\u201cMrs Hudson leave Baker Street? England would fall.\u201d Benedict Cumberbatch\u2019s Sherlock might have said it for hyperbolic effect but it was a measure of Una Stubbs\u2019 reassuring screen presence that viewers knew exactly what he meant.<\/p>\n
As the doughty landlady of 221B Baker Street, Stubbs was the beating heart of the BBC\u2019s blockbuster update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle\u2019s\u2019s detective stories. Fans worldwide will be united in grief at news that the much-loved actress has died aged 84<\/a>.<\/p>\n In her 70s when she landed the role, Stubbs enjoyed a welcome late-life career renaissance in Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss\u2019 globe-conquering reboot. As the eccentric downstairs neighbour to the consulting detective, she brought wily wit and quirky charm to Conan Doyle\u2019s\u2019s familiar long-suffering character.<\/p>\n As is traditional, Mrs Hudson fussed over the sleuth and sidekick Doctor John Watson (Martin Freeman). \u201cShe loves them,\u201d said Stubbs in reference to her leading men. Despite repeatedly insisting that she wasn\u2019t their housekeeper, she was forever bringing cuppas and cooked meals to \u201cmy boys\u201d. Indeed, in The Sign Of Three, it became clear that Holmes thought his morning tea tray just \u201csort of happened\u201d because he was never awake when it arrived.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yet she wasn\u2019t the matronly domestic drudge of previous portrayals. There was a surprising streetwise edge to Stubbs\u2019 incarnation. Beneath that innocent face, quintessentially English diction and cardigan-clad sweetness, there were regular hints that this Mrs Hudson had a chequered part of her own. Rather like Stubbs herself, she wasn\u2019t nearly as cosy as she seemed.<\/p> It was revealed that she\u2019d first offered Holmes a hefty discount on his rent because he helped ensure the conviction and execution of her dastardly gangster husband Frank after he committed a double murder in Florida. She later let slip that her and Frank\u2019s relationship was \u201cpurely physical\u201d. Cue quizzical raised eyebrows from Watson.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It was a running joke in early episodes that she assumed Sherlock and Watson were a couple (\u201clive and let live, that\u2019s my motto\u201d), despite John\u2019s constant denials. When John later told her that he was getting married, Mrs Hudson immediately asked what his<\/em> name was.<\/p>\n She took no nonsense from high-functioning misfit Holmes. She\u2019d admonish him for his antisocial habits (\u201cPut away your harpoon!\u201d) and get annoyed when he left human body parts lying around as part of his \u201cresearch\u201d. This fond-but-firm relationship echoed real-life. As a friend of his mother, actress Wanda Ventham, Stubbs had known young Benedict since he was in a push-chair.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, her passion for art rubbed off on Freeman. The pair would make lunchtime outings to local galleries during filming and he bought several paintings on Stubbs\u2019 recommendation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In His Last Vow, her character\u2019s full name was revealed to be Martha Louise Hudson n\u00e9e Sissons. We learned that she was a recovering alcoholic and former exotic dancer (she darkly warned Sherlock not to go \u201cYouTubing\u201d for evidence). Her \u201cpressure point\u201d, according to master blackmailer Charles Augustus Magnussen (Lars Mikkelsen) was her penchant for marijuana. She waved this away as \u201cherbal soothers\u201d for her bad hip.<\/p>\n Stubbs\u2019 blend of wit and warmth, of human frailty and hard-won wisdom was deeply endearing. Viewers grew as fond of her as Holmes and Watson \u2013 both of whom became fiercely protective of her. When Mycroft (Mark Gatiss) dared tell her \u201cFor God\u2019s sake, shut up, Mrs Hudson!\u201d, it was one of the few times that Sherlock snapped at \u201cbrother mine\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In A Scandal In Belgravia, when CIA operatives tortured Mrs Hudson to learn the whereabouts of an incriminating smartphone belonging to dominatrix Irene Adler (Lara Pulver), Sherlock repeatedly threw the spook responsible out of a second-floor window.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It may have taken him four series to hug Watson but he\u2019d been hugging Mrs Hudson for years. She was one of the three people on the list of \u201ceveryone you care about\u201d whom Moriarty (Andrew Scott) threatened to kill if Sherlock failed to commit suicide in The Reichenbach Fall. As Mrs Hudson sagely told the uptight Mycroft: \u201cFamily is all we have in the end\u201d (though that didn\u2019t stop her nicknaming him \u201cthat reptile\u201d).