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“He’s Mr Punchline. He will outlive God trying to have the last word.”

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Freebatch Retrospective

Part Nine: The Final Comments.

For posterity a few things:

During setlock s3 filming a fan was leaving the Cardiff area after a day of location searching. She stopped at the Cardiff Gate Services on the M4 to fill her car. Benedict was doing the same thing. Martin was in the car. She managed to get a photo with Ben. They were heading east out of Cardiff, setlock rumour had it that Ben was staying at his parent’s lodge house near Marlborough, whenever he had a day off. The blogger left the fandom and deleted her blog after s3 aired. I have occasionally seen the photo of the fan with Ben reposted but without the story. 

Amanda trolled the Tumblr fandom prior to, during and after s3. She was on a campaign against johnlock, she gave a few statements in interviews that she was concerned her kids would see the explicit art work of their Dad. [Their Dad has done many nude and sexual scenes in his films, but whatever] She did stop after a while, and consensus was that she had been advised to stop by TPTB. However it was speculated that she was really checking for sightings of Martin, like the one mentioned above, to check on his location.

Wanda, at the Sherlock con, gushed about the love between Ben and Martin. Saying: ‘Sherlock, and Ben, are grounded by John, and Martin’ ‘they will grow old together’ and ‘Ben adores Martin just [like Sherlock] does John’ 

‘Sweetheart’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xoDbeUseic

Sugernut.

Wearing the same, or a copy of, each other’s clothes.

Finally, because it is a study in intimacy, I want to mention the photo of Martin and Ben on set when Martin’s kids visited. The body language in that shot speaks volumes. The way Martin’s son is allowing himself to be kissed and held by Ben; so natural and easy together. That experience does not come free from a child, it is earned by interaction and trust. Benedict’s kiss is intense and emotive. He is close to this boy. The icing on the cake is Martin joining in the hug. It’s so intimate we almost don’t want to look at it. But when I hear people say that these two men are not friends off set, recalling this photograph always dismisses that idea as sheer nonsense [even before I think of the red-carpet-flooded-with-oxytocin-walk] 

Over the years there has been tremendous ups and downs in the Freebatch relationship, and they both have learned to hide it, granted Ben is not as good as Martin when it comes to this. Actually he sucks at it. But this for me is a relationship that I, like Wanda, think will continue for life, maybe in various forms, as it’s based on a deep attraction and chemistry. You can’t ignore that PULL when you find it with another. It’s what we all seek. It’s not a happy ever after love story. It’s messy, it’s fraught with life’s events, it’s two magnets that keep pulling into each other’s orbit. 

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Freebatch Retrospective

Part Eight: Moving out and moving on.

2016 Martin was in Puerto Rico filming Start Up for the first few months of the year. We had tweets from Amanda saying she and the kids had gone to visit him  during a school holiday. From the tweets she posted from PR, it was evident that things did not go well. Once home there began a series of passive messages coming from Amanda via the Forest Friends retweets, it was clear the relationship with Martin was breaking down. By the early summer it was also clear from tweets that Martin had moved out. One weekend Amanda would tweet about events with the kids, then the following weekend we would random tweets from people who saw Martin out with his kids, whilst Amanda was tweeting about her nights out with the girls. It didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to see a pattern; they were having the kids on alternative weekends. Also the amount of Martin sightings in Soho from the general public on Twitter was making it clear he was either living there or staying there until he secured a new place to live. On top of this we had the series 4 setlock evidence of a split; they were not travelling to Cardiff together, they were not staying in the same hotel room in the cast hotel in Cardiff, Martin was seen eating out alone on several occasions while Amanda was tweeting she was with Una or Loo at the hotel. It was obvious if you looked that Martin and Amanda had separated. In the autumn Martin finally confirmed the split in an interview, he was respectful and played it down, the entire episode was handled well. Oh and Martin is now living in a flat in Belsize Park, yeah that is the same area as Hampstead where Ben is living.

[Let’s discuss that issue for a second. Ben has lived in the same house since he was with Olivia, in north London, in Hampstead. After setlock a pap managed to get photos of a moving van outside this house. Then we had pap shots of the moving van a few days later unloading items and taking them into a rental house nearer to the village of Hampstead. The general message was that Ben had moved out of his long time home and into rented accommodation while his new home in Dartmouth Park is being renovated. We have since seen a few photos of Ben leaving the rented house. The rented house is technically within the boundary of Belsize Park.]

