Sherlock's time-travelling, case-solving, mind-palace-expanding list.

In their "Body Bag" segment of the latest Three Patch Podcast, the Three Patch crew asked for listeners to come up with their own theories as to what drugs were on the list that Mycroft demanded from Sherlock in BBC Sherlock's "The Abominable Bride." The drugs on this particular list were the ones Sherlock supposedly took to induce a time-travelling investigatory hallucination to consider how an unsolved historical suicide-murder was done.

Which was one of the really odd issues of that episode -- combining drugs to manufacture a particular mental scenario seems more fantasy than a possible occurrence in reality. But given the fantastical nature of the effects Sherlock sought to produce from a combination of pharmaceuticals, I would think it only natural that we follow that line of thought . . . and find some fantastic pharmaceuticals for the list.

So where do we shop for fantastic pharmaceuticals? A few places.

First stop: A refined derivative of Radix Pedis Diaboli.

Coming from "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot," Holmes surely made his own refinements upon that powerful African hallucinogenic drug once he learned of it. And his time-travel investigation was nothing if not hallucinatory. But it also needed brain-power, and so . . . .

Next stop: NZT-24.

If we're going with fantastic drugs, we might as well throw in a little NZT-48, the intelligence super-booster from the movie and TV series Limitless. Of course, since NZT-48 kind of makes Sherlock's own mental abilities moot, perhaps he was only able to get a less-powerful precursor, something like an "NZT-24," with enough dangerous side effects to keep it from being used very often.


And then: Tincture of opium.

The classics are classics for a reason, and the natural tranquilizing qualities of opium in a measured amount could take the edge off the sharper aspects of the other two drugs.

And why not: Cordrazine.

A powerful stimulant seen in both Mission: Impossible and every Star Trek series that has been known to cause hallucinations and madness in the wrong dosage.

And then perhaps: Nepenthe.

Going back to Greek mythology, Nepenthe induces forgetfulness, and in order to "time travel" and turn his mind palace into Victorian London, Sherlock would have had to forget who he currently was and what time he currently lived.

Just to make sure: Prozium. 

An emotional suppressant that showed up in the future chronicled in the movie Equilibrium. No letting those nasty emotions get in the way, eh?

And only Sherlock knows why: Tricholoromethylene.

Used by a certain fraternity in Revenge of the Nerds to counteract the effects of alcohol. Probably used to tone down the effects of some of the other drugs in this mess.

And finally: Extract of Kingsfoil.

One has to have something with a bit of a healing property to get through all of the above, so this herb from Lord of the Rings will fit nicely. Probably grows somewhere in Africa near the Devil's Foot root.

So there's the list as I see it:

1. A refined derivative of Radix Pedis Diaboli
2. NZT-24
3. Tincture of opium
4. Cordrazine
5. Nepenthe
6. Prozium
7. Tricholoromethylene
8. Extract of Kingsfoil

Of course, one of those pills offered by Morpheus in The Matrix might just take care of the whole business. And I would hate to see the side effects disclaimer for that lot, but there was a reason Mycroft wanted his brother to keep a list, after all.

And I forgot one . . . the obvious one. Those nicotine patches.

A little less fantastical than the rest, but the one we actual have witnessed Sherlock using.

But as the old-timer in Con Air once said, "Oh, no! Drugs'll end you son."

Stay off the drugs, kids. Fantastical or otherwise. You, too, Sherlock.