Will you enjoy ‘Sherlock’ season 4 more when there are bloodhounds & babies?

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The last time we had photos from the English set of Sherlock, it was two winters ago, Benedict Cumberbatch was newly engaged, and those photos got a lot of comments. Plus, Sherlock and John Watson were in Victorian garb that time around, because they were shooting the Christmas special. Well, about sixteen months have passed and Bendy and Martin Freeman are back to film Season 4. These are some photos from the London set this week. Bendy, Martin and Martin’s on-and-off-screen partner Amanda Abbington were filming scenes around Borough Market.

The core group was joined by two newcomers: a baby and a bloodhound. Everyone assumes that the baby in the carrier on John Watson’s chest is John and Mary’s baby, and that’s what I think too. Amanda had to wear a stunt-bump in Season 3 and the Christmas special, and I have no idea if the birth will be featured in Season 4, or whether time has passed and suddenly John and Mary are walking around with a baby. I do think they had a little girl – the (stunt) baby seems to be wearing pink!

But am I a terrible person for being more interested in the bloodhound? I LOVE BLOODHOUNDS. They’re so beautiful and grumpy-looking. Such sad, wise faces. I’m guessing that Sherlock and the bloodhound get along pretty well. But now I wonder if the bloodhound is part of a case, or is the dog John and Mary’s pet? Or maybe the dog is Sherlock’s pet? No, the way they’re behaving around the dog, I think the dog is part of the investigation.

PS… The bloodhound is a really good actor. The dog makes Benedict look like he’s trying too hard.

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Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

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39 Responses to “Will you enjoy ‘Sherlock’ season 4 more when there are bloodhounds & babies?”

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  1. UCatwoman says:

    I think that baby is the one from American Sniper who gave such a riveting performance that the offers have been flooding in ever since. She wisely carefully picks and chooses she will deign to accept, but being such a big fan of Cumbercurls, couldn’t help herself.

    • lilacflowers says:

      Yes, Fake Baby has been choosing her roles very carefully.

      • Zapp Brannigan says:

        Fake Baby is smart with an eye on a long Hollywood career, most fake babies age out of Hollywood after their first birthday.

      • lilacflowers says:

        She is wisely keeping her private life private as well. Adds an aura of mystery and enables her to just blend into her roles seamlessly.

  2. OSTONE says:

    That bloodhound is gorgeous!!!

    • Boston Green Eyes says:

      I’m going to watch it for the bloodhound alone! Oh, yeah, and for the CumberCurls!

  3. Elisa the I. says:

    can’t wait for S4!

  4. grabbyhands says:

    This is the exact opposite of what I want for the next season. Well, the bloodhound can stay but the baby is no bueno.

    But I’m sure the Johnlock shippers that Moffat loves catering to are fanning themselves with excitement that Mary is going to get bumped off so their fan fiction dreams can finally be realized.

    Sadly, I expect more of the lazy writing that plagued season three.

    • tmc says:

      for some reason, I thought she already * was * bumped off! (Or was that part of an intricate plotline…) It has been so long that I have forgotten the last plot line (and missed the Christmas special having lost my Sherlock mojo)!

    • Felice. says:

      I don’t think they would’ve been that awful to kill her while she was still pregnant so here we are…

    • tmc says:

      p.s. agree about the baby. Not sure how that adds to it although if she goes then *maybe* John juggling that is interesting … but dont think the story needed it. (Oh, it is now coming back to me that she was not really dead.)

    • H says:

      I’ve never been a fan of this version of Mary. Personally, I like just John and Sherlock solving cases, the tag along Mary thing has gotten old and Moffitt never seems to know what to do with female characters – see Doctor Who – so, hopefully Mary will get bumped off. Then, John and Sherlock will raise baby Watson (wow, that does seem like fanfic). However, Moffitt will never allow it to happen.

      In the books, Mary dies…so it’s not a stretch to think they might off her. But I’m not placing bets on it.

    • Ally8 says:

      Other than the first couple of episodes, which were largely charming and interestingly rhythmed, I find this show unbearably cloying, manipulative and hackish. Moffat’s descent into increasingly favouring soap opera dynamics between these three characters (see: the wedding episode… and now a baby, oy vey) comforts me in my decision to tune out. I look forward to Cumberbatch moving on permanently to other roles, so I can stop being reminded that this hash job of Conan Doyle’s perfectly structured stories and deftly drawn characters exists.

  5. spidey says:

    Well I do hope S4 is better than S3.

  6. Lindy79 says:

    I’ll watch it, but after the Christmas special and the lackluster fan servicing season 3 I’m not excited about it

    • Green Girl says:

      Right there with you. That Christmas special was….strange. FWIW, I didn’t like season three when it first aired, but I warmed up to it after watching it again.

      • VirgiliaCoriolanus says:

        I hated Season 3 when I first saw it…….but after watching it a few times, I can tolerate it. It feels like a FILLER season, even though I’m liking it better. I just don’t understand why you bring in a villain like Magnussen and then bump him off……for basically no reason. I mean, it doesn’t really seem like the season did anything to advance the overall storyline of Sherlock. THAT’S my biggest problem with it. It didn’t bring in, not really, any new insights into the characters of Sherlock or John…….I mean, we know that no matter what, John and Sherlock were always going to be friends…..but did we really need a whole season devoted to that idea? when we already knew that?

        Maybe in the long run, it’ll be better/fit in with the rest of the seasons? IDK.