OK back on track now. On the other side of the Freebatch coin, Ben was busy with Marvel. By setlock he was spending time in Martin’s trailer again in down time on set. There were reports from setlockers that Ban and Martin were eating dinner together on several occasions. Ben looked better, he acted more like himself. On the days we had setlock reports of down time interaction with Martin, we then got setlock reports of a very happy Ben interacting with setlockers. The scuttlebutt from the Sherlock crew working on location was that it was the last season of the show, as they were hearing rumblings from Ben and Martin that they were ready to move on. [At the time I did not believe it, I argued that it was just set gossip, but now I can understand. Having witnessed the episode content that Ben and Martin were filming, I can see why they may have been ready call it quits] However, Freebatch was healed on setlock s4. It was nice to see.

We even had a small setlock argument between Amanda and Martin over Benedict!

Martin angry at Amanda for wanting to pull Ben away and take him to fans

Martin circling around to stop Amanda. I don’t have a link to the video, sorry.

We finally, at the end of the year, received prescreening photos of Martin and Ben. they looked happy again. It was a nice Xmas gift before the shit storm of s4 hit.

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Freebatch Retrospective

Part Seven: Valentines?

On completion of TAB filming, Ben married Sophie. Martin was conspicuous by his absence. To make matters worse the tabloids in the UK published that Martin was best man. Amanda just had to comment on this situation and did so by a series of mocking tweets, since deleted but here is one I copied:

“The Sun ‘news’ paper. Getting it bowel-shatteringly, mind numbingly wrong today. How we laughed… And laughed" 

She later posted this:

Martin was clearly at home on the day of Ben’s wedding, although he was leaving the following day for work abroad. Amanda’s tweets were cynical. Anyone who read them could sense a lot lay beneath the surface. Andrew Scott was the only Sherlock cast member to be photographed at the wedding. 

Moving on; caught up in the Oscar race, Ben looked wooden, dazed, frozen and was acting out of character in front of the press. Gone was the happy, full of life, spontaneous personality and in its place we had a guarded, closed man who was frequently using distancing language when discussing his marriage and impending fatherhood. We can’t excuse his behaviour as wanting to keep his private life private as he was mainly answering broad questions following his public announcement of marriage and a new baby on the way. A typical PR response was all that was required, but he failed to do that, instead making strange comments coupled with facial expressions that were in direct conflict with his words. See the post below:

http://welovethebeekeeper.tumblr.com/post/128048009183/you-dont-need-me-to-read-the-facial-expressions

The summer was Ben’s Hamlet summer, and on press night Martin did attend, we had tweets of him in the audience with Amanda plus Mark, Ian, Tim and Wanda. However Martin did not pose for press photos nor was he seen at the after party. Later he was asked in a press interview while in Edinburgh what he thought of Ben’s Hamlet; he said Ben was ‘good’ and ‘very clear’ but it was less than a stellar review. However a month before Martin had attended the Giffoni Festival and was asked by a fan to convey a Happy Birthday to Ben, his reaction was far from cold or cynical at that time: 

http://welovethebeekeeper.tumblr.com/post/124515075633/a-wee-thing-for-the-freebatchers-amongst-the

But there is no escaping the fact that 2015 was not a good year for Freebatch. 

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Freebatch Retrospective

Part Six: The Abominable Bride

Setlock for TAB began early in 2015, with Ben engaged, an expectant father and exhausted from his Richard III shoot, plus the PR machine/treadmill expected by Harvey Weinstein on the run up to the Oscars for TIG. He was drinking heavily, he’d balls up an acceptance speech at the GQ Awards [and would continue to stagger around drunk at more awards ceremonies in the first few months of the year] He looked thin and haggard. Whatever was occurring in his life was not having a positive effect. Compare 2015 Ben to 2012 Ben, it’s staggering to see the difference; 2012 in love with life, a relationship that is bringing out the best in him, full of joy, physically stunning, happy and relaxed. Versus 2015′s anxious, guarded, occasionally pissy with fans and interviewers, either a cardboard cut out of himself on the red carpets or drunk out of his head   gatecrashing other’s interviews. What we saw with Ben post engagement was not good. His friends saw it too, the online cast members of Sherlock offered no congratulations publicly. 

