#setlock recap

Finally, as with my previous recaps, I haven’t gone through the process of marking things as unconfirmed. If you have questions about that (or anything else), let me know.

   The Final Problem

Writers: Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss

Director: Benjamin Caron

Key name: Sherrinford

Confirmed castings:

Guard

Ben

Police officer

Velma

Vince

Girl on plane

Armed guard

Leonard

Police officer (another one)

   Filming by Location

North Gower Street

June 12

Benjamin tweeted a picture of the crane used for the first part of filming at North Gower Street and said it was his first day filming. Therefore, the scene they filmed at the start of the day seems to be part of episode 3. For this scene, around 10 supporting actors were present on the street outside 221B. In one photograph, a newspaper can be seen which features the headline Police set to reopen ‘Peckham Poisoner’ case. A silver car, a taxi, and a grey car were parked along the side of the street. The scene was filmed from an overhead angle, using the crane.

Scene: There are people walking along Baker Street and sitting outside at Speedy’s, when something happens that causes them to all flee in fright.

St. Catherine’s Island

June 27, 28

The first day of filming mostly seemed to take place outside St. Catherine’s Fort and on the beach surrounding the island. Ralph Ineson (Vince) and Richard Crehan (Ben) were spotted in yellow fishing bibs, and there were also several supporting actors all dressed in dark peacoats and trousers, white shirts, black ties, and dark grey knit caps, carrying submachine guns. At one point, we also saw pictures of large panels, like those used for the walls of the 221B set, being carried up the stairs to the fort. (Unfortunately we only saw the back side of them, so we don’t know what was on the proper side.) We didn’t get much in the way of reports about what was filmed, but in pictures we can see the armed men pointing at something/someone down on the sand, as well as standing on a bridge outside the fort looking out at the surrounding island.

Most of what we saw on the second day was aerial filming around the fort. The supporting actors with the guns were back and wearing the same costumes. At times, they could be seen on the walkways around the fort, as well as on the roof, where a yellow and black/navy flag was flying on the flagpole. A helicopter was used to film aerial footage, sweeping all around the island, but also appears to be part of the plot as well, as it can be seen briefly in the SDCC trailer. There were also rumors that a fight scene was going to be filmed on the beach, but that never came to fruition.

SDCC Trailer: There are two short clips of the armed men running through the inside of the fort, as well as the aforementioned shot of the helicopter flying near the fort with green fields in the background.

Unconfirmed: Ogmore Castle

July 4

Reports put both Ben and Mark in costume at Ogmore Castle (though Mark wasn’t seen filming), along with a young girl with blonde hair in pigtails.

Scene: According to reports, the girl runs in circles around Sherlock while he watches her. Possibly, after she stops running, she says “Mary.”

Beach Road

July 5

Interior filming took place in a house on Beach Road in Southerndown. From the setup outside, they appeared to be using the kitchen/breakfast room. Loo, Ben, Martin, and Andrew were all around on this day of filming, though not necessarily in this location. Loo seems to be the most likely to have filmed here, as she was seen only in non-filming pictures at the second, nearby location. Quite possibly Ben and/or Martin were there as well, as they weren’t seen at the second location until later in the day. Molly’s costume included black (corduroy?) trousers and the multi-colored knitted sweater she wore when working cases with Sherlock in TEH.

Dunraven Bay

July 5

There were at least three separate things filmed on this beach in Southerndown. The first portion featured Andrew Scott and several supporting actors, as well as a helicopter. Andrew was costumed in a navy suit and shirt and a dark tie (maybe the skull tie?) with a tie pin. There were two men in dark suits and white shirts who appeared to be bodyguards or some kind of backup for Moriarty, and there was also a balding man in a dark suit and white shirt, as well as at least two armed men with him, dressed the same as at St. Catherine’s Island in Tenby.

Scene: Moriarty and his two guards exit and stand in front of the helicopter, where Moriarty has in his headphones and makes various over-the-top gestures. Then they walk away from the helicopter toward the balding man and the armed men that flank him and have a discussion.

SDCC Trailer: In the trailer we see the helicopter flying over the beach, coming in to land, as well as a brief shot of the back of Andrew’s head as he walks away from the helicopter.

The next portion of filming was reportedly of Ben getting on and off of the helicopter. Sherlock is dressed in the Belstaff, black suit, and white shirt.

The final bit of filming involved Martin and someone else costumed in yellow fishing bibs and a knit cap. John is dressed in the black multi-pocket jacket, jeans, and I believe a navy polo-style shirt.

Scene: Reportedly, the fisherman and John put their hands up as if surrendering.

Cory Chambers

July 13

They filmed on the first storey of Cory Chambers on Bute Street. A couple tweets mentioned Ben, but by the time setlockers arrived, there were only a few supporting actors in casual/business casual clothing leaving the set as the crew packed up.

Cardiff Bay Barrage

July 13

Ben, Martin, and our two fishermen, Richard Crehan (Ben) and Ralph Ineson (Vince) were on set for filming on a boat. The fishermen were seemingly dressed the same as at (or at least really similarly to) the St. Catherine’s Island shoot, in yellow fishing bibs. Sherlock was in a white shirt, black suit, and the Belstaff, while John was in a blue polo-style shirt, the black multi-pocket jacket, and jeans. Both of these costumes seem to match what they wore on the beach at Dunraven Bay in Southerndown. Real SFX was on hand to provide smoke/fog effects during filming.

The first scene filmed here was with just the two fishermen.

Scene: Ben the fishermen leans over the railing, coughing a lot. He takes a sip of something and goes back inside the cabin of the boat.

The second scene added John and Sherlock to the mix. Based on a slate seen on set, this is scene 25.

Scene: Sherlock stands on the roof of the cabin of the boat, with John crouched next to him. The fishermen stand on deck at the back of the boat. John stands, walks to the edge of the roof, and points his gun at the fishermen. Then Sherlock jumps off the roof, down onto the deck near the fishermen.

Ty Gwyn

July 15, night

(It’s slightly possible they also filmed here the night of the 14th, but we really don’t know for sure.)

Benjamin posted a picture of the front of the main house at Ty Gwyn, confirming they were here, but the location isn’t accessible to the public, which means we don’t even know for sure who was filming here.

Lower Machen

July 18, 19, 20, nights

Filming was at a private farm/house in Lower Machen for three consecutive night shoots. Pretty much the only thing we know is that Ben was there all three nights and that he wore the Belstaff on at least the night of the 19th.

Museum Avenue

August 4

Filming was at Cardiff University, along Museum Avenue in Cathays Park, where the building entrance had been redecorated with signs labeling it Rathbone Place. Martin and Ben were both present for filming. Sherlock is wearing the Belstaff, black suit, plum shirt, and navy scarf. John is in the Haversack, jeans, and a dark, collared shirt (can’t see much of it beyond that). We don’t know anything about what was filmed, as they had finished filming by the time we found out about this location.

In the Studio and Unknown Locations

June 27

Benjamin gave us the first slate for ep 3 filming, which is for scene 136. It looks to be indoors, judging by what little can be made of the reflection on the slate, so the studio is a good possibility here. Eos Counsell (violin coach) was also around this day, so the 221B set seems most likely.

June 29

Arwel posted a picture of Benjamin in Sherlock’s chair, so presumably they filmed at Pinewood.

June 30

Eos posted that she was “Sherlocking” this day, so it sounds like they were filming somewhere, possibly Pinewood.

July 1

Arwel tweeted a photo of DoP David Luther that was clearly taken in the studio, though we only see the back of whatever set they’re using.

July 2

Even though they didn’t do much weekend filming for this series, on this Saturday, Eos and David Arnold (music) both posted pictures from the 221B set.

July 6

Sue posted a video from the 221B sitting room that shows both Ben and Mark in costume. Sherlock is in all dark colors, and Mycroft is in a dark suit, white shirt, and (I think) red tie. Rupert was also in Cardiff this day, but it’s unclear if he actually filmed then or if he was there early for the next day’s filming (as Amanda was).

July 8

Benjamin posted a picture from the studio.

