It’s a great series, though on the whole I think they downplay the drug-use a little. The American show with Jonny Lee Miller - who knew he could act?! - is excellent too.
I’m trying to recall from the books, whether Holmes’ use of a palace is aided by his drug user. As far as I recall, it’s seen instead as an extension of his intelligence. But I could be wrong; I’m no Sherlock Holmes!
Yes, he uses the drugs to enhance his already superior intelligence. In the books it was morphine and cocaine, in the series I think Sherlock’s “list” would be more likely Ritalin, Adderall, Modafinil, Piracetam, nicotine and perhaps meth (all nootropics). Both in the series and in books it is mentioned that he succumbs to the drugs when he is bored, that would be in the periods when he has no work. But when he has a case to solve, he changes into a “sniffing hunting dog running around, focused only on one thing: catching its prey.”
Good that writers named it “mind palace” though, because its main purpose seems to be visualising yourself in different situations. While what Magnussen had was a memory palace.
Do you talk about Charmadas? I have no doubt that he used the method of loci because he lived in the era of Cicero.
Also, there weren’t many books at that time. Remembering 2 books by heart was already considered as a whole library in your head.
Based on this quote, Mycroft also has a memory palace.
If them showed how Magnussen memorized these things, it would be impossible to take him seriously. And so, these running texts in his head give him an analogy with the terminator.
Sherlock’s director knew how to evoke the necessary emotions in the viewer.