidence because I don’t think this is famous or common knowledge, but we were once told by my German teacher that someone successfully escaped across the Berlin wall by sewing themselves into a car seat. I kept thinking about that during this case! Maybe Mark Gatiss just likes the Cold War or that time period. Wasn’t “Cold War” the title of a recent Doctor Who episode of his? Plus he wrote “Hounds” which had a few Thatcher references…something you want to tell us Mark?

· John’s wink when he hung up the phone with Mary – lols you dawggg

· “Giles” has to be my new favourite Lestrade name.

· Enjoyed the Thatcher bashing personally. Probably a product of growing up with my father who agreed with Sherlock and said “yes I’d have smashed everything up”.

· The past catching up with you and consequences of your actions seem to be a very strong theme in this series. It’s been hinted at by Mofftiss before it even aired but we can see it’s definitely the case so far! Especially with the Merchant in Baghdad/Sumarra story (fun little canon reference when Mycroft said Sherlock wrote his own version where the merchant went to Sumatra. “The Giant Rat of Sumatra” is a Conan Doyle story). Excited to see what else awaits us.

· Mycroft looking at babies related to me on many levels. No seriously I love babies they’re adorable but it was super amusing. I love that Sherlock is showing her off. He’s such a part of that little family.

· Sherlock with dogs is my new favourite thing. He’s so cute. He loves them!! Apparently Toby the dog was from the original story of “Sign of Four” where we were introduced to Mary. May have just been a fun addition to the episode; may have been some other link to Redbeard? *wavy arms* who knows?

· Speaking of the dog – I’m willing to bet a lot on the fact that, that scene where they discussed how little he is moving was just written in on the day because the dog was, in fact, not moving. Dog-cam also amused me very much!

· Also just had a small conversation about angel/devil references throughout this episode. He told us what he thinks of God when asked to be godparent. There was a discussion about Rosie being the devil/antichrist (I know in a light-hearted way) and I’ve seen some link the name “Gabriel” from AGRA to Angel Gabriel. Though now! Clever people of the fandom have come across another Gabrielle (unless it’s pronounced differently). Gabrielle Ashdown is apparently a character from Mofftiss favourite “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”. This was used as one of Mary’s aliases when she was travelling.

· Also heard one or two things about rose necklaces. I didn’t notice Elizabeth’s but apparently she had one. Did Mary have some on her necklace too? I could be completely making that up I’ll have to look back.

· I was so on the ball with “who’s texting John?” As soon as we saw him getting the text in bed it was at the back of my mind until we found out.

· The fight scene in the swimming pool. Sherlock should not be allowed near swimming pools. It doesn’t seem to go well for him. From a shallow point of view it was absolutely beautiful. Sherlock doing those awesome moves and then getting soaked. Woof. But also, similar (sort of) to the scene where Sherlock is shot in HLV, it is a testament to the quality of the show that I can be 100% certain Sherlock will not be killed but I’m still sat there going “OH MY GOD SHERLOCK PLEASE BE OKAY OH NO OH NO” and freaking out. So good. You’d think someone in the house might have heard the noise. Maybe that’s where the police came from. Or maybe the house was just too big and the bedrooms were on the other side.

· The reveal of the AGRA memory stick in the bust was...amazing! I gasped out loud! The mood changed dramatically right from that moment for the rest of the episode! Dad was pointing out all sorts of holes about the memory sticks as a form of protection. What happened to the other two members of AGRA if at least one of them got caught? Did they have their memory sticks on them? Did they hide them? Surely keeping hold of them ensures that if one of you is captured then everything is exposed? Haha. I don’t know, dad thinks about these things more than I do. I don’t think we’re supposed to think too hard about that one. I was also super slow at working out what her “R” stood for. John had to tell me.

· For fans of the score there were lots of little repeated bits of music especially from series 3. When Sherlock did that huge fake deduction about the man’s wife we could hear “How It Was Done” from the start of TEH. There were quite a few little bits and bobs surrounding Mycroft as well, just general sort of Reichenbach-y foreboding bits of score. But during Mary and Sherlock meeting in that secret room & him telling her he would keep her safe (LOVED that part by the way...Sherlock I love you. See also “is that sentiment talking?” “No it’s me” Sherlock. How do you perfect) they played music the same as or very similar to “The Lie in Leinster Gardens” from series 3. Makes sense, as that is when we learn about Mary’s past and the situations fit together. Gut wrenching piece of music that one though. 2:33 in the TLILG track is when John is revealed to have been sitting at the end of the corridor and it tears my heart to pieces every time I hear it. Also when John and Mary were chatting after they followed her and she said she wanted to keep them safe, it played their sort of theme. There are quite a few variations on that theme. You can hear it right at the end of “Addicted to a Certain Lifestyle” as a slightly sad and warped version. The nice happy version is the one Sherlock plays for their first dance.