July 12

Thom Will (PR) tweeted that he was at Pinewood for Sherlock-related things on this day; however, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they were filming there at the time, though they could have been. Nic Pringle also posted this picture, which is not from Pinewood. It’s possible they filmed in two locations, or maybe Thom Will was just at Pinewood for meetings or something and didn’t actually see any filming.

July 14, night

Benjamin posted a Prisma picture from the 14th, but it’s pretty much unrecognizable. Filming signs were spotted very early the next day at Ty Gwyn, so it’s possible they were actually here the night of the 14th as well, but that’s just a guess really.

July 20

Amanda posted a picture on the 221B set—I’m going to talk about it more in the Other Things of Note section below.

July 21, night

There is a picture of the slate for scene 93, which I think is dated the 21st as best I can tell. It’s from a night shoot outside at Pinewood Studios. It’s strange, however, because if that slate was actually in front of a camera when that picture was taken, it looks like they were filming toward the trailers and their own trucks and such.

July 22, night

Benjamin posted pics that, like the previous night, were taken outside at Pinewood. This is also the day that Sue and Mark mentioned at SDCC that Martin was doing a scene by himself that reportedly made him uncomfortable.

July 26

Benjamin posted a behind the scenes picture that appears to probably be from inside the studio. We also got a picture of Mark in the makeup chair, and according to what Mark and Ben said at SDCC, the two of them and Martin were all doing a big scene this day with a lot of dialogue. (It’s not literally 26 pages of dialogue though, as was so often mentioned following SDCC. That’s not really possible for them to have done in one day, as 26 pages would probably account for something like a quarter of the episode. In the video of the panel, Ben actually says that it’s about 26 pages for the week--not just this one day--which could be true, but could also easily be an exaggeration.)

July 27

We got a picture of Rupert at Pinewood. Eos also posted a picture from the studio, so the 221B set seems the most likely location if she was involved. We also know that Amanda, Loo, and Una were all around this day as well.

July 29

Benjamin posted a picture of Arwel in Sherlock’s chair, with the sitting room of 221B looking rather messy. We also got a picture from Mark of Sherlock, John, and Mycroft standing in a field. Sherlock is in a black suit with a light blue shirt. Mycroft is wearing a navy suit with a white shirt, blue tie, tie bar, red pocket square, and gold watch chain with a black fob. John is in a light blue shirt, black jacket, and dark jeans.

August 1

Benjamin gave us a picture from Pinewood.

August 2

We got pics from outside the studio of the taco truck that Ben hired for everyone for lunch. Loo was on set this day, as was Mark (and presumably Ben). We got some pics of Loo having fun in a wig (which probably aren’t relevant but who honestly knows?). She also shared a picture from her trailer where you can see Molly’s cherry cardigan, so possibly that was from her costume for the day. Mycroft’s costume included a white shirt, a tie with a very small dot/check pattern on it, and a thin gold tie bar with a black stone in the center. (It’s a black and white picture but you can see this same tie bar in the first clip of Mycroft in his office in the SDCC trailer.)

August 3

Dominique Arthur posted a pic of Ben and a child outside Pinewood. Sherlock is wearing a white shirt and dark trousers, while the kid has on a baseball cap, a jersey with the number 95 on it, and jeans. (It isn’t clear if the kid is in costume there or even if he’s an actor—he could be the child of someone on set for all we know—but an actor in costume seems most likely.)

August 4

Benjamin posted a pic from the front of the studio.

August 5

On the final day of filming, we got plenty of pictures from Pinewood, including some from the Baker Street set. Ben was photographed in costume--a black suit with a white shirt and the Belstaff. Martin was also spotted at Pinewood but not in costume, so it’s unclear if he was actually filming or not.

   Arwel’s Updates

Arwel didn’t give us much for the last episode, but again, just in case any of it is important, here’s a list of all the things he tweeted during the second break and the third block. If there are definite connections to things from filming, I’ve listed that in brackets, and once again I’m not linking the pics but you can find them all tagged #Arwel Wyn Jones if you want to find them.

Break 2

Arwel sitting in Sherlock’s chair (many people pointed out that there seems to possibly be a child’s violin case behind him in the photograph)

Block 3

June 27

The 221B front door and one of the sitting room walls

June 29

Benjamin in Sherlock’s chair

July 1

DoP David Luther in the studio

A video of the 221B front door and entryway

July 5

A stuffed mouse on a skateboard [possibly from the house on Beach Road, ep 3]

July 6

‘Sherlock’ mowed into the grass

July 7

No access for pedestrians

July 15

His shoes/legs on a walkway through grass [possibly at Ty Gwyn, ep 3]

July 22

An empty glass jar

A stencil for the yellow smiley

July 25

The prop store

July 27

The Zoffany logo

August 5

Arwel, Ben, and Martin on set [Museum Avenue, ep 3]

   Benjamin’s Updates

Benjamin used instagram and twitter a bit more than the other directors did, so I thought it might be worth mentioning all of the things he shared as well. I’ll put locations for the photos in brackets, if known, and as with Arwel’s updates, I’m not going to link all of them but you can find them all under my #Benjamin Caron tag (mixed in with other Benjamin-related things—sorry, I don’t have a separate one just for his posts).

June 12

Crane used for filming on North Gower Street [NGS, obviously]

June 27

Slate 1 for ep 3

June 28

Helicopter [used for filming at St. Catherine’s Island, Tenby]

“Mind Head” [presumably at St. Catherine’s Fort, Tenby]

July 2

A red light

July 5

Another helicopter [Dunraven Bay]

A beer and his notes

The beach [Dunraven Bay]

July 8

A light and some equipment in the studio [presumably Pinewood]

July 12

Tripping hazard sign

Powerline junction (not sure if this is setlock-related though, as it wasn’t tagged)

July 13

A toilet (Prisma filter)

Benjamin and Andrew Scott (Primsa filter) [presumably a backpost from Dunraven Bay]

Tunnara II [Cardiff Bay Barrage]

July 14

Ben and Martin on the boat (Primsa filter) [backpost from Cardiff Bay Barrage]

??? a blue spot with an orange/yellow line (Prisma filter)

A selfie

July 15

The front of the main house at Ty Gwyn [Ty Gwyn, obviously]

July 18

Blurry hills [Lower Machen]

July 19

Tea and a cupcake

July 20

Blurry house [Lower Machen]

July 21

Two-headed goat

July 22

Jurassic Park jeep [Pinewood]

Lighting trucks and a crane [Pinewood]

Camera truck [presumably Pinewood]

July 26

Some kind of… equipment

July 28

Arwel in Sherlock’s chair in a messy 221B

August 1

Stage 1 sign [Pinewood]

August 2

Loo in a wig

August 4

The main entrance to the studio [Pinewood]

Slate 500 for ep 3, which has a drawing of Sherlock firing a gun, with John and Mycroft in the background

August 5

DoP David Luther [Pinewood]

Safety briefing [Pinewood]

The Mr Blue Skull replacement [Pinewood]

The bison skull [Pinewood]

Slate 517 for ep 3, scene 77 [presumably Pinewood]

Benjamin, Martin, and Ben [backpost from Cardiff University, Museum Avenue]

   Other Things of Note

Steven mentioned at Sherlocked that while most episodes are 60 minutes of plot and 30 minutes of drama, this episode in particular is a lot of plot.

Back on June 3, Sarah Arthur (costumes) tweeted that she was beginning her prep for ep 3. Later that same day, she posted a picture of a vintage dress. The picture isn’t tagged definitively as being for Sherlock, but it could mean that she was looking for vintage clothing for the episode.

Sarah also later tweeted about a “brilliantly funny” fitting for Mark and tagged it for ep 3. Many people have speculated that this could be related to the picture Arwel tweeted as a Brexit joke just a few days later. It certainly doesn’t appear that it’s actually Una in Arwel’s picture and could in fact be Mark dressed as Mrs Hudson, but the question then becomes is that the funny fitting Sarah was talking about, and if so, was it just for the purposes of this joke or is there a show-related reason Mark (or someone else for that matter) would be dressed as Mrs Hudson? Or was the funny fitting tweet entirely unrelated to this?

