Sherlock
The Empty Hearse
TV Flash files “The Empty Hearse” as the first listed hour of season 3 — Sherlock (2010–2017) on BBC/PBS, season 3, episode 1, aired 2014-01-01, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S03E01: listed hour 7 of 12 in the Sherlock guide, first listed hour of season 3. It aired 2014-01-01 (90 min). The listed hour before it is “The Reichenbach Fall” (S02E03). Next is “The Sign of Three” (S03E02).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
'Just one more miracle, Sherlock. Stop being dead.' Two years after the devastating events of The Reichenbach Fall, Dr John Watson has got on with his life. New horizons, romance and a comforting domestic future beckon. But with London under threat of a huge terrorist attack, Sherlock Holmes is about to rise from the grave with all the theatricality that comes so naturally to him. It's what his best friend wanted more than anything, but for John Watson it might well be a case of 'be careful what you wish for!' If Sherlock thinks everything will be just as he left it, though, he is in for a very big surprise...
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Empty Hearse sit in the Sherlock guide?
S03E01 is listed hour 7 of 12 — first listed hour of season 3, season 3 episode 1.
When did Sherlock S03E01 air?
The Empty Hearse aired 2014-01-01 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
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes made texting-era London a mind palace — Gatiss and Moffat’s movie-length BBC/PBS events, Freeman as the global double act, on-screen texts, Moriarty as fandom sport, hiatuses like hostage situations.…
- Martin Freeman as John Watson
Martin Freeman’s Lester Nygaard is Fargo’s first-season ordinary man stepping into a snowdrift of crime — politeness as a trap, Midwestern manners until they are not. Noah Hawley’s FX anthology inherited the Coens’ moral geometry; Freeman…
- 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
Andrew Scott’s “hot priest” on Fleabag detonated fourth-wall confession into global discourse — faith, desire, and a cigarette that still starts fights. Short-run perfection needed his ache. TV Flash still looks at the lens when he walks…
- Amanda Abbington as Mary Watson
Amanda Abbington’s Mary Watson walked Sherlock’s texting-era London as the partner the GIF-age double act could not treat as furniture. Cumberbatch and Freeman, mind palaces, movie-length BBC events, hiatuses like hostage situations. TV…