· Have I already mentioned about Vow’s being a big theme in this episode??? Sherlock often stresses about having made his vow to protect John, Mary and Rosie and takes this very seriously. Saying it to Mary and to Mycroft. When John directs his anger at him towards the end saying “you made a vow” it’s a very genius moment because in a way it could be seen as John’s guilt for his sneaky situations coming through and him saying those words to himself – referring to his marriage vows which he has not been very good with as we know.

· THE REDBEARD DREAM. What is this about?! They could have shown him dreaming about anything if they wanted it to be random, they didn’t have to show it at all, what does it mean! I think it’s hinting towards his childhood. This theme about things from the past catching up with him (also Sherrinford? No idea what they are going to do with that name but maybe it could be connected?) is very strong indeed. Maybe something happened when he was a child? We had Redbeard brought up when he was “losing” John to marriage. And Mycroft had it written down in his little notebook. It clearly affected him somehow. We’ve seen his love of dogs and in HLV he found Redbeard in his mind palace to calm down. I hope we see more of Redbeard – I really want to know more! Plus he’s a beautiful dog. Speaking of this dream, when Sherlock is with Ella (therapist) at the end she mentions a recurring dream. I wonder if this is the dream we saw. There were thoughts floating around that maybe after losing Mary, it was the first time Sherlock had really experienced a huge loss since his dog. But then why would he have this dream before she died? Curious!

· Now would be a good time to bring up the Sherlock family theme that I picked up on my re-watch. So we’ve had hints at his childhood and we’ve had hints and Redbeard and we’ve had hints at Sherrinford (again, no idea what they’re going to do with that but historically – though not canonically by ACD – he has been said to be another brother of Mycroft and Sherlock. This is backed up a little by Mycroft’s “you know what happened to the other one”) plus they gave Sherrinford as a clue when it came to the 3 episodes “Thatcher, Smith, Sherrinford”. The fact they’ve shoved it in our face makes me think it won’t be what we expect. When is it with this show? But anyway, Sherlock made a few references to family I picked up. He said “families fall out” to Mary when she described AGRA as such. He was playing “happy families” with the young man when Mary came across him and he seemed to be having trouble with the game “maybe because I don’t understand the concept of happy families”. Later, though this could be me just looking too hard, when Sherlock is deducing Norbury she mentions she is widowed and has cats. If she had been divorced she may have found another partner but widowed meant she had gone for cats as “pets fill the void, so I’ve heard” (paraphrasing). I wonder if Redbeard was to fill a void.

· Speaking of travelling Mary! I found her American persona on the plane totally random. I wonder if that actually came from anywhere. I don’t know whether I missed some kind of reason for her acting the way she did or whether that was just part of her character. ALSO some very clever people have looked into this “roll of the dice” method Mary used for travelling and at one point she goes to Norway. Now apparently, in reference to the post credits scene “Go to Hell Sherlock”, there is a village in Norway called Hell. What a fun place to live that must be. Connected? Let’s hope so. (Also I was momentarily confused because we saw her being random with the dice but she came across a hiding place of some of her fake documents at one point? Though maybe it was just part of the montage that at some point she went to that place and it wasn’t necessarily the place they had referenced like Norway or such).

· That “Go to Hell Sherlock” moment has sparked some conversations for me too. Not at any point did I believe she was saying it as a form of “piss off” or harsh word. I took it initially to mean he may have to go to hell and back to save John, as per her case. We’re not meant to know right now, that much is clear.

· I also had a conversation about whether Sherlock had seen that moment. It was compared to Moriarty’s “Miss Me” message from the end of HLV. After the credits there was a more ‘real’ version of it that only we saw. However, I do not think that “go to hell Sherlock” was just for us. I am personally quite sure it was part of her message that Sherlock watched and we were just shown it after the credits as a little tease and something to make us think before the next episodes.

