Well, If I had a plan, I wouldn't tell you. What I would say if I had a plan was, ‘I have no plans as yet.’ If I didn't have a plan I’d also say, ‘no plans as yet.’ So... you know, I don’t really tell the truth.
S. Moffat, Doctor Who Panel - Nerd HQ: Comic-Con, July 2015
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(Here’s a compilation of all the times Moffat and Gatiss admitted that they lie to the audience about plot points and the future direction of their show)
Moffits have been proved time and time again to be lying liars who lie through their teeth*. And what do you do with people who are like that? Do you just accept they will tell the truth? Um, no. But you shouldn't just reject everything they say either. What you can do is that you compare what they are saying to what you see being shown on screen and see how it holds up. You know, do a little detective work for a detective show. Sherlockian games part 2 and all.
But I guess everybody would want to to dismiss the entire show and choose to believe the surface reading of the show, that's what makes it so clever. A lie that's preferable to the truth. All the brilliant subtexts and allusions in the show are just coincidences and wishful thinking (instead of techniques widely used in mystery literature to tell a story which aims to make same sex couples acceptable to a wider audience). No one feels inadequate. Moffat/ Gatiss/ Thompson are just ordinary people who -like other 101 tv show producers- didn't plan a series-wide arc of their show from the start.
*Here are examples of Moffits being the most truthful showrunners in the history of running shows:
Question: It seems that a lot of fans are interested in know if there are any other "easter eggs" that they'll be able to pick up on repeat viewings
Gatiss/Moffat: No Easter eggs unless we're lying.
…
Question: What is your opinion (if any) on Sherlock's sexuality? Does it matter, or is it irrelevant to you as writers?
Gatiss/ Moffat: Sherlock lives in his brain - everything else is transport. Unless we're lying. Again.
- S. Moffat & M. Gatiss, Masterpiece Filmmaker Chat, November 2010
(rebloggable link courtesy of skulls-and-tea)
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- M. Gatiss with S. Moffat, Sherlock Series 3 DVD Extras
(rebloggable link courtesy of finalproblem)
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"It changes the experience of writing if I give too much away. Right now, I’ve got an idea for the ending which I’m extremely excited about, but I don’t wanna say it out loud. Not because it would matter if anyone knew about it, but just because saying it out loud might spoil the magic—you might look disappointed. So I need to cling to this idea—in fact, that’s a relevant thing to say about writing. Before, I’ve told people things and they seem underwhelmed, so I’ve lost faith in it from that point on!"
…
"The most truthful thing I have said in this interview, about writing, is the importance of these secrets: The magic of Not Telling Anyone Yet. I know Russell [T. Davies] thinks that way too — he won’t tell anybody what he’s doing. Because it turns to ashes in your mouth. It almost becomes ordinary."
- S. Moffat, Panini’s Doctor Who Magazine, June 2008
(rebloggable link courtesy of skulls-and-tea)
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“Surely you must have learned by now not to try and predict us. We deliberately lie, we deliberately confuse in order to keep you in the dark about our intentions.”
- S. Moffat, Radiotimes, January, 2012
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(When asked about upcoming stories in series 4 and 5)
"Anything is possible. But we do our best to surprise you with a combination of lies and deceit. So, we’re never going to tell you what we’re going to do."
- S. Moffat, IGN post- series 3 premiere, January 2014
(rebloggable link courtesy of skulls-and-tea)
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Interviewer: So what did you say to Steven and Mark after you read the [Mary] twist?
Abbington: I texted them, 'You bastards.' It was brilliant. I was so happy.
Interviewer: I feel like Steven lives for people saying, ‘You bastard’ to him in that way.
Abbington: He does. He loves that. That’s why he brought Moriarty back after he said in interviews, “Moriarty’s dead, okay? He’s dead.” And here’s Moriarty in the finale saying, “I’m back. Did you miss me?”
- A. Abbington, Vulture, Feb 2014
(rebloggable link courtesy of skulls-and-tea)
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Question: I was just wondering about the creative decision to bring Moriarty back. I’m thrilled, but you were very adamant he wasn’t coming back.
Moffat: Because I’ve always given this grand commitment to telling the truth! [laughter] You don’t know what’s going on there. You don’t know what’s going on there. We know what’s going on there but we’re not telling you… for bloody ages! [laughter]. It must be hell watching this show.
- S. Moffat, Bafta screening of His Last Vow, January 2014
(rebloggable link courtesy of skulls-and-tea)
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"If you tell the truth all the time, there’s no variety, there’s no creativity, so we just make stuff up. I know that sounds terrible that I lied so completely and utterly, I didn’t hint a lie, I just said, no, we’re definitely not [bringing back the Master]. Look, if I were organizing a surprise party for you, I would deny it. If you said ‘Are you organizing a party?’ I’d say ‘No!’ because it would spoil the surprise party."
- S. Moffat, Den of Geek, November 2014
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Interviewer: There were a lot of questions from people wanting to know what will happen next on Sherlock and Dr. Who in the upcoming seasons...
Gatiss: It's a perennial problem that people ask about upcoming story lines. We're never going to reveal anything, so please don't waste your questions! Fans always think they want to know what is going to happen, but it would always end up being a bit of a disappointment later. I've invented a word for it - antici-pointment - looking forward to something so much and then being depressed that they now know it. Years ago, I was given a massive Dr. Who spoiler, and I was elated for a second but then was disappointed because it would never have the same impact when watching it. So it's always more exciting if audiences let themselves get surprised.
- M. Gatiss, India Today Online, December 2014
(rebloggable link courtesy of @bunboyfriend)
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“Well, If I had a plan, I wouldn't tell you. What I would say if I had a plan was, ‘I have plans as yet.’ If I didn't have a plan I’d also say, ‘no plans as yet.’ So... you know, I don’t really tell the truth.”
- S. Moffat, Doctor Who Panel - Nerd HQ: Comic-Con, July 2015
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(x)
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We knew we’d have to lie. It’s extraordinary how people do get slightly cross when the alternative is we’ve just spoiled it! We were never going to sit at a table and say, “actually, here’s the twist”. Somehow we get blamed for that! But I’m afraid it’s what we have to do. You can never really trust anything we say, not even what I’m saying now.
- M. Gatiss, Themes Dissected - Post Mortem: The Abominable Bride
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Moffat lied publicly several times about the inclusion of anyone but Ten and Eleven in the Dr. Who 50th Anniversary Special. He even got several other ex-Doctors to be “outraged” at their exclusion (which turned out to all be for the sake of a faux-documentary to go along with the special). He really got people pissed off, too. Then we got a mini-episode featuring Eight and a significant cameo by Four.
So my conclusion is that judging by their track record and admission it's not feasible to blindly rely on Moffits' words alone to understand the future of sherlock. I mean imagine that you are the detective and Moffits are the suspects. If You have got overwhelming evidence that they have committed a crime but if they simply say that they’re innocent during questioning surely you wouldn't take them for their word and just let them walk away???