On July 2, we got a report that a cave set was being built for the show, and later that week, we got a glimpse of the set being built at Bay Studios in Swansea, as well as a report that the cast would be filming there sometime the following week (July 11-15). We know that they filmed at the Cardiff Bay Barrage and Cory Chambers on the 13th and that they did night shoots on the 14th and 15th, so it seems as if they must have been in Swansea on the 11th and/or 12th. The 12th is when we got the tripping hazard sign posted by Benjamin, which many people speculated was related to the cave filming, and that seems a good possibility. There was also an instagram picture posted of a firetruck at Bay Studios that seems likely to be a backpost from these days. The caption on the picture says that it was for fire safety, so presumably they must have been using fire somewhere during the course of their filming on the cave set.

It’s also possible that they could have snuck off to the beach in Swansea while they were there. Gareth Skelding tweeted that he was on a recce at Rhossili Bay in Swansea on July 4. The fact that this would have only been a week before filming makes me skeptical that it’s actually related—it certainly could have been a recce for something that isn’t Sherlock—but it’s at least worth a mention. Similarly, he also posted about recces in Portmeirion on June 9 and at Cardiff Castle on June 3. The timing would make them part of ep 3 if they are Sherlock-related, but there’s definitely a good chance they’re for something else. For one, we didn’t see them film at either location, though it’s possible they could have done it without us finding out. But these recces were also a full month after the one other recce we know for sure was for ep 3, which was the one at Dunraven Bay on May 5. So while it’s possible any of these three were indeed for ep 3, I think they’re most likely not for Sherlock at all. As I said before though, it’s at least worth a mention, just in case.

There were several interesting casting tidbits of note during block 3. First, a casting call went out July 4 looking for three sets of blonde, twin girls, aged 1 month, 18 months, and 2-3 years old. It didn’t specify at all that this was for Sherlock or even provide a date or location they’d be needed for filming, so I don’t know that this is actually related, but it could be. In particular, there was a lot of speculation that this could relate to the young girl reportedly seen at Ogmore Castle, but others also thought it could be Baby Watson.

We got another casting call for this block that we know for sure is related. On June 21, we found a notice looking for boys to play a 6-year-old version of Sherlock in a couple of flashback scenes. The notice also specifically indicated that it was a non-speaking role. Benjamin is listed as the director, so we know for sure it’s for ep 3 (though that was likely anyway as filming would be during block 3, but it’s good to have the confirmation). We don’t know for sure when these scenes would have been filmed, but it’s possible it was August 3, when Dominique Arthur posted a picture of Ben and a child outside of Pinewood. 

On a possibly related note, there was the announcement on July 7 that 10-year-old Alfie Stoker had been cast in a “high profile BBC project.” Nothing at all in the announcement says Sherlock, and there are plenty of other high-profile projects at the Beeb, so there is every chance that this is not at all related to the show. However, speculation still ran rampant that Alfie looks like he could potentially play a young Mycroft. If it is for Sherlock, he’s certainly older than the child they wanted to play young Sherlock, at least making that unlikely to be his role, but a flashback to a Sherlock at that age could also require an older child to play Mycroft, which means it’s at least possible this speculation could pan out. (Mycroft would actually be 13 when Sherlock is 6, so Idk for sure that Alfie looks quite old enough for that, but it’s possible.)

Finally, there was the revelation that Honor Kneafsey plays “girl on plane” in this episode, which logically seems to indicate that the episode must also include a plane somewhere along the way, even though we never saw one during filming. There was a tweet from a member of the design crew way back in April with pictures from the wing of a plane, so maybe that’s related. She also tweeted a photo that included a list mentioning an in-flight magazine. Both of those tweets could be for another episode, especially as they were from so early on, but it could also have been really early prep work for ep 3. (Several people also caught that Honor had previously appeared as one of the children whose grandfather had died in ASIB, but I think it’s likely that she was just recast in a new role and not that this is supposed to be her same character from that ep.)

Last but not least, let’s wrap up by talking about Amanda. There were only three times during block 3 that she told us she was filming. The first time was on July 7, which turned out to actually be for ep 2, so we can ignore that one for the purposes of this recap--it’s discussed in the ep 2 recap instead.

The next was July 20, when she posted a picture of her hair being done, captioned “Last day… Series 4.” Later in the day, she posted a selfie from the sitting room of 221B where she’s wearing the same costume we saw her in for all of ep 2. There seem to be a few possibilities here. First, if you want to get technical about it, even though she posted the pictures on the 20th, she doesn’t actually say that that day is her last day; she just says that the pictures are of her last day—in theory, they could be backposts from the ep 2 filming on July 7. But that begs the question, why post them two weeks later? I tend to try to give people the benefit of the doubt when they talk about when they’re filming, so this isn’t my fave theory but is at least a possibility worth considering. Alternatively, if she did really film on the 20th, then where does that leave us, considering the costume she’s wearing? It could have been pickups for ep 2, things they didn’t manage to finish on the 7th. Or it could actually be for ep 3 and is a flashback to something during the plot of ep 2 or possibly ep 3 starts very soon after the events of the second episode. It’s hard to say, but the fact that her costume is so clearly the same one from ep 2 is definitely interesting. I wouldn’t think it’s just a case of her happening to wear something similar in a later episode—it clearly either has to be from the same episode or connected to it in some way. 

Despite Amanda saying that the 20th was her last day, however, Sue told us at SDCC that she still had one more day of filming to go, and we did get another appearance from Amanda on July 27. Later that day, she told us that she had wrapped on the series and gave us a picture of Mary’s ring, pointing out specifically that it’s a ring from her past, not her wedding ring. All of this leads to more questions. Why did Amanda post about her last day on the 20th if it wasn’t really? Did they run behind and not get everything done then, and she had to come back to finish the rest a week later? Or was she trying to hide that she was going to be filming this day by posting that the 20th was her last, until Sue spilled the beans at SDCC? Amanda mentioned in an interview during SDCC that they ran out of time on the 20th, so it ended up not being her last day after all, with her having to come back for one more day on the 27th. (Thanks to @undyingdevotion for pointing me in the direction of that interview; I hadn’t seen that one before.) Was what she filmed that day actually for ep 3? Or was it possibly still more for ep 2? We don’t know what her costume was that day, so we don’t know if it was the same as on the 20th or not (presuming that the pics from the 20th weren’t a backpost). And in the bigger picture, did Amanda really film so little for ep 3? As they were in the studio so much, she certainly could have been filming more than we know about, trying to mention it as little as possible so that we assume she’s in less of the episode than she actually is, to help keep it a surprise. I don’t know. It’s all interesting though. And why specifically make the point about Mary’s ring? Questions and more questions...

Finally, as with my previous recap, I haven’t gone through the process of marking things as unconfirmed. If you have questions about whether or not something was confirmed though, let me know.

      The Lying Detective

Writer: Steven Moffat

Director: Nick Hurran

Key name: Smith

Confirmed castings:

Saheed

MI5 agent

Police woman

Crying broadcaster

Woman

Reporter

Amy Saunders

Culverton Smith

MI6 agent

Hopsital policeman

Reporter (yes, there’s two)

Ewan

Cornelia

Nurse Cornish

      Filming by Location

Cardiff University Students’ Union

May 16, 17, 18 Ben, Martin, Amanda, Toby Jones (Culverton Smith), and Katy Wix (Nurse Cornish) were all spotted here throughout the three days in various locations throughout the building. Ben surprised everyone by appearing with some new facial hair that he kept throughout the entirety of ep 2 filming. Because the filming was so varied on the separate days, I’m going to break this down a little more than I did for the multi-day locations in my previous recap.

May 16

They filmed in Park Place Hub on the third floor, which had reportedly been made up to look like a children’s hospital ward. Sherlock was seen in the Belstaff, a navy shirt, and black trousers, while John was [likely] in a tattersall check button down, navy trousers, and navy jacket and Mary wore a grey crew neck shirt, navy trousers, and navy jacket. (John’s costume isn’t all that visible in the few pics we have of Martin this day, but I think it’s safe to assume that he’s wearing the costume that matches with Mary’s and Sherlock’s, which we saw repeatedly in other locations.) Nurse Cornish was spotted in a blue head nurse’s uniform.

