BBC's Sherlock Season 3 First Episode is The Adventure of the Empty House

By Matt Holmes / May 3, 2012

Co-creator Mark Gatiss has hinted that the first episode of BBC's Sherlock Season 3 will be an adaptation of Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle's novel "The Adventure of the Empty House". If you recall, the Sherlock series two finale saw the Baker Street detective Sherlock Holmes (Bendict Cumberbatch) seemingly falling to his death in what was a loose adaptation of Conan Doyle's famous story "The Final Problem". That tale was Conan Doyle killing off both Holmes & the evil Prof. Moriarity as he was sick of the character but his popularity forced him to continue writing them and he brought Holmes back in 'The Empty House' tale. This story is the next chronologically in the canon, so it makes sense for Gatiss and Moffat to adapt it next;

"There's certain things about 'The Adventure of the Empty House' which feel set in stone because that's how Sherlock comes back, but at the same time we feel free to invent and to introduce new stuff to it," Gatiss told PA. "I always found it a little unlikely that Dr Watson's only reaction was to faint for instance - as supposed to possibly a stream of terrible swear words."

Gatiss also revealed that it is the tone and "overfall feel" of Sherlock series three that will dictate what narrative is used for the second and third episodes. This may even find Gatiss & Moffat not adapting their favourite tales, for something that makes more sense as an overall structure;

"Steven and I have our all-time favourites, but it's really a question of what will fit into the structure," he explained.

Sherlock Season 3 that will reunite Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Watson, will likely begin filming early next year for a premiere Christmas 2013.