· Mary does a lot of telling John he’s perfect and that he’s a good man and that she doesn’t deserve him. I think these moments were put in to hit home that we’ve seen now that John certainly is not all sunshine and daisies when it comes to the two of them and you can see his guilt is a problem for him. At least he did feel guilty. What is rough for him is that he was going to tell Mary about it just before they went to the aquarium and now (unless we hear otherwise in future episodes that she knew all about it or something) he’s not going to get closure on that situation. Which is rough, but he does deserve to have a hard time for that really.

· Now I don’t know Latin but I felt very pleased with myself for remembering the “love” codename once Mycroft started translating for us. Then I was on their wavelength with Lady Smallwood. I wonder who the other names were for. Pawlock seems to make sense at being Sherlock doesn’t it? (Another dog/pet reference?) There was also “Antarctica” and another I can’t remember. I wonder if Mycroft “ice man” Holmes is Antarctica.

· Also once they had been proved wrong and Sherlock had the penny-drop moment on the bridge a fly on the wall well have heard me exclaim “*GASP* VIVIENNE! VIVIENNE AND HER ICE LOLLIES!!” I love getting involved with the plot. I did have a similar thought to my dad briefly that it was the ambassador in Georgia but I guess not!

· The cheating stuff, well I mentioned all that at the top. I was giggling at the seemingly innocent moment on the bus but then there was lots of shaking my head and going “come on John you’re better than this”. Also, this is probably an absolute coincidence but after John gets Elizabeth’s number and we see him look at his phone just before he nearly throws it away, the shot angle is very similar to the scene in “Scandal in Belgravia” where we see Moriarty texting Mycroft in front of Big Ben and blowing a raspberry as he sends it. There is even a tall building behind John. Fun!

· Anyone spot the poster of Toby Jones on the bus stop when John got off to see Elizabeth sat there? I feel like this might have been a hint to suggest the two are related in one way or another as she will be back for episode two. Also we didn’t see what happened when he got off the bus having sent the “this isn’t a good idea” text. Did they leave it? Did they talk? Maybe we’ll find out.

· Mary’s death. It’s amazing when something manages to be such a surprise and almost not at the same time. Mary dies in the canon stories so we assumed it would happen eventually. I thought it was quite possible it could happen this series. But in the ACD stories she dies randomly in a hiatus and we don’t hear much about what happened other than she died. When they were in the aquarium vs Vivienne I briefly thought she might shoot Mary, then as the bullet was flying at Sherlock I thought Mary may do what she did. But even with these thoughts in my mind I was absolutely shocked and heartbroken when it happened. Many sobs.

· John’s reaction. Martin Freeman you absolutely destroy me. In my re-watch today I was doing okay without crying up until Mary said “you were my whole world” and he looked up in pain. Then the tears came again. I know there were some amused conversations about his reaction noises (I think Martin does grief noises in an interesting way haha see The Hobbit for another example) but honestly I found them absolutely heart-shattering. So powerful and raw. Really hit me hard again even on my re-watch.

· Poor Sherlock at this point going to comfort John and then getting quite a lot of (possibly partially misdirected) anger. He couldn’t have stopped Mary saving him and he was so upset too. He clearly feels crap about it. He maybe could have not pissed off Vivienne enough to make her try and surprise him, but John wasn’t there for that part. I think the anger reaction is our John all over though; he’s a very angry man. Sherlock understands John at this stage I think. He’s not storming round demanding John see sense. In HLV when John was angry at Mary’s reveal Sherlock was encouraging him to stay calm. He gets him. I’m sure they’ll be okay again soon.

· Speaking of Sherlock feeling bad, that conversation with Mrs Hudson was heart-breaking about using the word Norbury to remind him what being too big-headed and sure of himself can lead to. I’ve not read them but I’m told apparently this is a reference to the canon story of The Yellow Face. Where Sherlock asks, possibly, Watson to use this word to remind him of his failures.

· Also the deflated John balloon that’s still in the flat at this point is kind of heart-breaking and symbolic.

· I love the idea that Mycroft has like 12 take-out menus on his fridge. Maybe he can’t cook. Maybe he has no time to shop. What does “13th” mean?! He was being put through to “Sherrinford”. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? I NEED TO KNOW NOW!