May 17

They filmed on the fourth floor, in what seems to have been a hospital room set. Ben and Martin both filmed scenes earlier in the day. Ben was seen wearing his own sweats to and from set, which we can be pretty certain was not his actual costume. John’s costume was a blue button down, jeans, and the black jacket with all the pockets. Martin was not seen again later in the day, but Toby Jones and Katy Wix were. Nurse Cornish’s costume was the same as the day before, and Culverton Smith wore a light blue shirt with a navy tie. Signs for Gedgrave Hospital were also found on the second floor of the building. There was one report of Ben seen in a dressing gown on this day, but it’s unclear exactly where/when that was, and there are no pictures to confirm it. Amanda was not on set this day.

SDCC Trailer: The scene of John standing over the end of a hospital bed was filmed on the fourth floor (the walls are a definite match), which is how we know the set there was being used as a hospital room.

May 18

They possibly filmed more on the fourth floor early in the day, though there are no pics to confirm this—there was also one report of Mark in costume as Mycroft, but that’s not at all confirmed and could have just been confusion.

Then filming moved to the Lounge on the third floor, which Ben and Martin were seen entering wearing the same costumes as the 16th (though with the addition of a black suit jacket for Sherlock). Amanda later joined them, with Mary costumed the same as on the 16th, as well. We saw Culverton Smith in a single photo, where he was wearing a light pink shirt and dark (grey?) trousers. Katy Wix was again around set this day, in the same head nurse’s costume as the other days.

Finally, there was some filming in Y Plas on the second floor. Martin can be seen in pictures from there, seemingly still wearing the same costume from the rest of that day, as best I can tell. One setlocker reported seeing silver service waiters in this area along with Martin for whatever was filmed there and also reported that Ben did a bit of filming by himself off to the side of Y Plas.

Unconfirmed: Dragon Studios

May 19, 20

Bro loc signs were spotted outside Dragon Studios on the 20th and reportedly had been there a couple days. Asheq Akhtar (Saheed) was in Cardiff and posted a picture from a studio around this time, so it’s possible he was involved in whatever they filmed there. 

Miskin

May 24, 25, 26, 27

Again, filming covered a whole range of actors and scenes, so I’m going to split this up by day.

May 24

There were three separate locations on the 24th. First, Amanda posted a picture while she was waiting to film at an unknown location, which I speculated is possibly Miskin Manor, though there’s honestly very little to go on there. She’s in jeans and white Nikes. We know nothing else about who else she might have filmed with there, with whom, etc.

The second location on the 24th was Fford Cefn-Yr-Hendy, where two police cars were filmed following a red Aston Martin. It isn’t entirely clear if they were chasing it or just following it. The chase ends at a house (which is the next location).

SDCC Trailer: We see just a bit of this chase scene in the trailer.

The final location—which is where the remainder of the filming took place in Miskin throughout the week—was a house on Windsor Drive, where Martin, Una, and supporting actors dressed as police officers were seen. John is wearing the same costume as the first and last day at the Student’s Union—tattersall check button down, navy trousers, navy jacket. Mrs Hudson’s costume isn’t particularly visible in the pictures we have from this day but is very likely the same as on Una’s other days filming in Miskin, which is a patterned black and white shirt, black skirt, and black jacket. The Aston Martin was parked in front of the house, as well as the two police cars. The scene here reportedly had John walking around from the side of the house, but we know little else about it.

May 25

For the first portion of filming for the day, Martin, Una, the police officer supporting actors, the Aston Martin, and the police cars were all seen, so it’s quite likely that this was a continuation of the previous day’s filming.

The Aston Martin was still present for the next bit of filming, but a limo was parked in front of the house instead of the police cars. Martin, Ben, Una, Amanda, a mystery woman (presumably Sian Brooke though that still isn’t confirmed), and a supporting actor playing the limo chauffeur were all seen on set. John and Mrs Hudson were dressed the same as before, and Mary was in the same costume as at the Students’ Union. Sherlock was in the same shirt and trousers as the Students’ Union but with a navy dressing gown rather than the Belstaff. The mystery woman was only seen briefly but seemed to be wearing the same costume @khorazir described later in the week—grey trousers and jacket, a white blouse, and a beaded necklace. Neither Mary nor the mystery woman was visible to onlookers during the scene that was filmed, so presumably they were inside the house at that point.

Scene: John, Mrs Hudson, and Sherlock stand at the door of the house, speaking to someone inside. At some point, Mrs Hudson appears to go into the house and then come back out. She’s also holding a pair of handcuffs. Sherlock is on the phone for part of the scene, and the chauffeur is standing off to the side.

May 26

In the morning, they filmed scenes 85, 88, 90, and 91 inside the house, with the limo and the Aston Martin parked outside in the same places as the day before. The house reportedly had 70s-style decor, and we later learned that the interior was supposedly a psychologist’s office (though it’s possible that could be just part of the interior scenes filmed, not all of them--different rooms could possibly serve as totally separate story locations). At the very least, filming involved Ben, Martin, Una, and the mystery woman, all still in the same costumes.

In the afternoon, an ambulance was added to the exterior set, and they filmed a scene with Ben, Martin, Amanda, and a double for Loo. Again, the costumes were the same for everyone we had previously seen in Miskin. Molly was in a yellow pencil skirt, cream-colored blouse, teal jumper, purple tights, and lab coat.

Scene: Molly knocks on the door of the house, and John answers it. John speaks to her, as well as to someone inside the house, saying loudly to them “No, I don’t care [how/now].” Sherlock then exits the house, thanks Molly for coming and says he hopes that she remembered his coat, crosses the street, and climbs into the ambulance. After a moment, Molly follows him. John speaks to someone in the doorway, reportedly Mrs Hudson, and then he exits the house, too. He turns and walks back to speak more to someone inside, then turns again and walks toward the limo, where the chauffeur opens the door for him. Mary follows him but does not get into the limo. (I’ve done my best to combine the descriptions from both days they filmed this scene into one hopefully coherent recap. For instance, the video we have of one take of this scene on the 27th doesn’t show the bit with Mary, but it was reported to be part of the scene on the 26h.)

May 27 

The first portion of filming for the day was inside the house. Martin and Amanda were present, both in the same costumes as the rest of the week, and a double for Ben was also seen in the dressing gown. The mystery woman was also seen leaving the house at lunch, so she may have been involved in filming as well.

The next portion of filming was again inside the house, with Martin and the mystery woman both present. John was costumed in a black shirt, dark jeans, and the Haversack, while the mystery woman wore a beige dressing gown.

The final portion of filming for the day was a repeat of the exterior scene from the 26th, this time with Loo actually present as Molly, rather than a double.

Unconfirmed: New Theatre

May 26

Toby Jones reportedly filmed something at New Theatre in Cardiff on the morning of the 27th. Supposedly, there was also a casting call for a chat show host for this day, which likely was for this location, as the only other known location was Miskin and we didn’t see a chat show host there.

Mount Stuart Square

May 31

The first bit of filming at Mount Stuart Square involved a conference table set up in the middle of the street with people sitting around it hooked up to IVs and freestanding walls surrounding them. One of them—based on what we later saw at Riverside House—appears to be Sian Brooke’s character. Culverton Smith is also seated at the table and is seen walking toward the camera at one point. Sherlock is standing in the middle of the street, costumed the same as in the rest of this episode (Belstaff version, not dressing gown).

The second part of filming again had Sherlock standing in the street, this time in the middle of traffic.

Scene: Sherlock stands in front of a black taxi, looking disoriented. The driver yells at him, “What’s the matter with you? Don’t you know where you are?”

Next, they filmed Sherlock stumbling around in the street.

Finally, they filmed the walls of 221B around Sherlock in the middle of the street, along with Wiggins, dressed in a purple jumper and black trousers. Again, Sherlock seems disoriented during this scene.

Toward the end of the day at Mount Stuart Square, Amanda and Martin (costumed as they were in Miskin), as well as the limo, its chauffeur, and the ambulance, were all spotted near Mount Stuart Square, but we didn’t get any reports of them actually filming anything. It seems unlikely they’d all be there and not film, however. My best guess is that it was maybe the scene (or connected to the scene) from the SDCC trailer where Culverton Smith speaks to John and Sherlock in the limo—@avawatson pointed out on Twitter that you can see colored lights flashing across Sherlock’s face in the trailer scene, which could likely be from the ambulance, and the only place we saw the limo and ambulance outside of Miskin was at Mount Stuart Square. Based on the background in the trailer scene, it doesn’t seem to have been filmed where we saw the limo and ambulance parked in pictures from this day, but they could have driven them somewhere near by to film this part.

