Sherlock is full of references to the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but it also managed to sneak a Doctor Who Easter egg during the explanation of the Reichenbach Fall – here’s what it is. The Great Detective was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and made his debut in the story A Study in Scarlet in 1887, but he became widely popular thanks to the short story “A Scandal in Bohemia”, published in The Strand Magazine in 1891. Since then, Sherlock Holmes has become one of the most popular literary characters, and one who has also been adapted to all types of media for over a hundred years.
There was a point in the early 2010s when Sherlock Holmes seemed to be everywhere, thanks to Guy Ritchie's movie starring Robert Downey Jr and two different TV adaptations of the character: Elementary and the BBC’s Sherlock. The latter was created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat and aired from 2010 to 2017, and brought the detective and company to modern-day London, with stories that were both inspired by those by Conan Doyle and original cases. Sherlock’s main cast was formed by Benedict Cumberbatch as the title character, Martin Freeman as John Watson, Andrew Scott as Jim Moriarty, and Mark Gatiss as Mycroft Holmes – and it’s Gatiss’ involvement behind the scenes and in front of the camera that made way for a Doctor Who reference.
Sherlock brought the most important characters and events from the books to the screen, among those Sherlock’s supposed death. In season 2’s finale, titled “The Reichenbach Fall”, Sherlock was tricked and pushed by Moriarty into killing himself by jumping off the roof of St. Bart’s Hospital, which he ended up doing in order to save John, Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs), and Lestrade (Rupert Graves). Sherlock returned in season 3’s premiere episode “The Empty Hearse”, which offered different explanations on how he faked his death but without giving a definitive answer. The explanation that Sherlock gave to Anderson (Jonathan Aris) was one that involved a whole plan with his brother Mycroft, in which he would text him a code word that would then trigger the plan that fitted his situation, and the code was “Lazarus”.
Sherlock fans who are also into Doctor Who were quick to point out the connection between these two shows thanks to the word “Lazarus”. The sixth episode of the third series of Doctor Who, during David Tennant’s time as the Doctor, was titled “The Lazarus Experiment”, and it starred none other than Mark Gatiss as Professor Richard Lazarus. The episode follows Dr. Lazarus who presents his newest invention: a capsule that instructs his genes to rejuvenate with sound waves, but it came with a big price, as he needed to drain life energy to keep his DNA stable, and ended up becoming a monster. Fans of both shows have interpreted the Lazarus Easter egg beyond the Mark Gatiss connection, as the Doctor Who episode can be seen as Professor Lazarus cheating death, which is what Sherlock did by faking his own.
Of course, the origin of the “Lazarus” term/word goes a long way back and thus connects Sherlock and Doctor Who even further. Lazarus is a biblical character raised from the dead by Jesus, so once again, it’s the death and resurrection theme playing in different ways in both shows. This Doctor Who Easter egg in Sherlock was a treat to fans of both shows, and a fun way in which Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat referenced the other TV series they worked on.