"The Hounds of Baskerville" is the second episode of the second series of the BBC crime drama series Sherlock, which follows the modern-day adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and was first broadcast by BBC One on 8 January 2012. It was written by co-creator Mark Gatiss, who also portrays Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's brother in the series, and was directed by Paul McGuigan. The episode is a contemporary adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles, one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous works.
In the episode, Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his crime-solving partner John Watson (Martin Freeman) take on the case of Henry Knight (Russell Tovey), who 20 years earlier witnessed the brutal killing of his father by a "gigantic hound" on Dartmoor. The investigation leads the pair to Baskerville, a military research base.
Because of the popularity of the novel, Gatiss felt a greater responsibility to include familiar elements of the story than he did when adapting the lesser-known stories. The script was intended to follow elements of the horror genre and make the episode scary. As opposed to traditional ghost stories, Gatiss's plot focused on more contemporary horrors, conspiracy theories and genetic modification. Filming was done throughout May 2011, with additional shots taking place as late as August. Location shooting took place mostly across South Wales, though parts were shot in Dartmoor. The hound was created using visual effects.
After its broadcast on BBC One, the episode received consolidated figures of 10.266 million viewers in the United Kingdom. This rating, although a slight drop from the previous episode, still represented the second largest audience in British television the week it aired. Critical reaction toward the episode was largely positive, with reviewers praising both the modernisation and its tonal fidelity to the original. Critics praised Cumberbatch, Freeman, and Tovey, as well as Sherlock's "mind palace" sequence.
Plot Sherlock and John receive a visit from Henry Knight, who witnessed his father's being killed by a "gigantic hound" on Dartmoor 20 years ago. After years of therapy, Henry revisited the site, only to see the hound's footprints, prompting his request for help. Though initially dismissive, Sherlock is soon intrigued by Henry's use of "hound" instead of "dog". Sherlock and John arrive on Dartmoor to find that the hound is a local legend. They visit Baskerville, a nearby Ministry of Defence research base, using Mycroft's security pass. After Mycroft's credentials cause a security alert, Dr. Bob Frankland vouches for Sherlock's identity, despite knowing the truth. Frankland says he was a friend of Henry's father and is concerned for Henry's well-being.
Henry tells John and Sherlock about the words "liberty" and "in" in his dreams. Sherlock, John, and Henry then visit the hollow in the hope of finding the hound. On the way, John hangs back to observe what seems to be Morse code signals but these prove to be unrelated to the case. When he catches up to Sherlock and Henry, Henry says that he has just seen the hound in the thick fog and that Sherlock must have seen it, too, which Sherlock denies. Later, at a local inn, Sherlock is visibly shaken and confesses he did see the hound. John tries calming him, suggesting he imagined it, but Sherlock reacts with anger, denying there is anything wrong with him. John leaves him alone and tries to pump Henry's therapist, Louise Mortimer, for information, under the guise of chatting her up. However, they are interrupted by Frankland, who blows his cover. Meanwhile, Henry hallucinates that the hound is stalking his home.
The next morning Sherlock theorizes that "hound" may be an acronym rather than a word. The pair run into DI Lestrade who was sent by Mycroft to keep an eye on Sherlock. They interrogate the innkeepers about a past order for meat that John spotted, which struck him as odd for a vegetarian restaurant. The innkeepers admit keeping a dog on the moor to boost the tourist trade, but pretend to the investigators that it had been put down. This explanation satisfies Lestrade but not Sherlock, who insists that the dog he saw was monstrous.
Calling Mycroft, Sherlock gains access to Baskerville again. Searching the lower levels of the genetics labs alone, John finds himself trapped and then hears growling, which he assumes is the hound. Locking himself in an empty cage, he calls Sherlock, who rescues him. Sherlock deduces that a chemical weapon designed to trigger violent hallucinations was responsible. Retreating into his "mind palace", a memory technique, Sherlock realises that "liberty" and "in" stand for Liberty, Indiana. After viewing confidential files, he learns that "H.O.U.N.D." was a secret C.I.A. project aimed at creating a hallucinatory anti-personnel chemical weapon. Although the project was abandoned several years before, Sherlock realises Frankland, who participated in the project, has continued it secretly.
