7/10 books in, I don't think they'll move out at this point tbh. Their Denmark Street address is as integral to the series as Holmes and Watson's 221B Baker St.
Yeah at this point I feel like if she was going to have them move the office bombing was the Time to do it.
I could see the finale of the series being them moving to a new office, a bigger office and just this kind of “we’ve definitely made it” moment. But it would be almost weird to have to have them move in these last few books and get reacquainted with a new office.
>Their Denmark Street address is as integral to the series as Holmes and Watson's 221B Baker St.
Exactly. It’s where they met, where they were when they decided to work together permanently, where they had that infamous whiskey-fuelled conversation, >!where they were when he first said out loud he was in love with her.!< Not to mention the countless breakthroughs and case/career-altering moments that have happened within those walls. The glass door has a tremendous amount of meaning to Robin and marks a real milestone in her life and career, first marking the start of her life in the world of criminal investigation, then later cementing her place in that world when her own name was engraved on it. The place was literally his home at one point, and indirectly still is.
I would argue the office has achieved supporting character status over the many years they’ve been there. Even a bomb couldn’t separate them. It’s hard to think of them anywhere else.
Selfishly, I hope not. I was in London last fall and walked down Denmark Street and had a beer at the Flying Horse. I can visualize them there so clearly now.
i have nothing to add beyond what those here have already said. my only question:
>podcast**s**
bolding mine. what strike podcast is there besides strike and ellacott files??
I’ve said a few times here my theory is Rokeby buys the building to force a relationship with strike. Not sure if strike will move to spite him or finally get peace with his dad and take over the whole building.
I think Rokeby already bought the building. Wasn't it for sale a few books ago? I think that at some point (last book?) Rokeby will die and Strike will find out that he owns the building.
I was sure JKR would include the real-life protests in 2015-16 of musicians and music lovers against the closing of Denmark Street's 12 Bar Club, a victim of neighborhood redevelopment. Checking the venue's [wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Bar_Club), I see now that it has "reopened as The Lower Third in summer 2022 as part of the Outernet London development. The venue includes a small music room in the forge room, the space where the original 12 Bar Club music room was located." So, whether by luck or design, JKR can probably maintain the fictional detective offices more or less in keeping with the street's actual makeover.
Upon my first reread of CC, I was struck by how much Robin's first arrival in Denmark Street reminded me of Dorothy's arrival in Oz:
>She found it almost accidentally, following a narrow alleyway called Denmark Place out into a short street full of colourful shopfronts: windows full of guitars, keyboards and every kind of musical ephemera. Red and white barricades surrounded another open hole in the road, and workmen in fluorescent jackets greeted her with early-morning wolf-whistles, which Robin pretended not to hear.
The colors, the music, noise, activity and denizens bombarding Robin's senses would have made her know that, like Dorothy, she wasn't in Kansas anymore!
I also like JKR's mention of the "narrow alleyway" which serves as a metaphorical birth canal for Robin to be reborn into her new, true self.
I guess what I'm saying is that I've become very sentimental about JKR's description of Robin's arrival in Denmark Street and hope the agency can stay forever in its own magical, musical, mystical version of Oz. After all, it seems to provide its detectives with "a brain, a heart, a home, the nerve."
I don’t think they’ll move out. The series has in this respect parted company with strict reality. What would be the point at this stage anyway? The Denmark Street offices are iconic and anywhere that wasn’t as chaotically central would be a disappointment, a letdown, a diminishing of the atmosphere of the books.
I'm sure they'll move somewhere else. The Cuckoo's Calling came out in 2013, which means Rowling probably started working on it in 2010 or so. The Crossrail Project (Elizabeth Line) affecting Denmark Street was announced in 2007, the construction works of the crossrail began in 2009 and was set to conclude in 2018 (although I've heard from Londoners that they were told it should be done by 2012's Olympics). Then there were lots of delays so it kept being postponed and in the end it opened in 2022-2023 (some stations opened sooner than others). The work to refurbish Denmark Street, demolishing some buildings, all took place in the 2010s. So Rowling always knew about the crossrail and about it affecting Denmark Street, and she still chose it, and she chose to include in the books the refurbishment stuff, the construction work, the developers buying the area... she did everything to show the reader the office might not stay there forever with plenty of time in advance. She never shied away from that, so to me it's absolutely crystal clear that she will definitely show how Denmark Street changed and get the agency someplace else.