Marrakesh, Morocco

June 2, 3

Amanda went to Morocco along with a small crew. It’s unknown if this for sure is for episode 2, but I’m including it here since it was during filming block 2 at least.

SDCC Trailer: Presumably the trailer scenes with Mary with the dark hair were filmed here.

Charles Street

June 9, night

Ben and Sian Brooke filmed on Charles Street, which had been made up to look like a London street with a jeweller, cosmetic centre, and pub. The streets were wet down and smoke effects were in use at one point. A black London taxi was present. Ben was dressed the same as at Mount Stuart Square and elsewhere throughout this episode, and he had a piece of notepaper in hand. Sian was in a long red dress and a black hooded coat and had a cane. There were both a window and a sign in the middle of the street, and at least part of the scene had Sherlock standing between them. Another part of the scene had Sherlock looking up at a bright light above him. It’s also worth noting that there are pictures that show just him doing this, and ones that show the lady in red at his side looking up at the bright light as well. Portions of the scene were reportedly filmed with a drone camera.

Cardiff Civic Centre

June 10, night Mark was photographed in formal wear, including a black bow tie and the watch chain with the black fob, with a fan who was present for this late night shoot. The tweets indicated that the picture was taken at the Cardiff Civic Centre, but that isn’t totally confirmed. 

(Earlier tweets from the same person mentioned the motorway camera system, which seems more likely to refer to the Traffic Management Centre in Cardiff--where a bro loc sign was recently spotted and could possibly have been leftover from June. I’m putting this under the Civic Centre section anyway as that’s where the OP said they were filming, but it’s also possible that they could have filmed at both locations this evening. The OP also mentioned that Mark said he had written the episode being filmed, so this could be for ep 1 rather than ep 2; however, we also know that Rachel was filming in Porthcawl on the 10th, so I’m not really certain where that puts us in the end. I’m leaving it with ep 2 because it was part of the second block and we don’t have any confirmation either way.)

North Gower Street

June 12, night

For the first bits of this night shoot, it was raining (courtesy of Real SFX). They filmed supporting actors walking along Baker Street, before filming with Ben and Sian who were both costumed the same as at Charles Street.

Scene: Sherlock and the lady in red exit 221B and walk down the street in the rain.

That was it for Ben and Sian, as well as the rain effects. The next scene they filmed featured Martin. John’s costume was a blue button down, jeans, and the black jacket with the pockets, which looks to be a match for what he was wearing on the fourth floor of the Students’ Union on May 17. There was a black Jaguar on set, as well as a supporting actor who seemed to be some kind of guard.

Scene: As a bus goes past on Baker Street, a black Jaguar pulls up and stops outside the flat. John gets out of the car, passes the man seemingly guarding the door, and goes inside.

Finally, Una and Martin filmed a scene together--scene 145. John was costumed the same as the previous scene, and Mrs Hudson was wearing a purple, ruffled shirt with a dark jacket and dark trousers.

Scene: John walks out of the flat, on the phone and in a hurry. Mrs Hudson comes out and calls after him. He turns around, and she throws something to him (the common theory being a set of keys), before he hurries off down the street.

Amanda was present for the NGS filming, costumed in the same dress, jeans, and shoes as the filming at Borough Market/Trinity Church Square/Bonnington Square (but without the jumper and jacket she wore there). However, she didn’t film any scenes there from what we saw. It seems likely that she was just hanging out until the filming on Stephenson Way later that night.

Stephenson Way

June 12, night

A cab, a police bike, the black Jaguar, and the blue Audi from the Miles Street Tunnel scene in ep 1 were all seen on set here as filming continued just around the corner from NGS. Martin and Amanda were spotted, as well as Ben or possibly his double. Presumably all costumes were the same as at NGS, but that’s not entirely clear. (In the one blurry pic we’ve got of Amanda, she at least is still wearing turned-up jeans and the same shoes—the dress is harder to tell for sure but it’s likely the same. Why else would she have been dressed that way, as she didn’t have any scenes at NGS? It must have been her costume for this location.) The details of what was filmed are a bit fuzzy, but at some point supposedly the Jaguar—followed by the cab—left and returned again.

Endsleigh Place

June 13

Ben and Loo were spotted, along with the Watsons’ front door, which was standing in the middle of the pavement. Sherlock seemed to still be dressed the same as elsewhere in this ep, while Molly was in the same costume she wore outside the Watson’s flat during episode 1 filming.

Gordon Square

June 13, night

A bus stop was put up outside of a church at Gordon Square for some night filming. A black cab was on set again, and the set was also wet down, similarly to the filming at Charles Street. They again filmed a portion of the scene using a drone camera. Sherlock and Sian’s character were both wearing the same costumes as at NGS and Charles Street.

Scene: Sherlock and the lady in red buy fish and chips and then sit and eat them at the bus stop. Sherlock takes out a piece of paper and shows it to her, sniffs it, and folds it back up again. The drone flies down toward them, and Sherlock looks up at it, says something to the lady in red, and they walk off down the street. They filmed basically the same scene a second time with just Sherlock. (This could just be part of the coverage for the scene, where the lady in red wouldn’t have been visible from this camera angle and so wasn’t needed for this take. Or it could specifically be a plot point. It’s hard to say.)

Unconfirmed: Victoria Embankment

June 13, night

Reportedly there was some very late night filming here with a stunt driver in a red sports car.

Golden Jubilee Bridges and Jubilee Gardens

June 14, night

The first portion of the night filming at this location was on one of the bridges. Ben and Sian were there, still dressed the same as the previous London night shoots.

Scene: Sherlock and the lady in red walk along the bridge together. One of them seemingly drops the cane, and Sherlock bends/falls over, clutching at his stomach and crying out in pain. The lady in red looks at him but doesn’t respond much. When Sherlock stands again, they talk briefly, and Sherlock walks away.

Next, filming moved to the north end of the bridges where they filmed supporting actors crossing the street.

Finally, they filmed in Jubilee Gardens at the south end of the bridges as the sun was coming up.

Scene: Sherlock and the lady in red sit on a bench overlooking the Thames, having a conversation. Sherlock walks to the railing along the river and throws something in, possibly a gun which may have come from the lady in red’s handbag. At one point, Sherlock leans over the railing and appears to be heaving, before yelling and falling to the ground. The lady in red walks away, and when Sherlock stands and walks off, too, he seems to be limping.

Riverside House

June 15, 16, nights

They filmed over the course of two nights at Riverside House, on the top floor of the building. Filming on both nights seemed to be for the same scene. There was a conference table, surrounded by what appeared to be the same people in the same costumes from the conference table scene at Mount Stuart Square, including Culverton Smith and Sian’s character. Nurses were seen bringing in IV drips for everyone seated at the table, and at one point Culverton Smith also stood at the windows with his arms spread wide. Despite not being seen on set and Sue claiming he wasn’t there, Ben was definitely spotted outside the building the second night, so it’s a pretty good bet he was filming there.

SDCC Trailer: The scenes of the creepy nurses entering a room with IVs is almost certainly from what they filmed here.

In the Studio and Unknown Locations

May 23

Amanda was filming somewhere, and she pointed out her poorly-applied fake tan. DoP Neville Kidd gave us a picture of slate 100 from this day (sadly without a scene number).

May 30

We got confirmation that Loo, Martin, Amanda, and Ben were all filming today.

June 3

Sharon Cherry Ballard, playing a police woman, was filming on this day, somewhere in Cardiff (probably Pinewood). She mentioned working with Martin, and later she also mentioned having worked with Rupert, which was presumably this same day.

June 7

Usman Akram was filming his role as an MI5 agent. Amanda also tweeted that this was going to be a long day, so presumably she was on set as well, though they don’t necessarily have to have been in the same scene or even location. 

June 8

Dan Stokes mentioned meeting Una and Ben on set in Cardiff. Robin Smith (who interestingly does a lot of wildlife photography) posted a picture of his 4k camera at Pinewood, so that seems the most likely location for them to have been filming.

