The Escapist

Some Beautiful Behind the Scenes pictures of BBC Sherlock, from Radio Times, with lots of information about each pic. (x)

1: “We wanted to blur the edge between laboratory and kitchen,” says Arwel, suggesting Holmes would think nothing of boiling the kettle next to an experiment on a severed hand - or heating up beans on a Bunsen burner.

2: The skull on the mantelpiece is, of course, a cast, which had to be chiselled out to allow Watson to hide Holmes’s packet of cigarettes inside it in The Hounds of Baskerville.

3: The bison sporting earphones is Arwel’s favourite object on the set of 221b. The animal skull was purchased online and sprayed a glossy black before it was mounted on the wall. The headphones were a last-minute, spur-of the moment addition.

4: A modern alternative to the stiletto always referenced as Holmes’s way of filing the mail, this Leatherman knife actually belonged to Arwel. But because it now has a permanent home on set, he’s had to purchase a replacement.

5: In the artwork on the wall, parts of the skull are painted on different layers of Perspex, creating a sort of 3D effect. Even shot in 2D, the depth created and the weirdness of the effect make for an impressive addition to the set.

6: This magpie seal was inspired by the music playing on Moriarty’s headphones (Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie) as he staged his daring break-ins. It also influenced the winged IOU graffiti on a Baker Street wall.

7: Sherlock’s headstone was made by a local stonemason who was sworn to secrecy. Arwel stored it at home and transported it on location, where the scene in the cemetery was shot by a skeleton crew (no pun intended).