The 'Sherlock' Scene That Made Steven Moffat Cry

In the second episode of Season 3 of Sherlock — which aired this past Sunday in the US and three weeks ago in the UK — Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes delivered a best man speech for the ages. Turns out, according to a recent Vulture interview with Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat, that public display of affection was actually decades in the making — it's been brewing in his head since he was but a wee Scottish lad obsessing over the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories.

I remember being a 12-year-old kid thinking, 'Oh, why didn’t we see Sherlock be the best man? Please, can we see that? That would be the best story in the whole world, and I don’t care if there’s a crime in it or not, because it must have been the best and worst speech of all time!'

Moffat also admitted to tearing up while writing the scene:

I loved writing the speech, and I don’t normally cry when I’m writing. I don’t cry at all unless my finger’s trapped in something. I didn’t even cry when I wrote Amy and Rory’s good-bye in Doctor Who. Sadness doesn’t make me cry. I think a simple expression of devotion probably does.

As for the rationale behind the actual speech itself turning out so beautiful and lovely and affirming?

I thought what Sherlock would do is he’d sit there and think, 'Everyone’s gonna think I’m gonna make a right cock-up of this. Everyone thinks I’m going to screw it up. So, I’m going to make them think that, and then of course I’m going to say something lovely.' And I always thought he’d do it well because he’s a genius and he cares about his mate — he wouldn’t let his mate down. I think he paced all night to make sure it was moving.

You can read the rest of Moffat's behind-the-scenes speech-writing tidbits over at Vulture — including confirmation/insight into which parts were paraphrased from the Conan Doyle canon. In the meantime, we'll be over here continually misty-eyed over the connection of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

Image: Tumblr, BBC