Unconfirmed: June 9

Loo posted a picture of Molly’s shoes, so perhaps she was filming somewhere this day, though it could have been a backpost.

July 7

Neville Kidd gave us a picture of the slate for scene 140, indicating that it was his last day of filming for episode 2. Ben Caron was off filming Romeo and Juliet, so everything filmed this day (not just part of the day) was likely for this episode. Amanda indicated that she was filming with “the boys,” and Jen Stacey (we still don’t know who she’s playing) also was likely on set at Pinewood this same day.

      Arwel’s Updates

Again, I don’t know what’s important and what’s Arwel just messing around, so here is everything he posted from the first break and the second block of filming. Some of it could be related to things for the third episode, if he was already working on recces and other prep. If there are definite connections to things from filming, I’ve listed that in brackets. I’m not including links to every picture, but you can find them all tagged #Arwel Wyn Jones if you want to go looking for them.

Break 1

The back of his own head on the recce bus

The crooked door knocker on North Gower Street

Artwork of a skull with a raven and a butterfly

A picture of a skull [almost certainly the image used for the Mr Blue Skull replacement seen in Ben Caron’s pics from the end of filming ep 3]

Niagara Falls

His crew at work [Park Place Hub, Cardiff University Students’ Union, ep 2]

Block 2

May 16

Art eraser

Skyline in frosted glass [Park Place Hub, Cardiff University Students’ Union, ep 2]

May 19

A sign that says K2 and has a smiley face drawn on it

May 21

A rugby ball with a shark design on it

May 23

Arwel in Sherlock’s chair

May 24

The showrunners having a chat in the shade

May 25

A stuffed version of the crying laughing emoji

May 26

Sixteen hardhats and a piece of paper that says Mains Water

The view from the top of the Glaziers Hall in London

May 30

A sign for G71 (room number?)

May 31

A sign for W007 (another room number?)

A rubber duck with a black tie and sunglasses

June 2

Traffic on the Severn Bridge

June 3

The Reichenbach painting from TAB, the door numbers for 221B, the cricket bat from TRF

June 6

Pieces of the Navarre wallpaper from the sitting room of 221B and the Amaranta Foresta wallpaper from the sitting room of John and Mary’s flat

June 9

London street sign for Dorset Street

June 10

The front door of John and Mary’s flat [used at Endsleigh Place, ep 2]

A container with a skull painted on it

June 13

Arosfa Hotel [near Gordon Square, ep 2]

Ben Mangham and some fans [Gordon Square, ep 2]

June 15

Yellow and pink cow across from Waterloo Station [near Jubilee Gardens, ep 2]

      Other Things of Note

Amanda posted a picture of the front of her episode 2 script from the readthrough, which we were able to then read a tiny bit of. John’s name can be seen with some [mostly indecipherable] lines of dialogue, as well as a scene description that says “Collects himself. Looks to the… stay close on his face. CUT TO:” @miadifferent delved into the structure a bit and determined there seem to be at least four short scenes on just this one page.

The paps showed up at Charles Street filming, and from one of the pics, we managed to decipher a chunk of the script Ben was holding. It features a scene of Culverton Smith talking about his new show, Business Killer, which is described as a business version of Kitchen Nightmares. He says, “So I’m going to take a look at this business and see if it deserves to live or if it deserves to die. Whether it’s a killer business, or I’m a business killer.” This seemingly must take place pretty soon before/after the scenes filmed at Charles Street.

Tom Guy gave us a picture of a disco ball on May 19, but it isn’t clear if that’s for ep 2, a recce for ep 3, or something else entirely.

There were just a few ACD canon references for this episode. The most obvious of these is that Culverton Smith is a reference to the Dying Detective, as he is the villain of that story. The prop signage also indicated that the hospital is called Gedgrave Hospital, which is likely a reference to the character John Gedgrave in the Granada Holmes adaptation of the Dying Detective. Finally, the pub on the Charles Street set, the Lighthouse and the Trained Cormorant, is both a reference to an untold case mentioned in the Veiled Lodger, as well as a throwback to TAB, where a Victorian version of the pub also made an appearance.

Rupert Graves confirmed in an interview that he filmed one scene with Toby Jones.

One final note before we start in on the detailed recap, I did not go through the rather tedious process of marking individual statements as unconfirmed, as I usually have done with my daily recaps. It’s all just lumped together here, though I did at least italicize locations that are entirely unconfirmed. Beyond that, if you want to know whether a particular detail was confirmed or not, check out the daily recap for the corresponding day or send me an ask if you can’t find what you’re looking for.

      The Six Thatchers

Writer: Mark Gatiss

Director: Rachel Talalay

Key name: Thatcher

Confirmed castings:

Indignant man

Sandeford

Charlie Welsborough

AJ

Gavin (MI5 agent)

David Wellsborough

Ambassador’s husband

Gold Teeth

Passenger

MI6 security guard

Female client

DI Hopkins

Interrogation guard

       Filming by Location

Unconfirmed: Bath Street

April 4, morning

Filming signs were reportedly spotted here through the morning of April 4 but were gone later in the day, with filming supposedly having happened in an old warehouse there.

Unconfirmed: Unknown muddy location

April 4

Dominique Arthur posted a picture of her muddy shoes, as did Daniel Hoffmann-Gill. @dixiebell​ theorized that Dominique’s photo may have been taken in the Cardiff Bay Wetland’s Reserve, which is next to the St. David’s Hotel, so these two locations may really be the same one, as we don’t really know where exactly the St. David’s Hotel filming was taking place.

Unconfirmed: St. David’s Hotel

April 4, night

An actor with a scarred face and a goatee was reportedly seen filming here.

Portland House

April 4, 5, 6

A notice to residents indicated filming would take place in the Banking Hall at Portland House April 4-6, but we only have pictures from filming on April 5. The notice also indicated that filming would include “mini blasts, gun shots, smoke and dramatic noises.” Daniel Hoffmann-Gill (Gold Teeth) was spotted in camouflage, along with other SAs in camo or in all black (including black balaclavas). There were also SAs in business-casual clothing—one of whom was Harry Gostelow (ambassador’s husband)—with a few of them wearing blankets around their shoulders. Sacha Dhawan (AJ) and Amanda were both supposedly spotted on April 5. No location was mentioned for the sighting, but as this is the only known filming location for this day, it’s possible that it was here. Ben was also reportedly seen at Portland House, but it’s unclear which day.

SDCC Trailer: The scene in the trailer of the people in all black dropping fromt he ceiling is clearly from inside the Banking Hall where they were filming. It includes both the SAs in all black and the people in business-casual clothing. Several people have pointed out that the flag seen in the window is that of Georgia (the country, not the US state).

Albert Road

April 6

They filmed in a former church that has been converted into flats, seemingly in one of the upstairs flats. Tanya Moodie (Ella) said she was filming this day, and we have three possible locations for her then—here, Portland House, and Mint and Mustard. Based on what we know of both Portland House and Mint and Mustard filming, those both seem unlikely, which leaves this as the most probably location for her. @miadifferent​ speculated that this location could be Ella’s new office.

Mint and Mustard

April 6

Martin and Amanda were photographed here, filming a restaurant scene. In the scene, John is wearing a dark jacket, and Mary is wearing a brown, patterned dress.

Coedarhydyglyn

April 11, 12, 13

Mark posted the first “back” picture of Sherlock from here on April 11. He’s wearing the Belstaff. Rupert was scheduled to begin filming on April 11, so it’s likely he was filming here as well. Then we got a “back” picture of John in the Haversack here on April 13. On April 12, we got a slate for scene 24, pt 1; this is the same day that Arwel tweeted about having rounded up a Ferrari.

SDCC Trailer: The scene with Sherlock in the Belstaff and blue scarf in front of a brown wall and a bookcase may possibly be from Coedarhydyglyn, as the walls appear to be the same color as the walls in the interior pictures @cupidford​ found. The scenes of the car being rear-ended and the explosion were both seemingly filmed here as well (or at least are supposed to look that way--see the Other Things of Note section at the end of this recap for some speculation).

Margam Park

April 14

Ben was supposedly spotted, along with others dressed in posh clothes. Amanda, Rupert, and Loo all seem to have been filming that day as well, along with several of the supporting actors seen in the wedding scenes in TSOT.