· Hopefully we’ll see what John has written on that note Molly gave to Sherlock in the next episode. I hope it’s not something really nasty. Poor Sherlock and poor Molly for having to deliver the message. “Anyone but you” John, your twatness is showing. Stop it.

· “SAVE JOHN WATSON”. Interested to learn more about this. But it gave me fuzzy feels that this show really is massively about these two boys and their friendship. Moments like this make me happy and I give Mofftiss a metaphorical hug. Go and save John, Sherlock! Mary says it will be very difficult. I guess she knew that if she died it would cause a lot of issues for him.

· Final point, I saw a few theories floating around about the fact that when we’ve seen the same scenes twice for one reason or another throughout this episode, things were slightly different like dialogue or inflection of speech. Personally I would just put this down to a continuity think but I really did notice it in the two instances we heard Mary say “when I’m gone, if I’m gone”. The first time was quite straight forward in her video. The second time we heard it as Sherlock was walking and she sounded much more upset. It could be absolutely nothing but I’ll keep it at the back of my mind! You never know with this darn show!

Shout-out to Sherlock who is pretty much perfect in this episode. He is such an understanding and kind a pure and beautiful and precious human being he’s come so far from that sociopath act. Though the big-headed deductions that managed to piss off Norbury weren’t very good. But poor man, he lost a friend too. He didn’t ask Mary to save him.

Also shout-out to Benedict who had to learn two really long fast complicated bits of dialogue that both turned out to be pointless lies! Poor boy.

Double finally, my updated thoughts on Rosie.

Before series 4 started the one thing I couldn’t get my head around was WHY BRING IN A NON-CANON BABY? My reasons I could think of up until that point were:

- To make the “sign of three” pun (that would be stretching it)

- To make John not leave Mary after shooting Sherlock (they didn’t make it about her baby so I think they could have done that anyway)

- Other

Also, what would they do with it? Since it is non-canon:

- Would Mary die and leave John and Sherlock with a baby – how would that even work out? (turns out...this has happened so I’m even more confused)

- Would Mofftiss be so cruel as to bring in the baby just to kill her off? Bit much?

- The baby could be not John’s but Mary shot Sherlock to keep John from leaving her so I doubt she had a casual cheat (unless it turns out she did and john was getting revenge this whole time!.....i doubt it…)

Basically I’m still not sure why they brought the baby in. Maybe the reasons are yet to be unveiled. But some new ones I was trying to think of having seen TST:

- Making the Rosamund name thing more meaningful? Again, could have found out her real name without it being linked to the baby

- To have a reason for both Mary and John not to be somewhere (aquarium) at the same time? (Though Mary could have still jumped in front of Sherlock with John there maybe?)

- Somehow adding something to this cheating plot-line? I’m clutching at straws there though.

Other ideas welcome!

I don’t usually do the whole big theorising thing but this was a fun post! I think i needed to get all the thoughts out of my head mostly haha!

#sherlock #sherlock series 4 #sherlock series 4 spoilers #sherlock spoilers #sherlock season 4 #sherlock season 4 spoilers #spoilers #major spoilers #sherlock bbc #bbc sherlock #series 4 #season 4 #major sherlock spoilers #tagging like the devil #mine

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withacorkscrew-blog · 7 years

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The Six Thatchers

**Sherlock analysis/spoilers below**

In which some people can’t decide how clever everyone is, whether death is permanent, what makes a villain villainous, or how emotions work.

And no, “some people” does not refer to Sherlock Holmes.

What was supposed to be compelling about this mystery? Hopefully not the whodunnit; calling the secretary as the culprit after her first scene would’ve been obvious except that seemed too dumb to be real, and not just because “but the service worker did it!” is a tired, tired plot twist. There was one person in the debriefing room (/story) who had no reason to be there, who they pointed out had no reason to be there (when Mycroft said notes were not to be taken because of the level of confidentiality at which point there is no reason a secretary would ever have been let into the room in the first place, let alone allowed to stay), who had random extraneous dialogue as though to point a giant flashing arrow at her head, and who Moffatt can point to as an act of feminism the next time someone on a panel asks him why he doesn’t write a complex array of female characters. But I can genuinely no longer tell whether this was intentional. Does this show wants the viewer to feel clever and included, or is it getting more predictable and less clever itself?

