《神探夏洛克》爲BBC創收鉅額利潤

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.

本屆艾美獎(Emmy Awards)上，英國廣播公司(BBC)的熱播系列劇《神探夏洛克》(Sherlock)一舉斬獲破紀錄的7項大獎，奇怪的是，無論是“福爾摩斯”還是“華生”，都沒有出席週一晚上在洛杉磯舉行的頒獎典禮。

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.

不過，他們爲什麼沒有現身的謎案，並不是那位帶着獵鹿帽的神探通常需要面對的“要抽足三鬥煙才能解決的問題”。評論人士此前就認爲該劇集中的英國明星本尼迪克特•康伯巴奇(Benedict Cumberbatch)和馬丁•弗里曼(Martin Freeman)是艾美獎的局外人。

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.

他們兩人意外獲獎，以及這部僅用大型美劇預算一小部分的成本製作的系列劇成爲艾美獎的最大贏家，凸顯出《神探夏洛克》如何成了BBC的搖錢樹。BBC上月表示，該劇集現在是其利潤最豐厚的出口節目，BBC共授權了224個國家播放該劇，這比其他任何節目都多。

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電視劇負責人透露，《神探夏洛克》第四季將於明年1月開始拍攝，他期待這一季超越第三季的成功，並許諾世界各地的觀衆將會看到“震撼”的劇情轉折。在一個月前的一次祕密會議上，劇情已經透露給主演。

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屆年度艾美獎上，《神探夏洛克》不僅分獲最佳迷你劇/電影男主角和最佳迷你劇/電影男配角，其主創之一史蒂文•莫法特(Steven Moffat)還榮獲最佳編劇獎。此外該劇還獲得4項技術獎項，使最終獲獎數達到7項，比當晚另一個大贏家，美國犯罪劇《絕命毒師》(Breaking Bad)還多一項。

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.

三項非技術獎項都是針對今年1月在英國首播的第三季最後一集“他最後的誓言”(His Last Vow)頒發的。這一集將阿瑟•柯南•道爾(Arthur Conan Doyle)的《米爾沃頓》(The Adventures of Charles Augustus Milverton)改編爲現代背景的故事，1904年原版故事中的敲詐者被改寫爲奸詐的報業巨頭查爾斯•奧古斯塔斯•瑪格努森(Charles Augustus Magnussen)，由拉斯•米科爾森(Lars Mikkelsen)飾演。

“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》是我們最暢銷的節目，只用美劇一小部分的成本就在昨晚斬獲了比其他任何節目更多的獎項，”BBC電視劇財務主管本•斯蒂芬森(Ben Stephenson)說。

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).

他說，BBC環球公司(BBC Worldwide)的絕大部分盈利來自於出口4部節目——《神探夏洛克》、《神祕博士》(Dr Who)、《顛覆拍檔》(Top Gear)和《星隨舞動》（美國版名爲“Dancing with the Stars”，英國本土版名爲“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的商業部門上月報告的財務結果表明，BBC環球公司爲BBC貢獻了1.74億英鎊的利潤回報，與上年相比增加了11%，相當於BBC電視節目年度內容資金預算的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.

斯蒂芬森承認《神探夏洛克》爲BBC帶來了“鉅額收入”（BBC並不將每個節目的收入分開）。最初，他爲這部劇集在美國受到的熱捧感到驚訝，BBC將該劇授權給美國公共廣播電視公司(PBS)的頻道播放。

“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.”

“在美國，一般來說你得製作12集或者24集，”他說，“《神探夏洛克》在3年中製作了9集，然而它成爲了一部大熱劇集。最終，這歸結爲驚人的創意——不管形式和規模如何，創意能帶動商機。”

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，據報BBC環球公司正商談將其王牌BBC美國(BBC America)頻道的近50%股份賣給美國電視集團AMC Networks，也就是《絕命毒師》的製作者。BBC環球此舉是爲了提高資金實力以與高端電視劇領域的對手HBO和Netflix等競爭。

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.

不管怎樣，《神探夏洛克》在全球範圍內取得的成功打破了許多項紀錄。BBC稱，第三季在中國的在線平臺優酷(Youku)上的點擊超過了7000萬次。康伯巴奇飾演的夏洛克在第二季末尾似乎從聖巴塞洛繆醫院(St Bartholomew's Hospital，簡稱Bart's Hospital)樓頂跳下身亡，第三季則講述了夏洛克奇蹟般地迴歸偵探生涯。

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獲得了未播出的BBC劇集中最多的預定，而這種視頻格式其實已經快要淡出人們的視野了。第三季最後一集在英國電視上首播時成爲了Twitter上討論最多的電視節目。

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.

全世界的粉絲都在屏氣凝神地期待着第四季，編劇莫法特透露，對於下一季，他有一個“毀滅性”的計劃。

“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.

“我們告訴了演員們這個計劃，幾乎使他們落淚了，”他在週一頒獎儀式之後的採訪中說道。

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.

斯蒂芬森說：“這不是誇張。”他證實BBC會在明年1月拍攝一部“具有重大轉折的特別篇”，此後會在2015年開拍第四季的三集，播出時間還不確定。

“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.”

“一個月前史蒂文和馬丁（弗里曼）以及本尼迪克特（康伯巴奇）坐下來，向他們說明了（第四季的）計劃是什麼。不可能猜到會發生什麼。他們非常大膽無畏。就像你預料到的，會有曲折。但情節很震撼。”

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

他說他有信心第四季的銷量會超越第三季的成功。

“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》的一個驚人之處在於每次我們完成一季，銷量和評級都會上升，”他補充道，“我們去年把劇集賣給了224個國家，我認爲這個數字還會繼續上升。顯然這個世界只有這麼多的國家，也許我們以後可以開始賣給外星人了。”