Arwel built something this day that impressed Rachel, but it isn’t clear if it was used for filming that same day or just built then.

Scene: This is the scene that was reportedly a christening, filmed in Margam Abbey.

SDCC Trailer: We don’t have any footage of the christening scene in the trailer, but we do have clips that were definitely filmed at Margam Park. The rainy, nighttime scenes of the person with the torch were all filmed there. It’s unclear if they were filmed the same day, but Amanda did tweet that the 14th was a long day, which means it’s possible there was some filming that happened there that evening.

Unconfirmed: Cathedral Road

April 15

Multiple people reported seeing Sherlock filming this day, but no setlockers were able to find a definite location for it. Suggestions based on locations from TEH include Howard Shilcott’s house, the Empty Hearse club, and John’s surgery. However, it could have been an entirely unrelated location or even one of those redressed as something else.

Dragon Studios

April 19, 20, 21

Filming signs were spotted on the 19th, and various filming trucks were seen entering the studio that night, though it’s unclear if they actually filmed anything there that night. Signs were up through the 21st, when large green screens were seen at the studio. Mark gave us Amanda’s back picture outside of the studio on the 20th and of his own back on the 21st. In the pictures, Mary is wearing a black/navy jacket and has curly hair, and Mycroft is wearing a black coat and a navy scarf with a quatrefoil pattern on it. The picture of Amanda was definitely taken at the studio, but the picture of Mark is less clear. However, we don’t have a second known location for that day, so the best guess would be that it was taken at Dragon Studios. Arwel tweeted a picture on the 21st of a slate showing that he had directed something for second unit, but it’s unclear if that would have been at Dragon Studios or elsewhere.

Wordsworth Avenue

April 25

Ben, Loo, and the baby were all seen at this location, which serves as the exterior of the Watsons’ flat. (Amanda and Martin were not present.) Sherlock was in the Belstaff, a black suit and shirt, and a blue scarf. Molly was wearing a pink and white striped blouse, a teal cardigan, and brown pants, and the baby was swaddled in a pink, white, and blue striped blanket with a light pink hat on. Props reportedly seen on set include a pram and a motorcycle.

Scene: Sherlock speaks to Molly, who is holding the baby, and then he walks back up the stairs.

Cyncoed Road

April 25

Mark, Ben, and Rupert were all seen in costume here. Mycroft was wearing a black three-piece suit with white pinstripes, white shirt, red tie with blue dots/flowers, gold tie pin, red pocket square, and gold watch chain with a black fob. Greg was in black trousers, a light blue shirt, and a black/dark grey coat, while Sherlock was wearing a dark plum-colored shirt, black suit, blue scarf, and the Belstaff. Also seen on location were supporting actors costumed as members of a SOCO team, police, and a woman in pyjamas, as well as a bottle of fake blood. Real SFX was also on-hand.

Borough Market

April 26

Ben, Martin, Amanda, Denver the dog, and the baby took a trip to the market to film. Ben was in a navy suit and shirt, blue scarf, and the Belstaff. John was wearing the Haversack, a green/brown plaid shirt, jeans, and dark brown shoes, along with a baby carrier. Mary was in a blue hooded jacket, navy dress with red and white flowers, cuffed jeans, and white shoes, while the baby was in a pink bunny outfit. The slate appeared to show scene 47.

Scene: Mary is pulled along by the dog, with Sherlock, John, and the baby in tow. The dog leads them through the aisles of the market to an apparent crime scene at a freezer.

Trinity Church Square

April 26

Ben, Martin, Amanda, Denver the dog, and the baby then took a trip to the square. The costumes all match those at Borough Market.

Scenes: There seem to be four separate things filmed at this location. In scene 45, Mary, John, and baby exit a door guarded by two police officers and cross to the other side of the street where Sherlock is on the phone, holding the dog’s lead. Sherlock removes something from a bag—likely some kind of evidence—and has the dog sniff it, and then they follow the dog down the street.

They also ran through the square for what may have been scene 51.

They walked along the pavement toward the flat Mary and John exited.

Finally, in the square, Mary seemingly crouched down to look at something on the ground, next to everyone else.

Unconfirmed: MI6 Building

April 27

Filming here reportedly involved just Ben and Martin on a closed set.

Vauxhall Bridge

April 27

Ben was at this location and filmed both on the bridge itself and on the path along the Thames next to the bridge. He was costumed in a white shirt, black suit, blue scarf, and the Belstaff. When they moved to the path along the river, there were also supporting actors in suits walking around, as well as one in a tan trenchcoat.

Scenes: On the bridge, they filmed lots of Sherlock walking alone, standing around alone, looking out over the river alone, and just generally being alone.

On the path next to the bridge, he was possibly meeting with an agent of some kind.

Unconfirmed: London Aquarium

April 27

Filming reportedly involved Ben and three supporting actors dressed as police officers and possibly one other non-principal cast member. They were said to have filmed inside the aquarium tunnel.

Unconfirmed: Unknown cab ride location

April 28

Not much is known about this filming except that it reportedly happened. It was most likely to have been with Ben and Martin, but even that isn’t certain.

Bonnington Square

April 28

Martin, Amanda, Ben, the dogs (Denver’s two replacements), and the baby were all on set at this house on Bonnington Square. The costumes all matched those seen at Borough Market and Trinity Church Square, except that John is not wearing the baby carrier.

Scene: In scene 44, John and Sherlock approach the door of the house, where Sherlock walks up the steps and knocks. When the door opens, the dog comes out, followed by Mary and the baby, with John looking surprised to see them. They talk, Mary hands the baby to John, and there’s more talking. Sherlock takes the dog, and they all cross the street and walk off together.

They also filmed on the other side of the square, but it isn’t clear if it was just a continuation of their walk or something else, as setlockers couldn’t get closer to see what they were filming.

Miles Street Tunnel

April 28, night

Martin, Amanda, Ben, and a [newborn/younger] baby were all seen in the tunnel in a blue Audi. Amanda was wearing a dark-colored, v-neck dress with a light-colored pattern (possibly flowers) and a fake belly underneath. Martin appeared to be wearing a pink shirt under a grey vest and a black jacket, while Ben was in a black suit and a purple shirt. The baby was swaddled in a white blanket. The crew painted graffiti of a shark fin on a wall of the tunnel.

Scenes: This was reportedly scene 15. The car is stopped at an angle in the tunnel, and Sherlock is in the driver’s seat, while John and Mary are in the back. Sherlock moves toward the middle and turns to the back seat. It appears that he has his phone out, and there were reports of a flash inside the car during the scene. Reports indicated that it looked very much like a birth scene.

There was also a brief scene filmed of John riding in the back of a cab, talking on the phone.

Senedd

May 2

Ben was spotted at the Senedd, while Martin was seen in London instead (not on set). This location is where the government scenes were filmed for HLV.

SDCC Trailer: The scene of Mycroft in profile in front of the windows was likely filmed here, as the location seems to match a picture Rachel posted of Arwel at the Senedd.

Porthcawl

June 10

This was filmed as part of block 2. Amanda gave us some pictures from the set, and Ben was reportedly spotted in costume around town. The pictures we have of Rachel and DoP Stuart Biddlecombe show them filming along the rocky shore. According to Amanda’s tweets, they filmed well into the evening.

Kennington Road

June 16

This final bit of filming (again, part of block 2) involved Martin and a woman at a bus stop. There were two costumes for each of them here. Costume pairing one was John in jeans, a light blue shirt, and the Haversack, while the woman at the bus stop was wearing a colorful, striped, v-neck dress with a red leather jacket. The second costume pairing had John still in a light blue shirt (untucked) and jeans but with the longer, dark blue coat he wears throughout s3, while the woman wore a yellow dress and denim jacket. With both costumes, John carried a brown leather bag/briefcase. The bus stop featured a large poster for Culverton Smith’s show, Business Killer. The bus was the same bus that was seen at North Gower Street filming for episode 2 (with the strawberry fizz ad on the side of it).

Scenes: There were several pieces of filming here. They filmed John riding the bus in both costumes.