The relationship between Martin and Ben had been hit hard. When asked about Ben’s new relationship in an interview, Martin had been cryptic, making it hypothetical versus real with the clever use of the word ‘if’. During setlock Martin looked angry. The setlock gossip about them being together when off the set was down to a minimum [on s3 filming we had various rumours of sightings of the pair in down time together around the Cardiff/Bristol area] Martin’s body language was somber and at times sad, at other times pissed off. The photos we were receiving showed little fond interaction, even the read through photo, often a highlight of setlock, was a photoshopped image. [Yes, thy might have been in the same building, but the photo was not of them interacting]

Rumours began of a ‘falling out’ between Ben and Martin. Pre and post screening interactions were not forthcoming. I was at the Gower St setlock for TAB and while I did sense a sad and distanced Martin in-between filming, I also saw him giggling with Ben between takes when they were in the carriage. We also got two nice photos of them gazing at each other adoringly outside 221b:

NB: Amanda had finished filming by this time. Sophie had shown up on location for 10 minutes at the start of filming in Bristol and never returned to the set.

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Freebatch Retrospective

Part Five: The Game Changes

Rumours start to float around in spring 2014 about Benedict having a new girlfriend. At first it looked like it was going to be in the form of his friend Lady Kinvara Balfour, who had been part of his circle of friends for a long time. Another ‘female friend’ stepping in to help. She attended a Grand Prix Race with Ben in Monaco, maybe seeing how well the relationship would be taken up by the press. But for some reason it failed, I think she was smart enough to get out while she could. Then we had Rebecca Eaton making comments about Ben being ‘off the market’ in The New York Post, but no names mentioned. Finally we get pap shots from the French Open of Ben and a brunette who turned out to be Sophie Hunter. In hindsight we realise she had read in the Letter’s Live event at Hay Festival with Ben earlier in the year, and was part of a group led by James Rhodes who threw a party at a Hay book store which Ben attended. However many people did not see chemistry, and I must admit I found their body language very negative in the French Open photographs. Then we see Sophie attend a performance of Martin’s Richard III along with Ben and Andrew Scott.

Amanda was also there that night, as was Loo. After the performance a waitress from the Trafalgar Theatre tweeted that the cast of Sherlock were in the bar and noted that Ben and Martin stood at the end of the bar together discussing Richard III and only interacted with each other. [She did not mention Sophie. I apologise for not keeping these tweets] Then two fans who had also attended the performance and who had gone to the McDonalds across the road from the theatre, which gained them a clear view of the front of the theatre, reported that Ben and Martin left via the front entrance. They have since deleted any record. 

We get various sightings of Ben and Sophie for a few months then finally the announcement in the Times of their engagement. Now we get to The Battle of The Five Armies Premier. Benedict arrives alone and walks the red carpet alone.

As does Martin.

Martin uses Ian McKellen as a human shield in the group shots to keep Benedict away. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2bjbgf_cast-pose-for-a-photo-at-the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-world-premiere_shortfilms

Ben was doing his sad, seeking Martin’s attention, behaviour and it was apparent to all who were witnessing the event that Martin was giving the cold shoulder once again to Ben. We had a few reports and two photos of Martin finally giving in and talking to Ben at the end of the photo shoot. 

It was just sad. Then we get them heading straight into TAB filming and one thing becomes clear; Martin is furious.

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Freebatch Retrospective

Part Four: The Glorious Season

In December 2013 the PR for season 3 began and we saw this:

And this:

Not much to say, they are self explanatory. Just look at their exit off stage in the video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egrFD_Bq6nA. Also note how angry Steven is at Caitlin Moran.

Then we got Applelock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPOTGibC3eI

Things were back on track at this point. But about to hit the rockiest period to date: The summer of the secret girlfriend. 

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Freebatch Retrospective

Part Three: New Zealand, and the tide begins to change.

During setlock s3 back in 2013, there was a break in filming to accommodate Martin’s last filming for The Battle of The Five Armies in New Zealand. Somehow, Ben managed to fly down there too!!! Yes, for a nice surprise on Martin’s final day of filming Ben, who was flying to Japan, managed a stop over in Wellington NZ. As you do.

Ben went on to attend the premier of The End of The World movie.

The two tried to keep their distance at the premier. They are well aware at this point that Freebatch is a ‘thing’. However unusual behaviour began to occur: Ben came back from Japan and blitzed the press with his heterosexulaity: Katia in Ibiza, the photos of the event leaked by a suspicious friend on Facebook, then a mega staged birthday night out to a club with old drama school friend Charlotte Asprey within a week of the Katia trip. Friends Alice Eve and Laura Carmichael helped him out too, at Glasto and the Roundhouse respectively, just to keep the ball rolling. Martin on the other hand started to call Amanda his ‘Mrs’ or ‘My Amanda’. Just all looked a bit ‘planned’, a bit PR intervention.