Who is this Sherlock Holmes? Except maybe a parody of himself. Have they forgotten that part of what made Sherlock such an exceptional detective in Seasons 1 and 2 was his ability to accurately perceive human emotion and motivation? He might not have been interested in having feelings or encouraging other people’s, but he sure as hell knew they were going on and understood that they had significance and what they suggested. He also learned the importance of working with other people, on having people he turned to for help and not going off half-cocked, as opposed to, say, hanging out next to a pool in the middle of the night waiting for a mystery criminal or criminals alone. This Sherlock is a parody of who he used to be. I’d like to believe that that’s because the show wants us to buy in to him buying in to the idea that he’s a sociopath, and that would explain why he’s so distant and dedicated to being entertained by it all in the first third of the episode. But that’s pretty hard to believe given his actions in the second half, and particularly in the last ten minutes.

Also, they gave him a dog out of nowhere, after redbeard, which they referenced in this episode, and established that Sherlock was attached to the dog, and then the dog completely disappeared again and nobody commented on that and Sherlock was completely unmoved? Are they even trying to write Sherlock as a consistent character anymore, rather than their own personal Mary Sue?*

Who is this John Watson? And not just the weirdness of that noise he made after Mary got shot. He contemplates cheating? Why? Where did that come from? He’s been unhappy with his relationships before, sure, but always because he was so immersed in his work. But now, when he’s unhappy in his relationship, he entertains an affair instead of immersing himself in his work? What validation is it that he needs from women now, when that’s always been secondary to him before? And why is he mad at Sherlock because Mary jumped in front of a bullet? Since when is John that irrational? Or that invested in Mary, who he showed only the most perfunctory interest in all episode? Or that willing to cut Sherlock out of his life? He forgave Sherlock two years worth of faked death and attendant avoidable emotional pain, but won’t forgive him a choice that someone else made?

Is this show so invested in its ‘no homo’ that it’s given up caring about the show’s continuity and appeal? Sherlock and John barely interacted in this episode, and without their relationship the show is lacking heart. It doesn’t matter whether you ship them or not, whether you think their investment in each other is romantic or platonic. What made this show work so well was their dynamic. And, for the viewer, having a point of entry in John and in the relatable spaces between John and Sherlock. Without their relationship, we’re no longer solving mysteries with them, but watching them from a remove. Sure, they’ve proven that John and Sherlock can get by without one another. But can the show?

Does this show have rules? Limits? Internal consistency? Ethics? Setting aside, for a moment, the incredibly number this must all be doing on John Watson’s psychology and sense of object permanence (though feeling like he must be having the world’s most fucked up time of it is one of the few points - maybe the only? - point of emotional investment I got out of the episode), how are we supposed to get invested in a universe when the rules keep changing so arbitrarily and dramatically? Is Sherlock dead? Moriarty dead? Is Mary dead? Is anyone actually dead? Is Mrs Hudson secretly a vampire? Are we going to see Magnusson’s face on screens across London next week? On the one hand, in the one confirmed case of someone coming back, we had visual confirmation before the end of the episode. On the other, if they keep teasing at the idea, how much impact do they expect these deaths to have? Ditto the idea of the big, bad villain. Magnusson was the biggest, baddest, and most grotesque, but next week we’re going to have someone who is the new biggest, baddest, and most grotesque? So…what? What’s the point of it? To see how many viscerally off-putting affective choices they can come up with without losing all their viewers? (Which is especially grating when some really appalling stuff - like Mary giving her newborn daughter her name, thereby assuring Rosie a very heavy mantle, and/or giving Mary an easy way to blur her very laden identity into her child’s - goes uncommented upon except as an easter egg type victory for the marginally attentive viewer, because yes, no shit, Mary left the R out in her recap to Sherlock.) Aside from a few flashy moments - which is the sort of storytelling technique guaranteed to have diminishing returns - what are they hoping to accomplish with this non-progression towards an extraneous more?

tl;dr: Moftiss are losing their grip on what makes stories moving, and this one wasn’t. The show is still interesting for the puzzles it presents (sort of), but it’s not much fun to solve along when the answers are simultaneously obvious, bewildering and, most of all, distant from the emotional lives of the characters. But there’s no real stake left to have when the characters behave inconsistently, the mysteries are flat, and there’s no relationship/principle/outcome that anyone is fighting for.

