# Is Benedict Cumberbatch the best (gay or not) Sherlock Holmes ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2011, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926 "2011-12-31T08:13:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/41 "2012-01-05T17:58:39Z")
> [@Lissla\_Lissar](#): > > That episode was lots of fun. I’m still trying to figure out > > [spoiler]Why Britain was trying to solve the Coventry problem by killing planeloads of their own citizens. > > [/spoiler] The original Coventry problem, or the current problem which they said was similar? They didn’t kill planeloads of their own citizens. Those were already dead bodies which were placed on the plane. The idea being that they could let the bomb go off, the terrorists would think their plan had succeeded, but nobody would have actually died. If they had not allowed the bomb to go off, the terrorists would know they had an information leak and plug it. The analogy was to the Germans bombing Coventry in WWII. Military Intelligence found out in advance that it was going to happen, but if they’d intercepted the bombers the Germans would have known that they had a leak and plugged it. So they let the Germans bomb Coventry because they deemed the value of the spy to be greater than the casualties of a bombing. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/42 "2012-01-05T18:14:30Z")
Ah. I missed that bit, in all the stuff going on. I knew about Coventry. I was a bit surprised that they Didn’t find a Godfrey Norton substitute But that was okay. I didn’t like that she had consulted Moriarty. I liked Adler as a free agent. Also, Sherlock followed her to wherever to protect her? Seemed a bit much. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/43 "2012-01-05T19:17:38Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Big film projects? Benedict Cumberbatch will [play a lead role](http://www.thewrap.com/deal-central/column-post/star-trek-sequel-nabs-war-horse-actor-benedict-cumberbatch-34090) in the upcoming _Star Trek 2_. Most other source say he’ll be the main villain–who is[not Khan](http://www.reelz.com/movie-news/12671/star-trek-2-villain-will-be-original-says-producer/). Details to follow… > > (Noel Clarke–Mickey from _Doctor Who_–also has a role. And Peter Weller–Buckaroo himself!) > > Still hoping more \*Sherlock \*will eventually be made. But playing the asexual detective made Serious Actor Benedict Cumberbatch into a star… Not looking too good for the prospect of a third set of Sherlock any time soon. Martin Freeman will be Bilbo for most of next year, Benedict C on Star Trek, and Steven Moffat on the next season of Doctor Who, and on the planning of Who’s 50th anniversary stuff in 2013… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/44 "2012-01-05T21:28:56Z")
I believe this season of _Sherlock_ was intended to be six episodes, until they had to cut it short due to _The Hobbit_, so they have some written ready. My guess is, _Doctor Who_ will start filming now (the regular plan has been to film September to April, but this time it’ll be something like January to August) and then resume the final three episodes of _Sherlock_ as Martin Freeman should be back by then. A busy year. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/45 "2012-01-05T21:52:53Z")
FWIW my take on the BC Holmes’ sexuality is that, well, Holmes likes puzzles, and, to him, flirtation and attraction are just not particularly challenging puzzles. As it were, he has already worked out all the right buttons to push, and how to push them and thus, he hasn’t got any interest in pushing them. Except…IA piqued his interest, because she pushed his buttons back…and he hadn’t expected anyone to be able to do that. Apologies about the horribly stretched metaphor. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/46 "2012-01-06T18:57:11Z")
Dude, the US airs these things on PBS in…MAY??? MAY??? Dude, what is up with the massive delay? Are they insane? Do they want us to bootleg these things? Even Doctor Who airs on the same day, now. What is going on with PBS/BBC? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/47 "2012-01-06T19:07:52Z")
DVD’s & BluRays of the new series go on sale in the UK on January 23rd. You’ll need an all-region player for the DVD but I think the BluRays will play on anything but a PS3. Or one of those game systems… ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/48 "2012-01-06T19:09:07Z")
> [@hazel-rah](#): > > You could try for a thousand years and never come close to approaching the fidelity and excellence of Jeremy Brett. He nailed it, and the new BBC series wisely does not attempt to repeat his perfect game. They do something new and interesting instead, and as a result, have made something quite wonderful. Counterpoint: the disaster that is Guy Ritchie’s vision of Sherlock Holmes. RDJ is awesome, but those movies stink. I don’t think the new Sherlock films are a “disaster”, but the BBC version keeps more of the fun in solving the mystery/crime and is smarter. The Guy Ritchie films are a bit too much action and not so much brain power, whereas the BBC series is a perfect mix of both. Plus, it was fun to see a younger guy playing Sherlock. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/49 "2012-01-06T19:09:08Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I believe this season of _Sherlock_ was intended to be six episodes, until they had to cut it short due to _The Hobbit_, so they have some written ready. My guess is, _Doctor Who_ will start filming now (the regular plan has been to film September to April, but this time it’ll be something like January to August) and then resume the final three episodes of _Sherlock_ as Martin Freeman should be back by then. A busy year. I can’t find anything about plans for a third set of three episodes. And given the rising prominence of the two leads, I think they’d need to be signed for them well ahead of time. (and yea, delaying release in the States for 6 months is bizarre.) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/50 "2012-01-06T22:50:51Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I can’t find anything about plans for a third set of three episodes. You may be right. What I read may have been unofficial speculation by some rube, and I’ve just bastardised and perpetuated it. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/51 "2012-01-06T23:49:04Z")
