His Last Vow
"His Last Vow" is the third and final episode of the third series of the BBC Television series Sherlock, which follows the modern-day adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The episode was first broadcast on 12 January 2014, on BBC One and Channel One.[2][3] It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Nick Hurran with music composed by Michael Price and David Arnold. The episode is a contemporary adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton".
Not to be confused with His Last Bow."His Last Vow"
Series 3
Episode 3
Neville Kidd
12 January 2014
89 minutes
In the episode, Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and John Watson (Martin Freeman) take on a case about stolen letters. This leads the pair into conflict with Charles Augustus Magnussen (Lars Mikkelsen), a media mogul specialising in blackmail whom Sherlock despises. Holmes and Watson try to get Magnussen arrested, but their attempt fails when they confront him at Appledore, Magnussen's home.
On its first broadcast on BBC One, the episode received 11.37 million viewers,[4] a 32.1% audience share. Although this was a drop from "The Sign of Three" and "The Empty Hearse", it became the most tweeted-about single episode of a drama series in the UK. The episode received critical acclaim, and Mikkelsen's performance as Magnussen, in particular, was praised. For their performances in the episode, Cumberbatch and Freeman both won the Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, respectively. Moffat also won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special for his work on the episode.
Sources and allusions[edit]
The plot is primarily drawn from the original short story "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton", the eponymous Milverton being a blackmailer adapted into the character of Magnussen. In both stories, "Appledore" is the name of the antagonist's vaults, and, in both, Holmes becomes engaged to an employee of the villain to gain access.[5] Both stories culminate with Milverton/Magnussen's death, although in the original story Milverton is killed by one of his victims.
The title of "His Last Vow" is a play on the title of "His Last Bow",[5] the final Sherlock Holmes story chronologically.[6] The title is not explained within the episode, but is a reference to dialogue from the previous episode, "The Sign of Three", in which Sherlock makes his last vow to always be there for John and Mary Watson. The plot of the episode is unrelated to the short story, although there are allusions present. The original story sees the detective having retired to keep bees in a Sussex cottage and, in the episode, Janine mentions that she is planning to buy a Sussex cottage from which she will remove some beehives. In the closing dialogue of the episode, a story Mycroft told Sherlock about "the East wind" during their childhood, is similar to a speech from the original story.[7]
Mary reveals her true identity in what Sherlock calls "the empty house", an alleyway hidden behind what are apparently the fronts of two houses in Leinster Gardens, in the "house", Mary thinks Sherlock has tricked her by positioning a dummy of himself at the end of the alley: in "The Adventure of the Empty House" a dummy is used to fool assassin Colonel Sebastian Moran in an empty house.[8] The letters A. G. R. A. seen on the memory stick appear to be Mary Watson's actual initials. In The Sign of Four, the first original Holmes story to feature Mary Morstan, the Agra Treasure is a main focal point and cause of dispute.[7] In the same story Bill Wiggins, a drug addict in "His Last Vow", is one of the Baker Street Irregulars.[5] The opening sequence, in which John travels to a drug den to retrieve the son of a family friend and finds Sherlock as well, is derived from the opening of "The Man with the Twisted Lip".[9]
According to Gatiss, Mycroft's line, "As my colleague is fond of remarking, this country sometimes needs a blunt instrument" is a reference to a comment by M describing James Bond, and is intended to suggest that the two series share the same reality.[10]
Production[edit]
Casting[edit]
In July 2013, it was announced that Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen would star as the main villain of the third series of Sherlock.[11] Mikkelsen first appeared in a non-speaking cameo appearance at the end of "The Empty Hearse". The portrayal of Magnussen was described by Steven Moffat as "terrifying".[12] Mikkelsen was suggested for the role by producer Sue Vertue and recorded an audition video for the production team in which he urinated in his barn. Mikkelsen was starring in a film set in East London at the time and had picked up a London accent, so he had to "re-Dane-ify" his accent.[13]
Moffat and Vertue's son, Louis Moffat, played a young Sherlock in two scenes and Benedict Cumberbatch's real-life parents, Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham, reprised their roles as Sherlock's parents from "The Empty Hearse". Steven Moffat joked afterwards that Sherlock "runs on nepotism".[14]
Writing[edit]
Steven Moffat confirmed that the cliffhanger, the return of Moriarty, had been planned as far back as series two, when he discussed the plan for Moriarty's character with actor Andrew Scott.[15] However, he joked that he was as surprised as the viewers to see Moriarty return, noting that it is impossible to fake shooting oneself in the head.[16] Scott appeared in a short post-credits scene talking to the camera, both firsts for the show. Moffat has commented that viewers will have to wait "years" to see the resolution of the cliffhanger.[16]
Gatiss and Moffat had considered adapting the character of Charles Augustus Milverton for some time, considering him to be a "brilliantly realised" villain.[17] Moffat viewed Magnussen as Sherlock's "intellectual mirror" and a "unique baddy", and stated that he fell in love with him.[18] The character of Magnussen was originally conceived as an American retaining the name of Milverton, but Moffat changed both his nationality and name when Mikkelsen was cast. He found the name Magnussen on a website of Danish names, looking for one that resembled Milverton, the name of the original character from Doyle's short story.[13] Gatiss noted that the character is a "fascinating new place to go" due to his differences from Moriarty.[17] When Mikkelsen received the script, he stated that his first impression was that it was "the best script I've ever read".[19] Contrasting Magnussen to Moriarty, Cumberbatch stated that he was "so chilling because of how real he is, how normal he is", and that he is "not driven by a mad, chaotic joker's energy that Moriarty has".[18]
On the introduction of young Sherlock, Moffat noted that it was the logical course to take after the introduction of the Holmes parents: "Once you've got the parents in and you've got the sibling rivalry and stuff, people start to think, 'well what was young Sherlock like?' You just want those things, you want to see those things, it's part of updating it."[20]