Case Study:The Science of Deduction

In 2010, BBC released the new Tv series they’ve made. Based on a famous character from a famous novel——Sherlock Holmes.The producer successfully translated the story into a modern version. Sherlock is a consulting detective while Waltson just returned from a war.

In the series, there are a lot of modern techniques being used to carry out the plot. Such as blog, SMS and BBS. Thanks to those creative and rigorous staff of  BBC, those fictional websites were actually invented.

The Science of Deduction is one of them.

Staff of BBC worked out this website and release it in 2010, just as the show was screened.

The website is called: The Science of Deduction. 

There are 4 areas you can search in the website.

Home: Giving brief introduction of this site by “Sherlock”, showing some hidden messages that you can refer to, updating the latest Forum activity.

Forum:  Like an online chatting room of “Sherlock”. His client can communicate with him there. Containing posts of  “Sherlock” and clients.

Hidden messages: It is the most interesting part. “Sherlock ” gives out    puzzles receiving from his enemy, and post it on his little website, and we can  try to solve it. He’ll post the answer later.

Case File: This category contains all the cases he's solved in the show. You’ll find a link to Walston’s blog where you can find details of how Sherlock broke the case.

I found it interesting because this website is trying to make Sherlock a real person who lived in London now. He's a charming man, and now we have an opportunity to communicate with him.And just like the fictional one, the success making of Sherlock Holmes made many crazy fans took it really serious. This website makes the new Sherlock come alive from the screen. Another reason I pay attention to it is because it is related to commercial market. Besides, it shows the hard-work of BBC staff. They care about the detail, and it shows their brilliant way of promotion.

I can't think of negative issues it raises. This website is all about dedution, not so concerning or peeking into a real person's daily life. It seems to be a heaven for fans of Sherlock or fans of detective fictions. They can brain storm here, and the founder is kind of creating a sense that we are communicating with Sherlock, although it's all fake and we all know it.