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On Reichenbach and the “how did he do it” intrigue.

 I missed the whole thing. It was in all the newspapers and it just became a national obsession for a couple of weeks. It’s wonderful and it shows great attention and intelligence from our audience and critics alike. It’s a fun thing to be part of.

Louise – Did you read Conan Doyle when you were little?

Benedict – I did but not all of them. One of them was a school duty when I was very young but it’s only since the playing of it that I’ve come to love them and when anyone asks me how I prepare… well it is the most extraordinary source material because you have a specimen in Holmes written by a doctor by a doctor so you have an acute observation of characteristics whether they be physicalities or mentalities or attitudes or moods. It’s a wonderfully close portrait of a human being and an extraordinary one at that.

After the first series I was in a bar and someone came up and said “Hello you’re Sherlock aren’t you?” and I said “yes yes I am” and it was a Friday night so I was thinking “Oh god” and he came back and he said “yeah yeah I like you. It’s good, it’s different” and then he went away and I thought there’s a massive “but” coming here and he came up to me again and he went “But that thing you do with your hands Downey Junior did that, Brett did that” and I said “Yes so did the guy in the book do that!”