I liked the foreshadowing with his arch nemesis when Sherlock saw his in the smog, suggesting that the nemesis is the only thing that Sherlock fears. This to me was where transmedia narrative most came through. These brief instances (we also saw the arch nemesis at the very end) that hint to future episodes are what keep fans interested and anticipating future episodes (a cultural attractor), but they also link the TV episodes so that each one is indeed a part of a greater story. The super-system of Sherlock is the overall story, over each season, and the app. While each season follows a plot line, another system, and each episode has a stand alone story, another system. The interesting thing, and a characteristic of many TV shows, is that the episodes work together as stand-alone stories, but contribute to a greater story universe. This relates to the discussion in class about all parts being greater than themselves, similar to the parts of a transmedia text.

I wouldn’t classify Sherlock, the TV series as a transmedia text though, each episode belongs to a unified story, but they are told across the same platform and are not an extension but an updated version of the books. The app is interesting and could make it a kind of transmedia story; however the game narrative is not very significant to the unified story of the TV show, although it does have ‘easter eggs’ for the community of dedicated Sherlock fans to uncover.

The foreshadowing in Sherlock that I mentioned earlier, drew attention to the fact that within our project, foreshadowing should be used more as a cultural attractor, to add complexity to the plot and to unify the components of our story. We’ve done a little but we really need to do more and I’ll bring this up with our group during the writing process.

Back to Sherlock though, the characterisation was interesting, I am not too familiar with the original Sherlock Holmes books, but I don’t remember him to be sassy, anti-social and probably belonging somewhere on the autism spectrum. However, his quick wit and eccentric qualities make him interesting, entertaining and more relevant to the 21st century, where being as square as you are super intelligent is not edgy enough for modern screens. They also managed to modernise elements of the old stories quite well, making them more interesting and relevant to the now.