After John receives a call from Mortimer warning that Henry has run off with a gun, John, Sherlock, and Lestrade run to the hollow to find Henry about to commit suicide. Sherlock explains that the hound was a hallucination; his father had been killed by Frankland, wearing a gas mask and a sweatshirt with "H.O.U.N.D. Liberty, IN" on it. A child could not cope with this, so his mind tricked him. Every time Henry came back, Frankland gassed him with the hallucinogen. The fog in the hollow is actually the chemical agent, triggered by pressure pads in the area. As Henry calms down, they all fall under the influence of the gas and see a savage dog preparing to attack them, and John shoots it. Frankland appears at the scene, and Sherlock briefly hallucinates that he is Moriarty, before giving chase. Henry realises that his father had been murdered because he found Frankland testing the drug. He attacks Frankland, who flees into the base's minefield and is blown up.
As Sherlock and John prepare to leave the following day, John wonders why he saw the hound in the laboratory despite not having inhaled the gas from the hollow. Sherlock surmises that the leaking pipes poisoned John in the laboratory. John realises that Sherlock locked him in the labs to test his theory. He also points out that Sherlock was wrong for once; he'd believed the drug was in Henry's sugar and had surreptitiously put it in John's coffee.
In the closing scenes, Mycroft oversees the release of Moriarty from a holding cell, which has "Sherlock" written all over the walls.
Sources and allusions The story is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, and also contains plot devices and lines from other Doyle stories:
The hallucinogenic gas comes from "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot". Holmes' bloodsoaked appearance with a harpoon comes from "The Adventure of Black Peter". Holmes' stated preference for something stronger than tea, perhaps "seven per cent stronger", is a reference to his use of a seven per cent cocaine solution described in The Sign of the Four. The scene wherein Holmes claims to have made a bet with Watson comes from a similar scene in "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle." The episode also introduces the popular catchphrase, "Once you've ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true", from several stories. The copy of The Racing Post, in the man's pocket is a clear allusion to the 'Pink 'un' from the original story's "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet" Sherlock calls Lestrade "brown as a nut", a phrase taken word-for-word from a different conversation in A Study in Scarlet.
Production
Casting
In June 2011, it was announced that Russell Tovey would appear in Sherlock series two in its second episode. Tovey, who liked Sherlock for staying true to the style of the novels despite its modern twist, said of the experience: "It's amazing to be a part of it", adding, "I got to act with Benedict and Martin which was awesome". The actor also explained that during his scenes, "We did about two and a half weeks of night shoots in Cardiff and I felt like I had jetlag." In terms of Henry's character, Tovey did not want him to be a "jibbering wreck", but rather mature and truthful as well as damaged and haunted. Gatiss also made Henry display signs of survivor guilt. Tovey's nephew auditioned for the part of a younger Henry, but another child actor was cast for the role as the nephew was considered too young.
Background and writing
The episode was based on The Hound of the Baskervilles, first serialised in 1901–1902; it is considered one of Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous Holmes stories, as it was written after Doyle killed off Sherlock and, consequently, sold well. It was also one of the most adapted novels in the Sherlock Holmes series. Because of its popularity, writer Mark Gatiss felt a greater responsibility to include familiar elements of the story than he did when adapting the lesser-known stories. Conan Doyle had killed off his famous character in the 1893 story "The Final Problem", but bowed to popular pressure to write another Holmes adventure. Gatiss observed that Conan Doyle's weariness with the character is demonstrated by Holmes' absence for half of The Hound of the Baskervilles, in which Doctor Watson's role is foregrounded.
In contrast to the original, however, the producers decided to centre Sherlock in their adaptation, so Sherlock only threatens to stay behind in London. In addition, the three episodes of the second series show Sherlock dealing, respectively, with love, fear, and death. Here, the producers wanted Sherlock, an arch-rationalist, to confront something that seemed impossible, especially since their Sherlock is still a young character who has not experienced fear yet. Freeman stated that when he sees the hound, Sherlock becomes "really terrified" and for some time, stops trusting the evidence he has seen.
The producers also considered how to make the dog believable because, according to Gatiss, audiences always find the dog disappointing in the adaptations. Therefore, Gatiss wanted the solution to be more than a "dog with luminous paint". In one scene, Henry has an hallucination in his home, wherein the hound sets off the bright security lights in his back garden. That scene is apparently based on the experience of co-creator Steven Moffat and his executive producer and wife Sue Vertue, who also have bright security lights and are frequently startled whenever the lights turn on at night.