In memory of Una Stubbs: A few episodes on BBC’s Sherlock where Mrs Hudson stole the scene

Una Stubbs role as Mrs.Hudson on the acclaimed BBC series Sherlock, earned her fans from all over the globe

Fans across the world were heartbroken on Thursday when they learnt that veteran actress Una Stubbs had passed away at the age of 84. Though she had appeared on silver screen with sitcoms such as Till Death Us Do Part and In Sickness and in Health, audiences perhaps knew her best as the cheerful and witty landlady Mrs. Hudson in BBC’s Sherlock. Her portrayal of the sassy character, who puts the tortured genius in place with her clever comebacks, earned her the adoration of fans across the globe.

In memory of the beloved actress, here is a list of snippets from Sherlock which earned her a place in people’s hearts. Arguably she steals every scene she’s in, but here a few where she outshines everyone else.

1.When she showed off how fashion-forward she was

(Episode: The Great Game)

In a high stakes cat-and-mouse game with a kidnapper sending Sherlock on a whimsical while killing off victims, Mrs Hudson offers us a light moment with her classic calming presence. As Sherlock and a detective are mulling over the death of a TV personality, Mrs Hudson chimes in with a comment on how she had ‘liked’ the dead woman, who had talked about fashion on her show. Mrs Hudson, ever keeping in toe with the latest trends, had watched and listened religiously, as she proves with a witty quip. She remarks that she should ‘apparently never wear cerise’ as it ‘drains her’. She also indulges in a little gossip about the murder victim’s botox.

2. When she didn’t break even under torture

(Episode: A Scandal in Belgravia )

When a gangster breaks into Sherlock’s apartment in search of sensitive information on a phone, poor Mrs Hudson becomes the target of his viciousness. Even under the man’s cruel torture, she does not tell him a thing. When an angry Sherlock comes to her rescue and literally throws the man out of a window, the courageous lady reveals that not only did she know of the phone’s whereabouts, but also had hidden it away. Sherlock’s subsequent remark of how England would fall if Mrs Hudson went away, also seems to hold true of the show as well.

3.When she inadvertently had an affair

(Episode: The Hounds of Baskerville)

Increasingly frustrated after regretting his decision to quit cigarettes, an agitated Sherlock calls Mrs Hudson to ask her if she knew where she kept his spares. Sashaying in with her classic “Yoo hoo”, she is all sass as she tells her she doesn’t know and reiterates, as she always does, that she is not his housekeeper. Sherlock goes off on her, bombarding her with intimate details of her relationship with a baker in the end revealing to the poor old lady that her beloved has a secret wife. As she storms off, we see the soft side Watson has for her as well, as he scolds Sherlock and tells him to apologise.

4. When she still had things to say to Sherlock even after she thought he was dead

(Episode: The Reichenbach Fall)

Standing at Sherlock’s headstone, Mrs Hudson gives a unique kind of reminiscing about the troubled genius. Instead of hollow nice words, as is common, she instead talks about all the things she found annoying about him and that angered her - including the noise of late night gunfires and stumbling across body parts in her fridge. Watson, to his surprise, realizes that she has more complaints against his best friend than he does. But in the end, her true feelings come out as she breaks into tears in her grief over her annoying tenant’s untimely death.

5.When she had a heart-to-heart with John about Marriage

(Episode: The Sign of Three)

It’s John Watson’s wedding day and he visits Mrs Hudson one last time. Serving him with one of his favourite meals, she sits down beside him and talks to him about marriage, drawing from her own experiences. On John’s questioning she talks of her whirlwind romance with her own late husband, until of course she found out that he was a part of a drug cartel and his infidelity. Her light and airy way of ending it by saying that she was actually glad when her husband’s ‘head got blown off’ to an obviously uncomfortable and shaken Watson is proof of why she is one of the most beloved characters on the show.

6. Her small “Fast and the Furious” moment

(Episode: The Lying Detective)

A scene of an increasingly manic Sherlock cuts to a high speed car chase. We see an array of police cars and even a helicopter hot on the tail of a red car, an Aston Martin, which swerves its way expertly to keep ahead of the cops. It stops right outside of John Watson’s therapist’s house. A stunned Watson is greeted by none other than Mrs. Hudson, who climbs out of the vehicle. The cherry on top in this scene is her interaction with a police officer who asks her if she knew how fast she was going, to which she quips “Of course not! I was on the phone”.

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