Thoughts on things to watch:

Mary’s alias, Gabrielle Ashdown, gives us another G and A, as in A.G.R.A. If this show is still making any attempt at being intentional, that seems…well, what do we say about coincidence? But who knows if this show is still being intentional!

Mary didn’t get herself to a hospital, even though she would have been fully capable of getting herself there, by ambulance or the neighbors who owe them a favor or the people they asked to be godparents or cab. And, while this may be news to anyone who has ever worked on this show, a woman who wanted to be that on top of her game would have to be pretty damn aware of how her body worked and changed and felt. Mary giving birth in the car instead of going through the NHS system? Not a coincidence. Something is going on with her identity. But who knows if that will ever revisit us or if it ever occurred to Moftiss that giving birth is significant and telling rather than a funny throwaway gag?

Who sent Mary’s “Miss Me” DVD? Physically, who knew where it was and put it in the mail? If Mary really made a spur of the moment decision to jump in front of that bullet, if she was at all surprised at the reveal, it wouldn’t have been her. So who was she working with that knew about the DVD, had access to it, had Sherlock’s address, and had orders to act in the event of her death?

What is this cave that Sherlock was lurking in? Where did he get it, whose is it, how is he storing highly sensitive equipment there, since when is it a thing?

There were more than six Thatchers on the table when AJ put his USB key in one, and none of them had bottoms. Which means that someone else had to see that the USB key was in there - there’s no way a rectangular object with a metal chain wouldn’t have fallen out or at least rattled around the inside of a hollow, curved object as soon as someone lifted the thing up to finish/ship/move it - and make the choice to seal it up inside the thing. So, who? And why did they make that choice?

Random thought: In this political climate it felt hella irresponsible for Moftiss to start us off with an explanation of how governments fake coverups.

* nothing against Mary Sues, genuinely. I just am not that interested in this particular one; Steven Moffatt’s id!fic is the sort of thing I’d like to give a wiiiiiide berth.

#i had a lot of feels to get off my chest. they mostly fall under the umbrellas of annoyance and confusion.#sherlock #sherlock s4 #sherlock spoilers #six thatchers #the six thatchers #writing about tv

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karacarly · 7 years

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Our favourite pub gardens

The weather has been simply incredible recently hasn’t it! Whilst our teams have been very busy, they’ve also found some time to get out and about too, so we asked them where they’ve been recently for outdoor drinks. Here they are…and we’d love to hear yours too!

Louise Simpson, Area Sales Manager, Reigate & Redhill

Botley Hill Farmhouse in my opinion has the best pub garden in the area. It has amazing views across the rolling Surrey Hills and quite often a great place to spot hot air balloons passing by! I love meeting friends here for an afternoon catch up.

Paul Mulligan, Area Sales Manager, Croydon

Just up the road from Louise’s suggestion, The White Bear is set in the countryside and has a great beer garden overlooking fields with horses. In the summer they have an outside bar and a BBQ so perfect for the weekend with my family.

Mark Waldron, Area Sales Manager, Sevenoaks

You can get a great pint at the George and Dragon in Chipstead, and the bonus is the amazing menu that has lots of fresh local produce — delicious!

Joey Hansen, Negotiator, Brighton

Hove Place in… you’ve guessed it, Hove! It has an amazing west facing beer garden and the atmosphere is very ‘Hove’. With friendly staff and great food from local suppliers too, it’s one of my favourite places to go.

Zac Ship, Area Sales Manager, Tunbridge Wells

I’m getting married here so it’s fair to say I’m a fan! The gorgeous barn and lovely gardens at The Plough at Leigh are wonderful places to enjoy the delicious food, especially the Sunday lunch. There is also a play area for the children so it’s perfect for a relaxed Sunday afternoon.

Alex Goodman, Area Sales Manager, Brighton

Brighton Music Hall on the seafront is a firm favourite of mine. The seaview sunsets are incredible to watch from the beachside seating area while listening to live music from a varied selection of talented musicians. A perfect chilled out place to catch up with friends.

Damian Bligh, Sales Manager, Reigate & Redhill

I enjoy going to the Carpenters Arms in Limpsfield, as they have a great garden with a BBQ in summer which ticks all my boxes!

Ryan Milson, Negotiator, Croydon

The Derby Arms on Epsom Downs is lovely this time of year, have a stroll on the downs, then tuck into a nice cold beer and some tasty snacks while overlooking the race course. Fantastic!

