《神探夏洛克》为BBC创收巨额利润

In a curious twist, neither Holmes nor Watson was present to collect the record haul of seven Emmy awards won by the hit BBC series Sherlock in Los Angeles on Monday night.

本届艾美奖(Emmy Awards)上，英国广播公司(BBC)的热播系列剧《神探夏洛克》(Sherlock)一举斩获破纪录的7项大奖，奇怪的是，无论是“福尔摩斯”还是“华生”，都没有出席周一晚上在洛杉矶举行的颁奖典礼。

However, solving the mystery of their no-show was not quite a “three pipe problem” the Deerstalker-wearing detective would normally have to solve. The critics had considered British stars of the show Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman to be outliers for the awards.

不过，他们为什么没有现身的谜案，并不是那位带着猎鹿帽的神探通常需要面对的“要抽足三斗烟才能解决的问题”。评论人士此前就认为该剧集中的英国明星本尼迪克特•康伯巴奇(Benedict Cumberbatch)和马丁•弗里曼(Martin Freeman)是艾美奖的局外人。

The surprise victory for them, and for a series produced on a fraction of the budget of big US TV dramas that dominate the event, highlights the financial boost that Sherlock has provided for the BBC. It said last month that the series is now its most lucrative export, licensed to 224 territories worldwide – more than any other programme.

他们两人意外获奖，以及这部仅用大型美剧预算一小部分的成本制作的系列剧成为艾美奖的最大赢家，凸显出《神探夏洛克》如何成了BBC的摇钱树。BBC上月表示，该剧集现在是其利润最丰厚的出口节目，BBC共授权了224个国家播放该剧，这比其他任何节目都多。

Revealing that filming of the fourth series of Sherlock will begin in January, the head of BBC drama said he expects this series to outstrip the success of even the third, promising viewers around the world a “shocking” plot twist which was revealed to the lead actors in a secret meeting a month ago.

BBC电视剧负责人透露，《神探夏洛克》第四季将于明年1月开始拍摄，他期待这一季超越第三季的成功，并许诺世界各地的观众将会看到“震撼”的剧情转折。在一个月前的一次秘密会议上，剧情已经透露给主演。

Winning gongs respectively for outstanding lead actor and supporting actor in a mini series or movie, Sherlock’s co-creator Steven Moffat also picked up the best writer trophy at the 66th annual Emmy Awards. Four technical awards took the total haul to seven, one more than the night’s other big winner, the US crime drama series Breaking Bad.

在第66届年度艾美奖上，《神探夏洛克》不仅分获最佳迷你剧/电影男主角和最佳迷你剧/电影男配角，其主创之一史蒂文•莫法特(Steven Moffat)还荣获最佳编剧奖。此外该剧还获得4项技术奖项，使最终获奖数达到7项，比当晚另一个大赢家，美国犯罪剧《绝命毒师》(Breaking Bad)还多一项。

The three Emmys were all in recognition of His Last Vow, the final episode from the third series, first aired on UK screens in January. A contemporary reworking of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Adventures of Charles Augustus Milverton, the society blackmailer of his 1904 tale is transformed into a treacherous newspaper magnate, Charles Augustus Magnussen, played by Lars Mikkelsen.

三项非技术奖项都是针对今年1月在英国首播的第三季最后一集“他最后的誓言”(His Last Vow)颁发的。这一集将阿瑟•柯南•道尔(Arthur Conan Doyle)的《米尔沃顿》(The Adventures of Charles Augustus Milverton)改编为现代背景的故事，1904年原版故事中的敲诈者被改写为奸诈的报业巨头查尔斯•奥古斯塔斯•玛格努森(Charles Augustus Magnussen)，由拉斯•米科尔森(Lars Mikkelsen)饰演。

“Sherlock is our best-selling programme, and won more awards than any other programme last night at a fraction of the cost of the American shows,” said Ben Stephenson, controller of BBC drama.

“《神探夏洛克》是我们最畅销的节目，只用美剧一小部分的成本就在昨晚斩获了比其他任何节目更多的奖项，”BBC电视剧财务主管本•斯蒂芬森(Ben Stephenson)说。

He said the majority of BBC Worldwide’s profits are driven by the export of just four programmes – Sherlock, Dr Who, Top Gear and Dancing with the Stars (the US name for Strictly Come Dancing).

他说，BBC环球公司(BBC Worldwide)的绝大部分盈利来自于出口4部节目——《神探夏洛克》、《神秘博士》(Dr Who)、《颠覆拍档》(Top Gear)和《星随舞动》（美国版名为“Dancing with the Stars”，英国本土版名为“Strictly Come Dancing”）。

Financial results for the broadcaster’s commercial arm last month revealed that BBC Worldwide had generated profits of £174m to be returned to the BBC, an 11 per cent rise on the previous year, and equivalent to 10 per cent of the annual content funding budget for BBC TV programmes.

