Winnie Shou

As culled from various interviews, the DVD commentaries and assorted miscellany. I tried not to go with the more obvious bits of trivia (like Benedict dyes his hair) but if you’re a hardcore fan, you’ll likely still know all of these anyway:

Martin Freeman plays army doctor John Watson, formerly with the Royal Army Medical Corps. In real life, Martin’s grandfather was a medic with the 150th Field Ambulance, RAMC, during World War II. Leonard Freeman was killed in a Luftwaffe attack on May 24, 1940, during the Battle of Dunkirk.

Benedict Cumberbatch was the only actor asked to audition for the role of Sherlock, after Steven Moffat and Sue Vertue saw him in the film Atonement and Mark Gatiss, who’d worked with him on the film Starter for 10, vouched for him. Benedict’s audition was filmed in Beryl Vertue’s London flat, where she served tea and biscuits “like Mrs. Hudson.”

(The Great Game) In the scene where Sherlock examines Carl Powers’ shoe in the lab, his solo shots were done on a separate day than the shots with John. They had to shoot part of the scene without Martin Freeman after he was injured from slipping on the icy steps of a production trailer.

The pilot and A Study in Pink were filmed one year apart (in 2009 and 2010, respectively).

The dog in Hounds of Baskerville was named Whiskey after Mark Gatiss’ own childhood dog. Kirstie’s pet was an homage to Mark’s husband Ian’s childhood pet, a rabbit named Bluebell. 

George Alexander Louis: Where the Prince got his names?

The latest addition to the royal family has been named HRH Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge.

There has been a lot of speculation as to where the names have come from - here are some of the theories:

George

 The Queen’s father reigned as George VI, although his given name was Albert

The fourth name of the baby’s grandfather, Prince Charles, is George

George features the most among male descendants, including middle names

The first King George was the first Hanoverian King of Great Britain

Alexander

The Queen’s second name is Alexandra - the female equivalent

There have been three medieval Scottish Kings named Alexander

It could be a tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh’s (Greek) side of the family

Alexander the Great is the most famous of the King Alexanders

Louis

Widely believed to be a tribute to Lord Louis Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s uncle

Prince William’s fourth given name is Louis