Russ Markets, Sales Manager, Haywards Heath

I enjoy going to the Black Rabbit in Arundel, and have lunch overlooking the River Arun with the castle in the distance. They also serve ice cream for dogs which my pug, Rosie, loves! They even have a “dog-wash” for mucky paws or ice-cream whiskers!

Mathew Gurr, Area Sales Manager, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill & Lindfield

Trading Boundaries just by Sheffield Park Gardens is great and has a brilliant play area at the rear so great for families. It has the added bonus of a furniture and accessories shop on site, so there is something for everyone here! It’s not that far from the Bluebell Railway station at Sheffield Park, or you can take a short drive to play Pooh Sticks on Ashdown Forest.

Sue Peyton, Sales Progression Team

I love a long cold glass of pimms in the Red Barn garden, it’s the perfect place to while away a summer afternoon. There is a beautiful garden and if you fancy a day at the races, Lingfield Race Course is just up the road!

This is just a snapshot that we’ve grabbed from our busy team, and we know you’ll have some more places up your sleeve, so please do share with us!

If you’re thinking of moving home, call the team on 0330 223 1000.

This blog claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

from http://www.moverevolution.com/blog/favourite-pub-gardens/

from karacarly https://medium.com/@moverevolution1/our-favourite-pub-gardens-a61654e3f328?source=rss-6769039f6f55------2

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chriskarrtravelblog · 5 years

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Summer reading: British book settings

We visit the places that inspired iconic summer scenes in the works of some of our favourite authors.

It is the brightest day you ever saw. The sun is sparkling on the water… The tide is in, and the fishing boats are dancing like mad.” Charles Dickens, writing to a friend in 1841, simply loved Broadstairs and nearly every summer from 1837 to 1859 he escaped to the Kent seaside resort in order to work on his bestselling novels away from London’s bustle.

Most notably he put the finishing touches to David Copperfield while ensconced at cliff-top Fort House – now known as Bleak House – and modelled his character Betsey Trotwood on local resident Miss Mary Pearson Strong: the latter’s aversion to donkeys passing in front of her home on Victoria Parade was transformed into Betsey’s “incessant war” against the donkey-boys. “Jugs of water, and watering-pots, were kept in secret places ready to be discharged on the offending boys; sticks were laid in ambush behind the door…”

Broadstairs in Kent with a view of Charles Dickens’ cliff-top Bleak House. Credit: Credit: Andrew Beck/Alamy Stock Photo

You can follow a town trail around Broadstairs’ cobbled squares and fishermen’s cottages to discover Dickens’ haunts, and tour Bleak House, today offering luxury B&B-style accommodation that includes the author’s original bedroom, with use of his study overlooking the fabulous horseshoe of Viking Bay. Miss Strong’s cottage has become the Dickens House Museum, where Copperfield fans will recognise the square gravelled garden and old-fashioned parlour.

With sun and warmth (hopefully) filling our days, now is the ideal time to visit the places that have inspired iconic summer scenes in the works of some of our most popular authors: from picnics on the Cornish coast with poet John Betjeman (“Sand in the sandwiches, wasps in the tea” – ‘Trebetherick’) to walking amid woods with Wordsworth.

Jerome K Jerome originally intended Three Men in a Boat (1889) to be a serious guide to the Thames, “its quiet backwaters, its sleepy towns and ancient villages”. But the tale quickly turned instead into a classic of British humour charting the accident-prone rowing holiday of the eponymous three men and Montmorency the dog. Heading upriver from Kingston, London, the heroes niggle about ‘loud’ blazers and burnt breakfasts; sense the centuries slip back to 1215 and imagine themselves waiting to witness King John set his seal on Magna Carta at Runnymede.

Passing Cliveden Woods in Berkshire (“In its unbroken loveliness… perhaps, the sweetest stretch of all the river”) and Cookham, they rejoice in feeling “like knights of some old legend, sailing across some mystic lake into the unknown realm of twilight, unto the great land of the sunset…” and crash into a punt of disgruntled fishermen.

You, too, can cast off for all sorts of excursions on the Thames (without the mishaps), including from London, Windsor, around Cliveden, Henley and Oxford: hiring rowing boats or picnic punts, going on sightseeing trips or themed cruises (www.visitthames.co.uk).

