Sherlock
The Reichenbach Fall
TV Flash files “The Reichenbach Fall” as a desk essential hour — Sherlock (2010–2017) on BBC/PBS, season 2, episode 3, aired 2012-01-15, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S02E03: listed hour 6 of 12 in the Sherlock guide, last listed hour of season 2. It aired 2012-01-15 (90 min). The listed hour before it is “The Hounds of Baskerville” (S02E02). Next is “The Empty Hearse” (S03E01).
Essential hour: “The Reichenbach Fall”. The Reichenbach Fall treats Moriarty as fandom sport: the fall as a global appointment cliff, not a weekly puzzle.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Watch as Moriarty poses the "final problem" and a tabloid reporter reveals the "shocking truth" about Sherlock.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Reichenbach Fall sit in the Sherlock guide?
S02E03 is listed hour 6 of 12 — last listed hour of season 2, season 2 episode 3.
When did Sherlock S02E03 air?
The Reichenbach Fall aired 2012-01-15 and is listed at 90 minutes.
Is it set in Victorian London?
No. Contemporary update: smartphones, blogs, text overlays. Doyle's characters and cases, Gatiss/Moffat's London now.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Holmes in texting-era London: Cumberbatch and Freeman as a global double act, mind palaces, on-screen texts, Moriarty as fandom sport. Gatiss and Moffat's movie-length BBC/PBS events made hiatuses feel like hostage situations. Modern Doyle for the GIF age — appointment mystery with waits that became part of the phenomenon.
The coat first. Benedict Cumberbatch's consulting detective in texting-era London, silhouette as a brand, Victorian arrogance cut against smartphone flair. Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat's BBC One series — *Masterpiece* in the U.S. — premiered July 25, 2010 as a contemporary Doyle update. Martin Freeman's John Watson blogs beside him. Episodes run like movies. Andrew Scott's Moriarty, Una Stubbs's Hudson, Rupert Graves's Lestrade, mind-palace overlays: detective television dressed as a global double act. **This…
Filed against
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- Martin Freeman as John Watson
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- Una Stubbs as Mrs. Hudson
Una Stubbs’s Mrs. Hudson kept Sherlock’s Baker Street human while Cumberbatch and Freeman turned texting-era London into a global double act. Mind palaces, on-screen texts, Moriarty as fandom sport, Gatiss and Moffat’s movie-length…
- Rupert Graves as Greg Lestrade
Rupert Graves's Greg Lestrade kept Sherlock's texting-era London honest — Cumberbatch and Freeman as a global double act, mind palaces, on-screen texts, Moriarty as fandom sport. Gatiss and Moffat's movie-length BBC/PBS events. TV Flash…
- Andrew Scott as Jim Moriarty
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