Too subtle?
While Americans were busy getting into fights at Walmart on Black Friday, Londoners were treated to something a little less violent but still somewhat gruesome yesterday. According to the Express, the long-awaited transmission date for Series 3 of the BBC series Sherlock was revealed in a the back of a black hearse that was driven around London.
As a promotional stunt arranged by the BBC, the empty hearse (pay attention to that, it's important) was pictured with a floral tribute that spelled out "Sherlock 01 01 14," meaning Series 3 premieres in the U.K. on January 1, 2014. In addition, there was a sign in the driver's window that read #SherlockLives, directing fans to use the hashtag on Twitter to follow and promote the series.
Episode one of Series 3, "The Empty Hearse," is written by Mark Gatiss and is based loosely on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short story "The Adventure of the Empty House." Episode two, "The Sign of Three," will air on January 5th and episode three, "His Last Vow," will air a week later on January 12th.
The publicity stunt was first hinted at the night before when Sherlock producer Sue Vertue posted the message "Keep your eyes peeled in the morning rush hour and pay your respects." According to the article, the hearse was noticed outside the hospital of Sherlock's apparent demise on Gower Street at 9:30 a.m. yesterday morning. At the end of Series 2 in "The Reichenbach Fall," Sherlock Holmes appears to hurl himself from the roof of St. Bartholomew's Hospital and is believed dead in an apparent suicide, only to be shown alive -- somehow -- at the end of the episode.
A short, 30-second teaser trailer for Series 3 was released last week that also promoted the #SherlockLives hashtag. You can view it below thanks to the BBC's official YouTube channel.
Sherlock premieres in the U.S. on January 19, 2014 at 10 p.m. EST on PBS, provided you haven't found alternative means to watch the U.K. version beforehand.