> [@BrassyPhrase](#): > > I haven’t seen this particular version but I’ve loved Sherlock Holmes stories since I could read. I’ll definitely look for it. > > My big interest in this thread is b/c of one of my favorite movies _Secrets and Lies_. > > I didn’t know Cumberbatch was a real last name! I thought it was something made up, like out of Pratchett or C.S. Lewis or Rowling. > Live and learn! Samuel Taylor Coleridge enlisted in the British army as silas tompkin cumberbatch ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/52 "2012-01-07T01:21:13Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > You may be right. What I read may have been unofficial speculation by some rube, and I’ve just bastardised and perpetuated it. Don’t feel bad. I’ve done the same before. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/53 "2012-01-07T01:32:54Z")
Caitlin Moran of _The Times_ can be delightfully sharptongued but is a real Sherlock fan. She ends her informative “[My Love Affair With Sherlock](http://www.benedictcumberbatch.co.uk/Sherlock/caitlin-moran-my-love-affai.html)” with this account of the preview showing of “Scandal” > [@](#): > > Sherlock’s instant eminence, the first time it broadcast, seems obvious: it does only take 90 minutes for everything to change when you’re moving this fast. This kind of velocity is inarguable. Three minutes in, Mark Gatiss leans over to Steven Moffat and whispers something. Moffat starts to laugh – and then looks quite sombre. > > Afterwards, in the bar, I ask Moffat what Gatiss said. “That it’s never going to get any better than this,” he replies. “I started to laugh, because I thought it was a joke – and then I realised he was right. It probably won’t get any better than this.” > > He pauses. > > “Until we write the next series, obviously.” He looks down into his wine. “That’s going to be amazing.” I’m sure they want to make more, but everybody involved is so very busy. Partly because the success of the first series… (Oh, Martin Freeman is on the next Graham Norton show–viewable tomorrow night on BBCamerica.) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/54 "2012-01-07T01:43:44Z")
Much like Kenneth Branagh’s judgement of his performance of the St Crispian’s speech in “Henry V.” He stood there, surrounded by some of the best Shakespearean actors with much more experience than him, and knew he had nailed it when Ian Holm nodded and mouthed, “That’s it.” ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/55 "2012-01-07T02:31:08Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > (and yea, delaying release in the States for 6 months is bizarre.) Annoying, sure. Bizarre? Not really. It’s pretty much SOP for transatlantic broadcast dates either direction. The shows which don’t do that are the exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Dennis\_Arthur\_PERRETT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3e96dc/32.png) [@Dennis\_Arthur\_PERRETT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dennis_Arthur_PERRETT)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/56 "2012-01-07T02:44:53Z")
I like him. Gay? A parade float with decorative floral arrangements? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/57 "2012-01-07T03:39:17Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Annoying, sure. Bizarre? Not really. It’s pretty much SOP for transatlantic broadcast dates either direction. The shows which don’t do that are the exceptions. Bizzare for the reason the original poster mentioned. Releasing a much awaited set of episodes on one side of the Atlantic and then waiting for six months on the other side is going to cause a lot of people pirate it. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/58 "2012-01-07T19:34:43Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Bizzare for the reason the original poster mentioned. Releasing a much awaited set of episodes on one side of the Atlantic and then waiting for six months on the other side is going to cause a lot of people pirate it. It’s pretty much standard. At least I don’t know how long it tends to take to go in your direction, but we’ll often wait 6-12 months for US stuff (though there are some exceptions). I totally agree that showing it sooner reduces piracy. I think the TV execs are slowly, after many years, finally coming round to realise this, since we’ve had a couple of shows recently with only a week or so delay. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/59 "2012-01-08T13:26:26Z")
I agree with others that In the actual book, Irene Adler defeated Homes fairly decisively, over here he triumphs. I disagree that her portrayal was one dimensional. Any hope for a return? It would be nice to see them at it again. On the other hand my favourite character is Mycroft, as always. But the actor is too lean to be Mycroft, thats my only complaint. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926/60 "2012-01-08T13:48:12Z")
Ah, but Mycroft is played by Mark Gatiss, co-writer of Sherlock and one of the geniuses behind [The League of Gentlemen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_League_of_Gentlemen), one of the darkest, funniest, most disturbing sketch shows you’ll ever see. I can forgive him not being quite fat enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-gay-or-not-sherlock-holmes-ever/607926.md?page=4)