In the BBC series Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes is presumed dead for two years after his fall from St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
At the end of “The Reichenbach Fall,” Sherlock appears to die while stopping Jim Moriarty’s plan to ruin his reputation. Sherlock has actually arranged the scene so that he can survive and deceive the people watching from the street, but John Watson and the public believe he is dead.
“The Empty Hearse,” the first episode of series 3, begins after this two-year absence. Sherlock returns to London and discovers that John has moved on with his life and is preparing to marry Mary Morstan. The time gap is therefore both a plot device and an important change in John’s circumstances.
The series presents several possible explanations for Sherlock’s escape before revealing the key elements of the plan. This led to considerable discussion among viewers, because the finale deliberately leaves the mechanics of the fall unclear.
The two-year period is sometimes confused with the two-year gap between the broadcast of series 2 and series 3. In this case, the television storyline and the production schedule align closely, but the answer refers to the fictional period during which Sherlock is believed to have died.