        The wedding episode is actually my favorite–with the hot gingery Colonel (or whatever rank he was)……….when Sherlock tells him, through the door that “they wouldn’t do that, to John”……I thought there was a certain kinship and respect between the two of them, in that moment.

        Who here has just finished watching Jessica Jones? My God. David Tennant made me feel sorry for him and repulsed all at the same time.

    • NUTBALLS says:

      Same here. That Christmas special didn’t raise my hopes that the writing could get back on track to the glory days of S1 & S2.

      I may watch S4 for the bloodhound, though.

  7. Boston Green Eyes says:

    “PS… The bloodhound is a really good actor. The dog makes Benedict look like he’s trying too hard.”

    LOL!

  8. Size Does Matter says:

    Well now we know what happened to Ramsay Bolton’s missing bloodhounds.

  9. Felice. says:

    I heard the bloodhound was a diva and wouldn’t listen to the cues every now and then.

  10. Betsy says:

    I enjoyed Season 3 and the Abomoniable Bride (although I think I tuned out during the mansplaining), so I’m in.

  11. Emilee says:

    Awe at the bloodhound.

  12. Tippy says:

    I’ve been a long time creeper on this website but never felt the need to comment until seeing the Bloodhound! I have a 2 year old Bloodhound named Larry and he’s the best dog in the whole world. They’re amazing, gentle animals with goofy old souls. I wish they would get more attention for how awesome they are.

    • What was that says:

      Hello Tippy!
      If I remember my original Sherlock Holmes stories there was a wonderful scent dog used to track down a killer in hiding …and of course the bloodhound was the original Victorian police dog I believe until the German Shepherd ousted them..but I still think the Met may have one of two!..for their wonderful nose!
      Was there a bloodhound recently in the USA who ran a marathon by themselves..along with a running group?
      Was that Larry?!

      • Tippy says:

        @What Was That
        It wasn’t Larry, although it was all over the news when it happened and it looked like something he would do! They are goofy as hell and not lazy like the stereotype.
        They’re sadly being replaced by German Shepherds more and more in the US police as well but they’re still used by a lot of volunteer search and rescue groups. Not the easiest dogs to train but you can’t find a better nose.

      • What was that says:

        I remember the owner at the time saying she let the dog out for their usual sniff around the area and just thought when he/she returned that they had been around the town not on a Marathon!!
        I loved it..you are very lucky to have such a special friend!

  13. Heat says:

    The Otter, the Hedgehog, and the Bloodhound…
    Sounds like I may have come up with the title of s.4 ep.1, no?

    Cannot wait!

  14. bread says:

    If they’re really going to go for The Watson Family + Uncle Sherlock dynamic, I think I might have to stop watching it.

    I find Mary as a character either insufferably wry (the only way Moffat can write “strong” women) or completely perplexing (she’s made a living as an assassin-for-hire and she shot John’s best friend but he forgives her for all of that within a couple of months?!) I’m not overly impressed with Abbington’s acting abilities, either.

    And I can’t think of a single instance where introducing a baby has improved a tv show. It’ll only be a hindrance for the crime-solving and for John and Sherlock’s relationship: they *need* to be together at 221B. That’s the whole basis of the Sherlock Holmes stories.

    • H says:

      Will you marry me?

      At the heart of the Holmes book, Sherlock and Watson live at 221B and solve crimes. Adding and wife and baby to the mix has never made sense which is why I don’t like Moffitt’s Mary. Guy Ritchie’s Holmes movies gave us a Mary which worked with the relationship of Sherlock and John. I know that Mary is set within the historical context of women of her era, but it worked for the Holmes book fan I am.

  15. Bethie says:

    When are they gonna kill her off already?

  16. SusanneToo says:

    I’ll enjoy the bloodhound but past series that suddenly feature a baby storyline have lost me. Murphy Brown, Mad About You-baby in, I’m outta there.

  17. Myrtille says:

    Mary’s gonna die ( Moftiss , Abbington and Freeman already confirmed it , and it’s absolutely canon anyway ) but it seems they want to do something really complicated about it , well bless them if it’s well written ( and by that I mean more in a Season 1 and 2 ‘s way well written )

    The baby is the big issue though , strangely I don’t care a lot about dead babies …well nobody does I guess , so how are they going to get rid of the little girl in a non audience-traumatic way is the question

    I don’t care a lot about Sherlock fake curls either : some of the basic Sherlock ‘s magic laid in those curls ! Pfff…

  18. kri says:

    Bloodhounds and Batches. Oh, Sherlock. I do love you so. Also, Amanda is great. I hope they have got some good stuff for her!

  19. Insomniac says:

    Feh. Yes on the bloodhound, but I can’t think of a single show I’ve watched that was improved by a baby storyline.

  20. Joanie says:

    I’m so happy to see the Cumbercurls again, and I’m really digging John Watson’s midlife crisis hair.

    • ogg921 says:

      I’m sure, for a price, you too could own Cumbercurls just like those. You could twist and diffuse to your hearts desire. (The wig failed to impress me, I’m afraid.)

      Martin, on the other hand, looked lovely.

  21. slh121 says:

    Part of the charm was the effort by Ben to channel Sherlock as well as the obvious closeness of Ben and Martin. Wearing a wig, to me, doesn’t work on the same level. It’s like he’s playing at Sherlock rather than being Sherlock. This actually began in S3 when “Ben” kept peeking through. And with Amanda on set, Martin spends his free time with her. We’ll see, but doubt we’re going back to S1 or 2 level of quality.