Steven Moffat confirms which Sherlock stories will be adapted for the second series?

In an interview for the Guardian, published on Monday, Steven Moffat, co-creator along with the League of Gentlemen’s Mark Gatiss for a modern-day take on Sherlock Holmes, hinted at which of the Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic detective stories would be adapted for the second series of their acclaimed BBC show, Sherlock.

When the Guardian’s Vicky Frost asked the veteran writer, of Doctor Who and Coupling fame, about the new series he replied:

“You can have three clues to work from…Adler, Hound, Reichenbach”.

We should probably be grateful that Moffat isn’t as cryptic as Sherlock Holmes, and it’s pretty easy to figure out which stories he’s alluding to. Adler is clearly a reference to Irene Adler, an American singer from the Sherlock Holmes Story A Scandal in Bohemia.

Even someone who’s never read a Sherlock Holmes story in his or her life would be able to decipher the cunning second clue, an obvious reference to the Hound of the Baskervilles but it’s the last clue that’s the most interesting. Reichenbach is a reference to Reichenbach Falls, a series of waterfalls in central Switzerland where Sherlock Holmes apparently plummets to his death while battling with his nemesis, Moriarty in The Adventure of the Final Problem although he was eventually brought back due to pressure from his fans. This raises the question of how it’ll be dealt with by Moffat and Gatiss. Will they bring the series to an and by having Benedict Cumberbatch’s version of the great detective fall to his doom or will they simply end the second series that way?

Due to its high ratings and critical acclaim, the latter seems more likely but if the first series is anything to go by, we’re going to be surprised.