Doctor Who: The Case of Lavinia Smith and Sherlock Holmes
By Leah Tedesco
There is a Doctor Who Easter egg in the new Sherlock promotional image released by the BBC. Whatever could it mean?
In a recent interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has stated that he is flat out against bringing back the Meta-Crisis Doctor. He is unsure, however, whether or not it would be worth bringing back Jenny, the Doctor’s daughter. Regarding the latter, he takes the stance that, “It comes down to whether or not there’s a great story to tell.” Why he does not give the former the same consideration, it is unclear. As for an adventure featuring both the Eighth and Twelfth Doctors, Moffat cites his experience writing a multi-Doctor story as being “rancidly difficult and awful.” The implications on why this is are fairly clear in his saying that, “There’s a reason there’s usually only one Doctor in Doctor Who.”
On a related note, something similar can be said about the Doctor and Sherlock Holmes teaming up. But while Moffat seems to keep changing his tune regarding whether or not the Doctor and Sherlock should ever meet, he does seem to enjoy toying with fans regarding the matter (as is evidenced below). Being a showrunner for both programs, Moffat holds all sorts of power over the respective universes of the characters. And with Mark Gatiss also being a showrunner for Sherlock, as well as a writer for Doctor Who, it was only a matter of time before the following happened…
People are finding all sorts of intriguing clues in the recent Sherlock teaser image released by the BBC. An article by Ryan Britt of Inverse examines a particular detail from said image, which can be seen in the following video:
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If one looks extremely closely (Paul Jones of Radio Times did the work for us) at one of the books on the shelf, a name from the Whoniverse can be seen: Lavinia Smith, aunt to Sarah Jane Smith, beloved companion to the Doctor. As Britt points out, “Lavinia Smith was a renowned virologist — someone who studies microscopic parasites — which is 100% something Sherlock would be into.”
Granted, it is unknown whether or not either Moffat or Gatiss had anything to do with the appearance of this book on the shelf. In any case, the crossover game is afoot and much fan speculation is sure to ensue. If they are to ever go beyond this simple Easter egg, I would be very curious to see how they get around the fact that, in the 2012 Doctor Who Christmas special ‘The Snowmen,’ Sherlock Holmes was established as a fictional character in the Whoniverse. Chances are, however, that it will not go any farther than this.
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