BBC的商业部门上月报告的财务结果表明，BBC环球公司为BBC贡献了1.74亿英镑的利润回报，与上年相比增加了11%，相当于BBC电视节目年度内容资金预算的10%。

Conceding that Sherlock has made a “huge amount of money” for the broadcaster (the BBC will not break down specific revenues per show), Mr Stephenson was initially surprised at the rapturous reception the show received in America, where it is licensed to the channel PBS.

斯蒂芬森承认《神探夏洛克》为BBC带来了“巨额收入”（BBC并不将每个节目的收入分开）。最初，他为这部剧集在美国受到的热捧感到惊讶，BBC将该剧授权给美国公共广播电视公司(PBS)的频道播放。

“In the US, the assumption is you have to make 12 or 24 episodes,” he said. “Sherlock has made nine episodes over the course of three years, yet it’s been such a big hit. Ultimately, it comes down to amazing creativity – whatever its shape or size, creativity does drive commerciality.”

“在美国，一般来说你得制作12集或者24集，”他说，“《神探夏洛克》在3年中制作了9集，然而它成为了一部大热剧集。最终，这归结为惊人的创意——不管形式和规模如何，创意能带动商机。”

Last month, it was revealed that BBC Worldwide is in talks to sell a near-50 per cent stake in its flagship BBC America channel to US television group AMC Networks – the home of Breaking Bad – as it seeks the financial power to compete with high-end drama rivals such as HBO and Netflix.

上月，据报BBC环球公司正商谈将其王牌BBC美国(BBC America)频道的近50%股份卖给美国电视集团AMC Networks，也就是《绝命毒师》的制作者。BBC环球此举是为了提高资金实力以与高端电视剧领域的对手HBO和Netflix等竞争。

Nevertheless, Sherlock’s global success has broken many records. The BBC says the third series – where Mr Cumberbatch’s detective miraculously returns to sleuthing after seemingly plunging to his death from the roof of Bart’s Hospital at the end of series two – has received more than 70m hits on the Chinese digital platform Youku.

不管怎样，《神探夏洛克》在全球范围内取得的成功打破了许多项纪录。BBC称，第三季在中国的在线平台优酷(Youku)上的点击超过了7000万次。康伯巴奇饰演的夏洛克在第二季末尾似乎从圣巴塞洛缪医院(St Bartholomew's Hospital，简称Bart's Hospital)楼顶跳下身亡，第三季则讲述了夏洛克奇迹般地回归侦探生涯。

The DVD of the third series received the most pre-orders ever for a BBC series yet to be broadcast – at a time when the format is dying – and the final episode was the most tweeted about television programme when it was first aired on UK screens.

第三季的DVD获得了未播出的BBC剧集中最多的预定，而这种视频格式其实已经快要淡出人们的视野了。第三季最后一集在英国电视上首播时成为了Twitter上讨论最多的电视节目。

Fans around the world are waiting with breathless anticipation for series four, and screenwriter Mr Moffat revealed he had a “devastating” plan for the next instalment.

全世界的粉丝都在屏气凝神地期待着第四季，编剧莫法特透露，对于下一季，他有一个“毁灭性”的计划。

“We’ve practically reduced our cast to tears by telling them the plan,” he said in an interview after the awards ceremony on Monday night.

“我们告诉了演员们这个计划，几乎使他们落泪了，”他在周一颁奖仪式之后的采访中说道。

Mr Stephenson said: “This is not hyperbole.” He confirmed that the BBC will film a “special with a big twist” in January, followed by a three-part series filmed in 2015, with no fixed date for broadcast.

斯蒂芬森说：“这不是夸张。”他证实BBC会在明年1月拍摄一部“具有重大转折的特别篇”，此后会在2015年开拍第四季的三集，播出时间还不确定。

“Steven sat down with Martin [Freeman] and Benedict [Cumberbatch] a month ago and took them through what the plans are [for series four]. It’s impossible to guess what’s going to happen. They are being very bold and brave. There are twists and turns, as you would expect. But it is shocking.”

“一个月前史蒂文和马丁（弗里曼）以及本尼迪克特（康伯巴奇）坐下来，向他们说明了（第四季的）计划是什么。不可能猜到会发生什么。他们非常大胆无畏。就像你预料到的，会有曲折。但情节很震撼。”

He said he was confident that sales of this series would eclipse the success that series three has enjoyed.

他说他有信心第四季的销量会超越第三季的成功。

“The amazing thing about Sherlock is that every time we’ve done it, sales and ratings have gone up,” he added. “We sold to 224 countries last year, and I think that will continue to rise. Obviously there are only so many countries in the world, but maybe we’ll start selling it to the aliens next.”

“《神探夏洛克》的一个惊人之处在于每次我们完成一季，销量和评级都会上升，”他补充道，“我们去年把剧集卖给了224个国家，我认为这个数字还会继续上升。显然这个世界只有这么多的国家，也许我们以后可以开始卖给外星人了。”