Sherlock: 7 Predictions For The Christmas Special
1. The Blue Carbuncle
With the prospect of a Christmas story for Sherlock, if Moffatt and Gatiss are looking to the source material for inspiration then theres one thats obviously ripe for adaptation: The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.
The story takes place a couple of days after the big day itself, with Watson calling in on Holmes only to find him rather obsessed with a hat. That is part of a larger mystery surrounding the theft of an almost priceless jewel called the blue carbuncle, which turns up in the throat of a goose. Who stole it, and how it ended up in the bird, is the mystery the pair set out to solve.
Itd be a fitting tale for a Christmas special, one they could have fun with and not need to go too dark, and indeed has already been adapted a couple of times for television, in both the Jeremy Brett and Peter Cushing versions. There was also a nod to it in the episode The Empty Hearse, with Sherlock and Mycroft playing a game of deduction with a hat, similar to a scene from the carbuncle story.
Both Mackinnon and Gatiss have tweeted quotes from the story, which could just be some teasing and misdirection, but more likely its a big indication the The Blue Carbuncle will be the basis for the Christmas special.