Sherlock Series 3 Exclusive

Thanks to sources close to the production, we can exclusively reveal some of the plot secrets of the eagerly anticipated third series of BBC crime drama Sherlock. And believe me, there are some surprises in store – not least of which is what happened to our hero after 'that' fall...

At the end of the last episode of Series 3, we witnessed what seemed, incontrovertibly, to be the death of Sherlock as he fell from the roof of St Bart's. Then, bafflingly (though, perhaps, not surprisingly) he is seen alive and well watching John Watson visit his grave. There have been many theories about what happened in between - all of them wrong. Here's the truth...

Episode 1 of the third series opens with a brief recap of the 'death scene'. We then see Sherlock awaken outside St Bart's, his head bloodied. It's night, the streets are unusually dark. He staggers off, disorientated, his faculties blurred - but even in this state he feels something is terribly wrong. The streets are familiar, and yet not. There are no cars, no neon, no sounds of engines or piped music. Instead, horses. Carriages. Broughams and hansoms. The cries of street sellers. Reeling, he spies a sign indicating a police station and staggers in, barging past an anachronistically-dressed duty sergeant into its inner sanctum. He recognises this building now - but everything is wrong. As many more, similarly-attired officers of the law look on in complete bemusement, he rails at them, demanding - for the sake of his own sanity - that they tell him what year it is. A large, bluff, red-faced man with mutton-chop whiskers downs his gin, steps forward and grabs him by the lapels. Sherlock protests, almost apologetically, informing the man he has recently suffered a severe injury.

"I don't give a bangtail's old felt hat if your swede's falling in two," seethes the man. "You do NOT come waltzing into my manor giving it all that like the Lord Mayor of bleedin' London!'

"Who the hell are you?" replies Sherlock. The man slams him against a roll-top desk.

"Jeremiah Hunt. Detective Inspector. And it's 1887. Around supper time. I'm 'avin' pie'n'mash..."

We segue into new opening titles, over which Sherlock's voice is heard:

"My name is Sherlock Holmes. I had an 'accident', and I woke up in 1887. Am I mad, in a coma, or suffering from the affects of secretly administered hallucinogens? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet. Now, maybe if I can deduce the cause, I can get home..."

Can't wait, can you?