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Gay TV News: Are they or aren't they? New series Sherlock hints Holmes and Watson could be gay
By: Nigel Robinson
Holmes and Watson in new drama Sherlock
Holmes and Watson in new drama Sherlock
Sherlock Holmes's big gay tease
A new version of Sherlock Holmes has several scenes suggesting that the fictional detective and his friend could be gay.
The three-part series, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Watson, is set in the present day and features Holmes acting as a “crime consultant” to the regular police.
His character has been updated for the twenty-first century and sees him using the internet and modern technology, and rather than smoke a pipe he new wears a nicotine patch.
When he and Watson first move into their Baker Street flat, their landlady Mrs Hudson, played by Una Stubbs, assumes they are a couple.
“There’s another bedroom upstairs,” she says, before adding knowingly, “that is, if you’ll be needing one.”
When Holmes and Watson later go out for dinner in London’s Soho, the heart of the capital’s gay community, the restaurant owner greets them, saying “Sherlock, you can have anything on the menu for you and your date. I’ll get a candle for the table. It’s more romantic.”
When Watson asks Holmes whether he has a girlfriend, he replies, “Girlfriend, no. Not really my area.”
Holmes later assures Watson that he is married to his work but is nonetheless flattered by Watson’s interest in his love life.
Series co-writer Stephen Moffat, who is also the producer of Doctor Who, denied that there was a homoerotic subtext to the new production and insisted that the two men are “just incredibly good friends”.
Asked whether Holmes fans might be upset by a hinted gay relationship between the characters, co-writer Mark Gattis, who is gay, said: “If you don’t like it, it’s fine because the character is one of the most filmed ever so there’ll be another one along soon.”
The first episode of Sherlock, subtitled A Study in Pink, will be shown on BBC1 at 9pm on Sunday 25th July.
