10 Incredible Similarities Between Doctor Who And Sherlock

7. The Subversion of Icons

"Icons?" I hear you query. Yes, all good fiction has its icons, from the Millenium Falcon, to the girl in red from Schindler's List. What Steven Moffat especially does though, is not just use the icons of both Sherlock and Who, but poke fun at them for the amusement of the viewers. An example of this would be the irony with which Cumberbatch's Holmes dislikes his deerstalker hat. The relationship between Sherlock and John, a very Victorian, crime-solving duo is made to seem like a gay relationship. The idea that Sherlock that should smoke a pipe is replaced by the notion that he's giving up, as is the modern world. Compare that to the Doctor's icons. Clara claims that the TARDIS is "smaller on the outside", and like the subversion of Sherlock's big icons, that's as much a reference in-show, as in the real world. There's the joke about the sonic screwdriver not "doing wood" €“ it was Moffat that brought that joke in on 'Silence in the Library', concluding with a punchline in 'The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe'. He uses the psychic paper for a gag about responsible adults in 'A Christmas Carol'. And Moffat's more than happy to explode the TARDIS ('The Big Bang'), set off an explosion at 221B Baker Street ('The Great Game'), and roughen up the door of both these locations to suggest darkness on the inside ('The Snowmen' when the Doctor wallows in loneliness, 'A Scandal in Belgravia' when Sherlock tortures the CIA agent).