And while Jerome’s not-so-doughty heroes, dampened by a little summer rain, abandon their holiday at Pangbourne, you would do well to explore further. As the Water Rat says in children’s favourite, The Wind in the Willows (1908), “there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats”.

Kenneth Grahame’s tale of Mole, Badger, Ratty and Mr Toad grew from bedtime stories he told his son Alastair while living at nearby Cookham Dean, plundering his own dreamy childhood memories of the river, woodlands and wildlife; Grahame lived his final years at Pangbourne.

Summer is made for children’s adventures, and for Winnie-the-Pooh fans an ‘expotition’ to Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, where A A Milne set his whimsical tales in the 1920s, is a must. Or share a slightly later era of innocence and adventure Swallows and Amazons style with Arthur Ransome: boating in the Lake District or Norfolk Broads.

Romantic poet William Wordsworth famously wrote of spring daffodils in the Lake District, but for a summer ramble head with him to south Wales where his ‘Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey’ recall a return visit with his sister Dorothy in 1798.

The cult of walking tours taking in Picturesque ruins, Nature and dramatic scenes of beauty was in full swing, and these delights are still on offer today on the Wye Valley Walk through the wooded gorge along the river to the medieval abbey, with:

“…steep and lofty cliffs,

That on a wild secluded scene impress

Thoughts of more deep seclusion…”

For Wordsworth, memories of such scenes refreshed the soul with “sensations sweet” long after visiting.

A 40-mile drive from Tintern into the Cotswolds and the Slad Valley reveals another walk through unforgettable summer scenes: of Laurie Lee’s Cider With Rosie (1959), his bittersweet memoir of the sunny uplands of a vanished youth and semi-feudal way of life.

The hauntingly lyrical book gave the world its image of the Cotswolds as the epitome of quaint, rural England, “with cattle, brilliant as painted china, treading their echoing shapes” and beech trees sunlit “as though clogged with wild wet honey”.Wander the Laurie Lee Wildlife Way through village and woodland of the Slad Valley, dotted with posts inscribed with Lee’s poetry; visit Holy Trinity Church where the author is buried and the ancient Woolpack inn where he liked to drink – real ale rather than cider!

There is more honey and nostalgia in one of the most famous couplets in English poetry:

“Stands the Church clock at ten to three?

And is there honey still for tea?”

Rupert Brooke posed the question in 1912 while abroad and pining after ‘The Old Vicarage, Grantchester’: conjuring up visions of lying “flower-lulled in sleepy grass”, gazing at the Cambridge sky as hours and centuries blur. Two years later he would write of dying in “some corner of a foreign field / That is for ever England”, but ‘Grantchester’ is suffused with the idyllic summer happiness of a quintessential English village.

Brooke lived in The Old Vicarage (now home to novelist Jeffrey Archer), gathering luminaries like Virginia Woolf around him while pursuing a fellowship at King’s College, Cambridge three miles away.

You can walk or punt along the River Cam past Grantchester Meadows to the village and visit the church, which dates from the 14th century. Then take afternoon tea including sandwiches, cakes and scones in The Orchard Tea Garden, the pavilion where Brooke and his friends tucked into refreshments when it was too rainy to sit outdoors (booking required; the village also boasts numerous good pubs).

For a memorable finale to your summer reading, bask in the evocative descriptions of the ‘Author’s Prologue’ to Dylan Thomas’s Collected Poems (1952):

“This day winding down now

At God speeded summer’s end

In the torrent salmon sun,

In my seashaken house

On a breakneck of rocks…”

The “seashaken house” is the Dylan Thomas Boathouse below the cliff on the water’s edge of the west Wales town of Laugharne, where the author enjoyed a purple patch of creativity in his Writing Shed in the four years before his untimely death in 1953.

After peeking into the cluttered shed, relax over bara brith (Welsh fruit bread) and tea on the Boathouse terrace. Then revel in views over the Taf estuary as dusk hovers towards “dogdayed night” and:

“My ark sings in the sun

At God speeded summer’s end

And the flood flowers now.”

8 For more literary travel ideas, see http://www.britain-magazine.com

The post Summer reading: British book settings appeared first on Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture.

Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture https://www.britain-magazine.com/features/history/british-literature/british-summer-book-settings/

source https://coragemonik.wordpress.com/2019/09/02/summer-reading-british-book-settings/

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