Sherlock series 2 DVD extras - the good stuff

I love DVD extras, they are the special sauce of my fangirl world. So when I received my Sherlock series 2 DVDs in the post I went straight to the good stuff.

Pic: taken by me outside the location of 221B in London

Sherlock series 2 includes a making-of style feature called Sherlock Unconvered as well as commentaries from cast and writers on A Scandal in Belgravia and The Hounds of Baskerville. Sadly no commentary on The Reichenbach Fall, but the episode is mentioned in the other extras so we do get a brief insight into the making of the story.

Here are the things I found interesting.

On...A Scandal in Belgravia 

• It was Sue Virtue's idea for Moriarty's ringtone to be Stayin' Alive based on her experience at a funeral when a mobile rang.
• The cast and crew experienced double rainbows during filming outdoors in Wales for the hiker scenes.
• The fireplace, wall, bed and sofa were all in the field for the hiker deduction scene.The bed-on-hydraulics effect got a round of applause on set for looking so awesome.
• Benedict Cumberbatch fell over during the bed sheet scene, but couldn't break is fall with his hands because they were wrapped in the sheet. He went down like a plank.
• Mark Gatiss would call a ladies version of Sherlock's coat a Sherlocketta.
• Cumberbatch didn't mind getting whacked by Lara Pulver.
• They all thought I AM SHER LOCKED was obvious, in fact they were very worried at the first screening.
• Cumberbatch's favourite line from the episode is when Sherlock is fuddled from the syringe and trying to communicate with John about "..the woman, the woman woman!".
• The newspaper article "Refit for historical hospital" pointed directly at the camera during one scene is a clue to The Reichenbach Fall.
• The Cluedo board pinned to the wall is explained in The Hounds of Baskerville.
• Regarding Cumberbatch's hair being dyed, he was told to add ketchup in the event that his love of swimming turned it green.
• Cumberbatch can play three or four pieces on the violin. He wants to get better. 
• The 1895 hit count on John's blog is a shout out to the year when Sherlock was at the peak of his game in the books. 
• "She's so sparkly, so pretty and he's being such an arse!" - Cumberbatch on Sherlock's exchange with Molly Hooper when he's x-raying the camera phone.
• Gatiss found it amusing that Mycroft's number plate ends in KOX.
• The extras on the plane of death all fell asleep during filming, some snored.
• The scene outside/inside Speedy's at the end was filmed on one of the London riot days last year, police suddenly told the cast and crew to leave the location so they all fled.
• Steven Moffat refers to the closing scene of Sherlock saving Irene Adler as "Lawrence of Cumberbatch".

On... The Hounds of Baskerville

• The boy playing the young Henry could have been Russell Tovey's nephew, but in the end they opted for another child actor who had sticky-out ears. 
• Sherlock and the harpoon is a shout out to the Sherlock story Black Peter. 
• The artist impression of the hound was drawn by Virtue and Moffat's son, then coloured in by Virtue. 
• Tovey wanted to take things from the 221B set home with him. But he didn't (or so he claims).
• There are two Little John's in this story: Clive Mantle (Robin of Sherwood) and Gordon Kennedy (BBC's Robin Hood).
• They went for a Kubrick look and feel to the inside of Baskerville, including the lovely lens flares. It was actually filmed in a microchip lab. 
• The Baker Street set was flood damaged while in storage.
• Gatiss and Moffat spent ages worrying whether Sherlock should drive or not, but then found out that Martin Freeman can't drive so Cumberbatch had to.
• Tovey went on tape for the role of Henry during a lunch break from shooting Him and Her. 
• Gatiss and Moffat like taking an element of Conan Doyle and doing something cheeky with it - like the signals on the moor that turn out to be dogging motorists. 
• They used a split diopter camera lens to get Cumberbatch and Freeman both in focus for the fireplace deduction.
• The wardrobe team found it difficult to find a Christmas jumper when they were shooting in May.
• A summer version of Sherlock's coat was made but it just didn't work.
• Moffatt was sitting behind the kitchen island talking Tovey through the action of the patio light scene.
• When we see Sherlock on the rock it's the same rock as used in the Doctor Who episode The Sontaran Experiment.
• Rupert Graves' tan was real, he'd just come back from holiday.
• The beardy colonel was played by an actor who played a medium in an episode of Being Human.
• They staged a photo shoot for the HOUND project team with hair and clothes to make Clive Mantle look younger but it looked terrible. They photoshopped the picture instead. 
• Neither Gatiss nor Moffatt got a HOUND jumper. 
• Sherlock's vision of Moriarty behind the mask was filmed under a tent in North Gower Street (the 221B exterior location).
• There was originally a different ending showing Moriarty walking into the Tower of London.

On...The Reichenbach Fall

• It really is Benedict Cumberbatch falling from the roof of St Barts - wearing a wire of course, and not actually falling as far as you think. 

On... Sherlock in general 

• There will never be any book versions of the show - "If you want to read Sherlock Holmes novels you should read the originals." - Moffat

If you haven't bought your Sherlock series 2 DVDs yet - then get to it!