Sherlock creator leaves new clues for latest series after thousands try to work out cliffhanger death
- Holmes is seen falling to his apparent death at end of last episode but then appears at his own funeral
- Creator Steven Moffat announced three words which are hints about series three - 'rat' 'wedding' and 'bow'
- Eight million watched the programme on television, with millions more tuning in via iPlayer
By LIZ THOMAS
It was one of the most thrilling cliffhangers in modern television.
Now the man behind the BBC's hit revival of Sherlock Holmes, has added to the suspense of how the detective faked his own death at the end of the last series by giving three clues about the new run.
In a speech at the Edinburgh TV Festival, show creator Steven Moffat announced three words which are hints about series three.
Elementary? The creator of BBC's hit revival of Sherlock Holmes, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Watson, has left a tantalising clue as to how the detective faked his own death
He said: 'These three words might be a title, it might be a clue. They are Rat. Wedding. Bow.'
The show, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Watson is one of the BBC’s biggest hits but the cryptic ending to series two has kept viewers guessing.
Mystery man: The show's writer Steven Moffat
Millions watched the series back on BBC iPlayer to try and uncover clues as to how Holmes was able to fake his own death.
Moffat has repeatedly added to the suspense by posting comments and hints on Twitter such as telling fans that a clue is in the fact that Holmes did 'something out of character”.
He added: ‘So many people theorising – and they missed it.’
One fan wrote on his blog Barefoot on Baker Street: ‘Moffat has revealed that fans have ‘missed a vital clue’ – which has made us all turn to BBC iplayer, Sky Plus etc and watch the whole thing again in the hope of being the one to solve the mystery, a mystery worthy of the great detective himself.
The episode, entitled The Reichenbach Fall, was based on the 1893 Arthur Conan Doyle book The Final Problem, in which the author famously killed off the eccentric detective.
Viewers watched Holmes view his own funeral from a distance after minutes earlier appearing to leap to his death from a tower block.
Within minutes social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook were flooded with fans offering conspiracy theories and explanations.
Many admitted they had watched the episodes repeatedly to try and work out how he could have survived.
A shot from the last episode - The Reichenbach Fall - shows Sherlock toppling of a London rooftop to his apparent death
Case closed? Sherlock is seen bloodied and motionless on the ground. But he then turns up at his own funeral
Although more than eight million watched the programme on television, the average number of iPlayer requests across the series topped 2 million per show, making it one of the most requested shows on the service.
Last year Moffat released three words to give hints about series two, they were Adler, hound and Reichenbach - relating to the key plots of each episode.
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