A Study in Pink 

War vet Dr. John Watson returns to London in need of a place to stay. He meets Sherlock Holmes, a consulting detective, and the two soon find themselves digging into a string of serial "suicides."

Director:

Paul McGuigan

Writers:

Steven Moffat, Arthur Conan Doyle (based on the works of) (as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Stars:

Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Rupert Graves

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Benedict Cumberbatch	...	Sherlock Holmes
Martin Freeman	...	Dr. John Watson
Rupert Graves	...	DI Lestrade
Una Stubbs	...	Mrs. Hudson
Louise Brealey	...	Molly Hooper
Vinette Robinson	...	Sgt Sally Donovan
Tanya Moodie	...	Ella
Siobhan Hewlett	...	Helen (as Siobhán Hewlett)
William Scott-Masson	...	Sir Jeffrey Patterson
Victoria Wicks	...	Margaret Patterson
Sean Joseph Young	...	Gary (as Sean Young)
James Duncan	...	Jimmy
Ruth Everett	...	Political Aide
Syrus Lowe	...	Political Aide
Katy Maw	...	Beth Davenport

Storyline

Wounded in Afghanistan while in the Army, Dr. John Watson returns to contemporary London and, through a mutual acquaintance, becomes a flatmate at Mrs. Hudson's 221B Baker Street apartment with brilliant if eccentric private investigator Sherlock Holmes. There have been three identical apparent suicides, and Inspector Lestrade asks for Sherlock's intervention over the fourth, the suspicious death of Jennifer Wilson. As she lay dying she wrote 'Rache' upon the floor and Sherlock deduces that this is not just the incomplete name of her stillborn daughter "Rachel" of many years earlier but the password of her mobile phone. This leads Sherlock to confront a terminally ill serial killer who slays people, in part, to show superiority over the rest of society, and who is determined to make Sherlock his next victim.

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | serial suicides | serial killer | consulting detective | mobile phone | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 October 2010 (USA)

Filming Locations:

St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hartswood Films,BBC Wales,Masterpiece Theatre

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many scenes took place at night, outdoors, or both, during what turned out to be the coldest winter in Britain for three decades. Martin Freeman recalls standing in ice water once for several hours waiting to get a take done. One morning he fell while getting out of his ride to the set and broke his wrist, requiring that he shoot many of his scenes for the next several weeks with his arm temporarily liberated from its plaster cast. He was luckier than Benedict Cumberbatch, though, whose persistent flu turned out to be life-threatening pneumonia, for which he was hospitalized.

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Goofs

Sherlock and Watson agree to meet at 7 p.m. to view the flat. When they get there, it's broad daylight. This is not quite possible in London unless it's summer, which, judging from the clothes they wear, is not.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ella: How's your blog going?
Dr John Watson: Yeah, good. Very good.
Ella: You haven't written a word, have you?
Dr John Watson: You just wrote, "still has trust issues".
Ella: And you read my writing upside down. You see what I mean? John, you're a soldier, and it's going to take you a while to adjust to civilian life, and writing a blog about everything that happens to you will honestly help you.
Dr John Watson: Nothing happens to me.

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Connections

Featured in Timeshift: How to Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective (2014)

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Soundtracks

Opening Titles
(uncredited)
Written by David Arnold and Michael Price

User Reviews

This Brilliant, Tantalizing First Step Leaves Both US Features in its Dust

A sharp, witty modernization of the Holmes mythos, the first in this ongoing series of feature-length chapters almost perfectly strikes the difficult balance between respect for the source material and fresh, original elaborations. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are equally prickly, sardonic and brilliant as Holmes and Watson, respectively, both to the common folks they're tripping over at every turn and to each other while they hash out the boundaries of their burgeoning friendship. Smart, fresh editing techniques give the audience an abundance of visual hints to Sherlock's methods at a crime scene, and also give the transitions between each scene a sleek, artsy edge that helps to convince this is more than a made-for-TV movie. Though it does occasionally leave Holmes himself in the dark just a bit too long in hopes that viewers at home will figure things out first, that's a very minor gripe and one I'm not entirely sure is actually a negative in this era of the deus ex machina. A bold, rewarding first step that sets the ball into motion for any number of future developments.