Page 250 - SHERLOCK transcripts

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JOHN: Would you happen to know if he’s around at all?
(Some of the other inhabitants of the room behind John look round at him but don’t speak.)
JOHN: Can you not hear me?
(The old man looks up at him, huffing indignantly. John holds out a placatory hand to him.)
JOHN: Yes, all right.
(He turns around to the others in the room.)
JOHN: Anyone?
(The others turn their faces away from him.)
JOHN: Anyone at all know where Mycroft Holmes is? I’ve been asked to meet him here.
(The old man lifts his walking stick and pushes the end of it repeatedly onto a button on the
nearby wall. A distant bell rings. John looks around in confusion while the gentlemen either
ignore him or look at him in annoyance.)
JOHN: No takers? Right. (He raises his voice.) Am I invisible? Can you actually see me?
(Just then two men wearing dress coats walk into the room. John turns to them.)
JOHN: Ah, thanks, gents.
(Behind him, the elderly gentleman flaps his hand frantically at the new arrivals as if to say,
‘Get him out of here!’ The dress coated men, wearing white gloves and soft white overshoes to
muffle their footsteps, walk briskly over to John.)
JOHN: I’ve been asked to meet Mycroft Holm...
(He breaks off as the men walk either side of him and firmly seize his arms.)
JOHN: What the ...? Hey!
(As they almost lift him off his feet, one of them puts his other hand over John’s mouth to
silence him. His muffled protests continue while they rapidly bundle him out of the room.)
[As a footnote of potential interest, VerityBurns alerted me to the fact that the old gentleman is
played by Douglas Wilmer who played the role of Sherlock Holmes in a BBC series in the 1960s.
Callie-Ariane transcripts: not only hopefully entertaining and useful but educational as well!]

Shortly afterwards John has been taken to a smaller room and the door has been closed firmly
behind him. Mycroft is in the room with him and pours himself a drink from a crystal decanter.
MYCROFT: Tradition, John. Our traditions define us.
JOHN: So total silence is traditional, is it? You can’t even say, “Pass the sugar.”
MYCROFT: Three-quarters of the diplomatic service and half the government front bench all
sharing one tea trolley. It’s for the best, believe me.
(He smiles round at John but then his face becomes more grim as he walks towards a pair of
armchairs in the middle of the room.)
MYCROFT: They don’t want a repeat of 1972. But we can talk in here.
(John walks to a small table and picks up a copy of “The Sun” which is lying on it. He brandishes
it at Mycroft.)
JOHN: You read this stuff?
MYCROFT: Caught my eye.
JOHN (sitting down in one of the armchairs): Mmm-hmm.
MYCROFT: Saturday: they’re doing a big exposé.
(John reads the announcement at the top of the front page. The headline reads: “SHERLOCK:
THE SHOCKING TRUTH” with the strapline “Close Friend Richard Brook Tells All”. The article
reveals that it is an Exclusive from Kitty Riley and the text reads: “Super-sleuth Sherlock
Holmes has today been exposed as a fraud in a revelation that will shock his new found base of
adoring fans. // Out-of-work actor Richard Brook revealed exclusively to THE SUN that he was
hired by Holmes in an elaborate deception to fool the British public into believing Holmes had
above-average ‘detective skills’. // Brook, who has known Holmes for decades and until recently
considered him to be a close friend, said he was at first desperate for the money, but later
found he had no” [at which point the text just stops].)
JOHN: I’d love to know where she got her information.
MYCROFT: Someone called Brook. Recognise the name?
(John lowers the paper and shakes his head.)
JOHN: School friend, maybe?
(Mycroft laughs in a snide way. Your transcriber wants to slap him really quite hard.)
MYCROFT: Of Sherlock’s? (He chuckles again.) But that’s not why I asked you here.
(He walks to a side table and picks up several folders. Returning to John he gives him one of
them. John opens the file and looks at the photograph on the top page.)
JOHN: Who’s that?
MYCROFT: Don’t know him?

Transcripts by Ariane DeVere (arianedevere@livejournal.com)