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She was a daredevil driver on the sly, memorably pulling donuts in an Aston Martin during The Lying Detective. When Watson asked how she could afford such a swanky supercar, Mrs Hudson replied: \u201cI\u2019m the widow of a drug dealer. I own property in Central London. And for the last bloody time, I\u2019m not your housekeeper!\u201d She later held our anti-hero at gunpoint, telling him: \u201cYou\u2019re not my first smackhead, Sherlock Holmes.\u201d<\/p>\n She might have found fame in the swinging Sixties but 50 years later, Stubbs\u2019 impish humour meant she instinctively understood the ironic playfulness of 21st century boxset drama. Moffat and Gatiss\u2019 scripts were snappy, self-referential and full of dazzling wordplay which Stubbs delivered with deceptive ease.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She was much-loved on-set as she was on-screen. The multi-talented former dancer was also an accomplished artist who co-presented the BBC\u2019s Big Painting Challenge and held exhibitions of her work. Her watercolour portraits of \u201cher boys\u201d Cumberbatch and Freeman, painted on-set, were shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.<\/p>\n A post shared by Steven Moffat (@stevenwmoffat)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote> Head honcho Moffat paid heartfelt tribute on Instagram yesterday: \u201cThe loveliest light on Baker Street has gone out\u201d, calling her \u201cthe irreplaceable heart and soul of Sherlock\u201d. Gatiss said on Twitter: \u201cMischief was in her blood. We were so blessed that she became our imperishable Mrs Hudson. Goodbye, darling.\u201d Sherlock producer Sue Vertue added: \u201cYou were absolutely our Sherlock mum. You knitted us together.\u201d<\/p>\n It was one of the great joys of my life to work so closely with and to adore Una Stubbs. She was a wonderful, wonderful woman and a great and serenely graceful actor. Mischief was in her blood. We were so blessed that she became our imperishable Mrs Hudson. Goodbye, darling. \u2764\ufe0f<\/p>\u2014 Mark Gatiss ???? (@Markgatiss) August 12, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote> Una Stubbs\u2019 career spanned half-a-century, Such was her versatility, range and enviable CV that she was beloved by three generations. During the \u201960s, she was Sandy in Cliff Richard\u2019s film musical Summer Holiday and Alf Garnett\u2019s long-suffering daughter Rita in landmark sitcom Till Death Us Do Part. In the \u201980s, she was Aunt Sally from Worzel Gummidge (opposite former Doctor Who<\/a> star Jon Pertwee) and a team captain on primetime charades gameshow Give Us A Clue. To a third generation, she will forever be Mrs Hudson. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n All three generations will be feeling a twinge of sadness at her passing. With her prim tones and mischievous twinkle, Stubbs was the nation\u2019s favourite aunt. The sort who\u2019d secretly slip you some pocket money or give you a sly wink after you\u2019d done something naughty. Such was Stubbs\u2019 gift that we all felt like we knew her, even if we\u2019d only met through stage or screen.<\/p>\n Una Stubbs was, as her forename implies, one of a kind. If Sherlock showrunners Moffat and Gatiss ever get the gang back together for more episodes \u2013 and fans will desperately hope they do \u2013 there will be a Stubbs-shaped hole in the line-up. England might not fall but our TVs will be all the poorer for her absence.<\/p>\n Visit our Drama<\/a> hub for more news and features, or find something to watch with our TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Michael Hogan pays tribute to Baker Street’s finest as actress Una Stubbs passes away, aged 84. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":3056,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/why-una-stubbs-mrs-hudson-was-sherlocks-soul-and-secret-weapon.jpg",1200,675,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/why-una-stubbs-mrs-hudson-was-sherlocks-soul-and-secret-weapon-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/why-una-stubbs-mrs-hudson-was-sherlocks-soul-and-secret-weapon-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/why-una-stubbs-mrs-hudson-was-sherlocks-soul-and-secret-weapon-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/why-una-stubbs-mrs-hudson-was-sherlocks-soul-and-secret-weapon-1024x576.jpg",800,450,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/why-una-stubbs-mrs-hudson-was-sherlocks-soul-and-secret-weapon.jpg",1200,675,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2021\/08\/why-una-stubbs-mrs-hudson-was-sherlocks-soul-and-secret-weapon.jpg",1200,675,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Michael Hogan pays tribute to Baker Street's finest as actress Una Stubbs passes away, aged 84.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/3055"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Mrs\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/08\/sherlock-una-stubbs-7ae9f3c.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Sherlock\"\\"")
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