In the first costume, he also has a conversation with the woman at the bus stop. There is something small and white in his hand, like a business card or ticket. Filming then moved slightly away from the bus stop, where John hesitates before dropping whatever he’s holding into a bin. This filming was for scenes 98-99.

In the second costume, he gets off the bus, looking at his phone, while the woman sits alone at the bus stop.

In the Studio and Unknown Locations

April 7

The Sherlocked convention Facebook page indicated they visited Pinewood Studios during filming on April 7, posting a picture of the exterior of the 221B set. Loo was filming this day, but it’s unclear if it was here or elsewhere.

April 8

Loo was filming somewhere.

April 18

Rachel and Arwel both seemed to indicate they were on the 221B set at Pinewood Studios this day, but little is known about who might have been filming. Rupert was reportedly spotted in Cardiff this day, and we know Loo was not around at all this week.

April 19

The organization Into Film brought a group of students to the set, where they took a photo with Ben, Martin, and Rupert outside the 221B set. Ben is in a black suit and shirt. Martin is wearing a green/brown plaid shirt, a black jacket, and jeans, and Rupert is in black trousers, a white (I think) shirt, and a black coat.

April 29

Sue indicated that they were back filming in Wales this day, after spending the rest of the week in London.

May 4

Arwel posted a picture from Pinewood. They filmed scene 91A on this day, according to a slate picture from Rachel.

May 7

Mark posted a close-up of Mycroft’s costume to say it was a wrap on filming block 1, so presumably he was filming this day. Mycroft’s wearing a grey (I think—it’s hard to tell with the coloring of the photo) pincheck three-piece suit with the gold watch chain with the black fob on the end. Rachel’s slate pic from this day indicates they filmed scenes 54 and 55, wherever they were.

    Arwel’s Updates

It’s hard to know which updates of Arwel’s might turn out to be actually important and which are just him having fun, so I’m just going to briefly recap all of them. This recap will cover everything prior to filming, plus all of block 1, so keep in mind that some of this may not be applicable to episode 1, as he may have been working on prep for ep 2 or 3 during block 1. If there are definite connections to things from filming, I’ve listed that in brackets. For the tweets during block 1, I’ve included the date, too, in case it ends up being relevant. I’m not including links to every picture, but you can find them all tagged #Arwel Wyn Jones if you want to go looking for them.

Prior to Filming

Pieces of the Baker Street set in various states of completion, along with various props from the set

Recce at unknown location with Gareth Skelding and Dafydd Shurmer

Recce with Gareth Skelding at Club Lennox in Bargoed

An elephant head

A dusty window at Barts

The stairwell as it appeared in TAB

An elephant and some lamps

Recce in Margam Country Park [Margam Abbey christening scene/Margam Abbey Ruins dark and rainy scenes from SDCC trailer, ep 1]

Louis XIV on Horse statue

Chubb and Sons safe

The front door from North Gower Street

The drug den from HLV

A bonfire

Pieces of the TAB waterfall set

Sherlock’s headstone

Block 1

April 5

A round, stained glass window [church on Albert Road in Penarth, ep 1]

Lion statue [Banking Hall of Portland House, ep 1]

April 6

Crystal skull bottle seen in John’s flat in MHR

Danny Hargreaves

Pink lamp

Baker Street and Waterloo underground signs

April 7

Emelia Ricoletti’s headstone

Dafydd Shurmer in the corner of an empty room

April 8

The sky near University Hospital Wales

Baker Street cyclorama

The exterior of the 221B set

Coins on John’s bedside table

April 9

Episode 2 script

April 12

Ferrari

April 13

Vintage wall lamp [Cardiff University Students’ Union, ep 2]

More vintage wall lamps [Cardiff University Students’ Union, ep 2]

April 14

Pieces of the sudoku cube on Sherlock’s desk

1679 carved into a stone

A fake hand in a collander

April 15

Mars binoculars on the 221B set

Baker Street entryway

Billy the skull

April 18

Rachel Talalay in Sherlock’s chair

The bee art from Sherlock’s bedroom

April 21

Partial slate, showing Arwel directing something for the second unit

CCXXI [seen in the SDCC trailer next to the No Entry door in one of the dark, rainy scenes, ep 1]

April 25

Sue watching the monitors [Wordsworth Avenue, ep 1]

April 26

Oysters [Borough Market, ep 1]

April 27

Spiridion and Son’s dragon clock [hoarding at Mount Stuart Square, ep 2]

April 28

73 Cathedral Road, where the Empty Hearse Club met in TEH

May 2

Confidential waste, on the 221B set

May 4

Stage 1 at Pinewood

May 5

Sign about lasers and strobe lights [Cardiff University Students’ Union, ep 2]

A skull in a top hat

Ben’s knuckles

May 6

Buttonhole on the Belstaff

Scuffed up mirror in 221B

May 7

Arwel in Sherlock’s chair

Arwel on the Scotland Yard set

    Other Things of Note

A grey car and an orange car matching those seen in the rear-ending/explosion scene in the SDCC trailer, as well as firetrucks that said Derbyshire on the side, were spotted in Cardiff on the evening of April 18. The scenes in the trailer with those cars show them taking place outside the house at Coedarhydyglyn, where they filmed the previous week. But why were the cars around a week later instead? Perhaps this is what they filmed at Dragon Studios (where they were April 19-21), using the big green screens, so that they didn’t have to actually blow something up at Coedarhydyglyn but could still use it as the setting.

A call sheet, probably from the day they filmed at Margam Abbey, listed Richard Syms as a cast member.

There was a casting notice for a newborn baby needed for filming in Cardiff on April 7 that we all thought was likely to be for Sherlock. However, they filmed in the studio on the 7th, so if they did indeed need a newborn that day, we don’t know anything about what they filmed.

Mark tweeted “The dog did nothing in the daytime...” which makes light of the fact that Denver the dog didn’t want to move during his scenes but is also a Silver Blaze reference, which could go along with the Ferrari also being a possible Silver Blaze reference. Other ACD canon references in this episode could include Andrew Bone’s character Sandeford (Six Napoleons), Eleanor Matsuura’s DI Hopkins (Golden Pince-Nez, Black Peter, and Abbey Grange), and Daniel Hoffmann-Gill’s Gold Teeth (Stockbroker’s Clerk).

There was discussion throughout both the first and second filming block around whether or not Sherlock might be wearing an ankle monitor, largely originating with a picture of a crew member doing something with Ben’s ankle on Vauxhall Bridge.

They reportedly filmed some scenes using a dog cam for this episode.

Rachel mentioned in Entertainment Weekly that Ben did a stunt scene with complicated special effects. She also said that the ep really introduces the themes for the series and that it “harkens to Arthur Conan Doyle very strongly.”

Rachel posted a picture on May 29 of Danny Hagreaves, Arwel Wyn Jones, and Dafydd Shurmer at the toll plaza of what appears to be the Severn Bridge. I don’t know where that fits in, but it’s definitely worth a mention.

Stuart Biddlecombe tweeted on June 12 that he had wrapped filming for Sherlock, which brings up two sets of questions. First, that sounds like he wasn’t present for the scenes filmed at Kennington Road on June 16--are these scenes still for ep 1 in that case, just with someone else in Stuart’s place, or does this lend credence to the idea that these could be for a minisode of some sort? And second, did he actually film something on June 12? We didn’t see anything at NGS that we presumed to be for ep 1, so were he and Rachel filming elsewhere? Did he do something at NGS that we missed? Did he actually wrap after the Porthcawl filming on June 10 and just got around to posting it on the 12th? I don’t know quite what to make of it; please speculate away.

Sharks seemed to be kind of a theme for this episode. In addition to the shark fin graffiti at Miles Street Tunnel, Rachel gave the crew shirts with a bloodhound and a shark on them, and on April 22, Mark tagged Amanda in a series of three tweets with “facts” about sharks (1, 2, 3). During ep 2 filming, Arwel also tweeted a picture of a rugby ball with a shark design on it.

Some sort of underwater filming likely took place for ep 1, as Rich Stevenson’s website says that as of May 1, he had done some underwater filming for the show. Speculation tends to connect this with whatever second unit filming Arwel did on April 21, possibly at Dragon Studios. Interestingly, Rich has done a lot of work filming marine life (like sharks).