Where to watch Sherlock (2010–2017)

Trivia & production notes

• Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss conceived Sherlock during train journeys to Cardiff for Doctor Who production, and were encouraged to develop it by producer Sue Vertue while they attended an awards ceremony in Monte Carlo.
• The original pilot cost £800,000 and generated such negative speculation within the BBC that the corporation decided against airing it, requesting a reshoot and format change to three 90-minute episodes instead of the planned six 60-minute episodes.
• Moffat and Gatiss wanted their adaptation to be as irreverent to Holmes canon as the 1930s-1940s Basil Rathbone films, which had reimagined the stories in a then-contemporary setting rather than adhering strictly to Victorian England.
• The three episodes of the first series were filmed in reverse order of their broadcast.
• The iconic "221B" address on Holmes's front door created a creative dilemma for the writers, as a modern building would only display the house number and doorbells for individual flats, but they felt unable to change such an iconic element.
• Director Paul McGuigan invented the technique of displaying text messages directly on screen rather than cutting away to shots of characters holding phones.
• Production was based in Cardiff at a newly opened Hartswood Films West facility rather than London because filming was significantly cheaper, though location shooting in London was still necessary for architecture that could not be replicated.
• Sherlock's signature coat cost £1,000 and was a Belstaff design, while his entire wardrobe was created using slim-cut suits and shirts with modern tailoring to reflect a detective uninterested in fashion.
• Cumberbatch's version of Sherlock replaced the traditional pipe with multiple nicotine patches to reflect modern broadcasting regulations and changing social attitudes.
• The sandwich shop Speedy's, which appears in the series as the establishment below Sherlock's flat, experienced a sharp rise in customers who recognized it from the show.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Sherlock (TV series), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.