The Purpose of the Christmas Special
[This got quite longer than expected. Here's an abstract of my musing/speculation:
The Christmas Special will be written by Mark Gatiss and Stephen Thompson. [confirmed: Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat]
It will take place in the HLV gap before Christmas.
On a second time line we'll learn something about Sherlock's childhood.
"The Blue Carbuncle" will be woven into the story of the special.
The Christmas Special will increase the cliffhanger of HLV by giving us more insights to the characters, their motives and actions, we've already seen in HLV.]
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As it seems the airing of the Christmas won't lead into an immediate airing of S4 only a few weeks later, which would have meant to just expand series 4 up to four episodes.
There are two writers who always wanted to write a story, that seemed too difficult to fit in the progression of the story line.
In his Doctor Who Magazine interview, Thompson said his initial idea for “The Blind Banker” was to focus entirely on nine-year-old Sherlock. Moffat and Gatiss nixed the notion of an episode with no Benedict Cumberbatch, and Thompson said of it, “I must’ve been drunk or something.” But still, Thompson described this child-Sherlock idea as “one thing I wanted to do, which I didn’t get to do”; this remained a story of some importance to him.
(x) The interview referred to in DWM is from sept 19 2013
“I love [the story] The Blue Carbuncle,” he told RadioTimes.com. “I’d love to use it as the basis for a Sherlock Christmas special!”
(x) sept 16 2011, during shooting S2
And additionally: Moffat just said at the Emmy's, that the filming for the special will start at the same time as him beginning shooting Doctor Who. As he tends to work on the script until the last minute, I can't imagine him doing DW and Sherlock simultaneously. That's why I suppose, the special will be written by Mark Gatiss and Stephen Thompson.
I imagine two time lines:
1. Christmas/advent at Baker Street.
2. Christmas during Sherlock's childhood.
I'm not quite sure, where the Blue Carbuncle is to put, but I'm intrigued by the possibilities for the childhood-time line:
Although Sherlock doesn't use idioms very often, we heard the "it's Christmas" in the event of an exciting case two times. Letting kid!Sherlock solve the Blue Carbuncle case on Christmas (perhaps in contrast to whatever problems there are in the family) would give this exclamation a personal meaning.
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Will the Christmas Special resolve the Cliffhanger from HLV?
No, I don't think so. Because if they did, they would have to build up a new cliffhanger for the end of the special until the beginning of S4. That's rather a lot to do in 90 minutes. I think, instead, they will increase the impact of the cliffhanger of HLV, they will make it worse. Rewatching the tarmac scene will make us cry even more.
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How can we make the tarmac scene even worse?
By giving the audience more insights to the characters and what they know or assume about each other. Therefore the "Baker Street time line" will be set at hospital/Baker Street, filling the gap between Mary shooting Sherlock and Christmas at his parent's.
Here are some ideas. (I'm sorry, that I'm not a writer - I hope it'll suffice to give you an image.) There could be scenes to give the audience more information. And there could be scenes that play with overhearing somebody else. How about his?
First hours after the shooting. Sherlock sleeping. John sitting at his bed, looking exhausted. Mary standing behind him.
MARY: John, let's go home.
JOHN: No it's fine, I'm staying.
MARY: You never stopped loving him, did you?
John closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, then starts talking quietly.
JOHN: I was hooked the first day we met. I still want to kill him for what he did to me, when he jumped. But seeing him shot...
John turns to face Mary, looking desperately.
JOHN: But I love you. We are married!
MARY: I know. - I know, you choose me.
The camera angle changes and we see Sherlock, eyes open. Mary consoling John in the background.
Or, what about giving "William Sherlock Scott" more meaning?
As Irene left/sent a rose for Sherlock in hospital (x), perhaps they talked as well?
SHERLOCK: Why do you think that?
IRENE: Because he was jealous at me, when I flirted with you! He even offered his name for our future baby!
SHERLOCK: And offering your own name for some else's child means that you're in love with them??
IRENE: Yes... sometimes...
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And of course the Christmas Special offers the option to add twists in the reasoning for the action we've seen so far in HLV. In the end of the special we perhaps will look differently at...
why Sherlock forgave Mary and pushed John back to her
why John forgave Mary (reversed Reichenbach Fall?)
Sherlock shooting Magnussen
someone preparing the Miss-me-video...
