‘Sorry, who’s Mrs Hudson?’: Mariana Ametxazurra as a Metareference in the Podcast Adaptation Sherlock & Co.

The podcast Sherlock & Co. (2023 –) consciously acknowledges its position as a part of the wider Holmesian universe by implementing various metareferences throughout. It subtly and humorously plays with listeners’ preexisting knowledge of either Arthur Conan Doyle’s works or later adaptations, displacing their preconceived expectations of any new Holmes adaptation. Drawing on Benjamin Poore’s (2017) approach to adaptations as part of an archive network, this article discusses a new addition to the detective duo John and Sherlock, the metareferential character Mariana Ametxazurra. As a fixed agent within the new fictional universe, Mariana regularly contributes to both the investigation and Watson’s podcast. Yet, she is not entirely new. Sherlock’s metareferential attribution of the name ‘Mrs Hudson’ to Mariana prevents a complete erasure of the role previously filled by Mrs Hudson and instead foregrounds the ways in which Mariana replicates or rejects Mrs Hudson’s attributes. The article argues that the figure of Mariana reflects the general adaptive strategy of the podcast itself. She sets it apart from other adaptations by reshaping core elements of the original Holmesian world and, in doing so, carves a new space for the podcast in the Holmesian archive.