Following on from all this, in December 2013, we arrive at The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug premier and in LA relations were frosty. We all saw the video of a sad Ben seeking attention from Martin. Amanda was present for the LA trip and photos of her with Martin were looking a bit frosty.

But then in Berlin, while still keeping their distance on the red carpet, we get the balcony scene. Amanda not present this time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Rr-rhcop7A Full video here.

Again a very intimate exchange, and Martin taking the time to really engage and talk with Tim during a red carpet premier of a film in which HE is the leading man. Just lovely. Happy Benedict.

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Freebatch Retrospective

Part Two: The Good Times

They enter the world stage as a couple on the red carpet at the 2012 Emmys.

Series 2 has catapulted the show into a new level of fame. Our men are in LA for the Emmys and they walk that red carpet together, not as costars, but as a leading couple. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNiwBJuD1lY  Still humble about their show, very much a ‘we’ and Ben is giving that ‘look’ he does in adoration at Martin.

The facial expressions and body language are intimate, this smile in the gif below is extremely intimate and knowing between them.

The trip to LA had seen them out and about before the awards ceremony. 

Lady, they were almost inseparable this trip.

These images speak for themselves, for me this was the time they were at their happiest together. 

Note: TPTB were present during this trip but Ben and Martin kept their distance.

Note: Martin’s filming as Bilbo took place from March 2011 till July 2012 when he was spending most of his time in NZ, he and Amanda both confirmed difficulties first arose in their relationship during this time, and it would ultimately lead to their split as Martin’s career kept him away from home frequently.

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Anyway...Freebatch, a historical retrospective.

Part One: The First Signs.

Keeping their distance. Following the filming of the pilot and the first series, Ben and Martin do an interview in 2010 and keep a safe distance between each other on the couch. Strangers sit closer than this. We tend to be far more aware of our proximity when there is attraction. However earlier in 2009, having filmed the pilot, with some alcohol on board at a party following a screening of ‘Creation’, we get a very different story.

No distance on that couch. And Ben was in Creation, was Martin invited as a plus two by Ben to the Curzon Screening?

Also in 2009 Ben hightails it to Martin’s table at The Evening Standards Awards.

And Martin starts with that intense gaze at Ben’s mouth, which we will see, become a habit. 

Then in 2011 Sherlock wins the drama BAFTA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjRXpnAOk_Q

In the video of the backstage interview, note how Ben and Martin start being in sync with their facial expressions at 0.26 and how Ben never moves his hand off Martin.

Another Freebatch habit  also begins at this event; we now hear Ben begin his gushing about Martin, often unprovoked and always far more than required.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CIkvaszat8  Please note the platonic qualifier thrown in, unnecessary to the interview, it’s Ben’s self check habit when he  is on a roll about Martin.

So by the time 2012 and series 2 take BBC Sherlock into the stratosphere, our two men have an established chemistry, attraction and relationship that is very much visible in their public appearances.

Note: Ben has split from Olivia. [According to several reports at the time, their relationship had been rocky since Ben went to South Africa to film To the Ends of the Earth, and the relationship just ended slowly after several attempts to make it work. However in post break-up interviews Olivia’s response spoke more to a split which came suddenly and left her heartbroken] 

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I’m not very happy of this one but I couldn’t do better, the quality of the photo was awful. I made two other draw on their hands in s1 and s2 and I will continue with the last season because I like to do it even it’s not perfect.

(s1) (s2) (s3)

#bbc sherlock #s03e03 #his last vow #drawing #fan art #their hands #this is the handshake of love #if only they could tell each other

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I can’t breathe this is so good

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There's no doubt anymore Sherlock was going to say he loves John. End of discuss

#but who was not already convinced ? #bbc sherlock #gotham #his last vow #s03e03 #he loves he #NO DOUBT #sherlock #john #oswald #edward

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I’didn't go either on Spotify and Twitter during a few days and then THIS happened

THIS. IS. THE. SWEETEST. THING. I’VE. EVER. SEEN.

#bbc sherlock #contactsh #contactjhw #twitter #spotify playlist #FOR JOHN #I'M SCREAMING #the playlist is rather good by the way

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John: Give me your hand 

Sherlock: What for ? 

John: Because I want to

Sherlock:

#bbc sherlock #sherlock holmes #john watson #johnlock #just an imaginary talk about this photo #but this is quite realistic isnt'it ?