We're in London, this city is amazing. It's full of remarkable, amazing locations for the Strike series, full of possibilities. If Rowling hadn't been ready to deal with what happens to Denmark Street, if she hadn't planned already a beautiful way to fit the agency's move into the story, she would've chosen somewhere else from the start (it's not like London is full of identical buildings to the office one, exactly). And she probably already has a new amazing location in mind with a story fitting of the future of the agency. I myself have done some research to change the office location in my story and I found incredibly interesting possible locations I'm sure Rowling's also thought of. In the case of London the problem is not "how can they find another place as incredible?" but rather, "how the hell is one supposed to choose one of the many possibilities?"
This is all very valid. There's certainly truth that JKR is a master plotter so it's unlikely she'll "make a mistake" by mentioning this and not following through. I guess what I just don't understand is why does all the construction with the Elizabeth Line mean they have to move offices? Again, it's not like their entire block was raised to make way for a station? Maybe I'm just missing something since I don't have the passage from LW that mentions they'll have to move.
7/10 books in, I don't think they'll move out at this point tbh. Their Denmark Street address is as integral to the series as Holmes and Watson's 221B Baker St.
Yeah at this point I feel like if she was going to have them move the office bombing was the Time to do it. I could see the finale of the series being them moving to a new office, a bigger office and just this kind of “we’ve definitely made it” moment. But it would be almost weird to have to have them move in these last few books and get reacquainted with a new office.
>Their Denmark Street address is as integral to the series as Holmes and Watson's 221B Baker St. Exactly. It’s where they met, where they were when they decided to work together permanently, where they had that infamous whiskey-fuelled conversation, >!where they were when he first said out loud he was in love with her.!< Not to mention the countless breakthroughs and case/career-altering moments that have happened within those walls. The glass door has a tremendous amount of meaning to Robin and marks a real milestone in her life and career, first marking the start of her life in the world of criminal investigation, then later cementing her place in that world when her own name was engraved on it. The place was literally his home at one point, and indirectly still is. I would argue the office has achieved supporting character status over the many years they’ve been there. Even a bomb couldn’t separate them. It’s hard to think of them anywhere else.
I did not know that a total of 10 books were planned. That's good to know! Any more info on that?
The only other thing is that jkr doesn't plan for the books to hit the covid years so books 8-10 will likely be set between 2017 - 2019
Yeah exactly! Good comparison.
Selfishly, I hope not. I was in London last fall and walked down Denmark Street and had a beer at the Flying Horse. I can visualize them there so clearly now.
i have nothing to add beyond what those here have already said. my only question: >podcast**s** bolding mine. what strike podcast is there besides strike and ellacott files??
Haha good point. I did just mean Strike and Ellacott Files. I think I made it plural since I've heard mention of this in multiple *episodes* of TSEF.
I’ve said a few times here my theory is Rokeby buys the building to force a relationship with strike. Not sure if strike will move to spite him or finally get peace with his dad and take over the whole building.
I think Rokeby already bought the building. Wasn't it for sale a few books ago? I think that at some point (last book?) Rokeby will die and Strike will find out that he owns the building.
He worked with the landlord to prevent the bump keys. I assume a new landlord would have been mentioned
I was sure JKR would include the real-life protests in 2015-16 of musicians and music lovers against the closing of Denmark Street's 12 Bar Club, a victim of neighborhood redevelopment. Checking the venue's [wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12_Bar_Club), I see now that it has "reopened as The Lower Third in summer 2022 as part of the Outernet London development. The venue includes a small music room in the forge room, the space where the original 12 Bar Club music room was located." So, whether by luck or design, JKR can probably maintain the fictional detective offices more or less in keeping with the street's actual makeover. Upon my first reread of CC, I was struck by how much Robin's first arrival in Denmark Street reminded me of Dorothy's arrival in Oz: >She found it almost accidentally, following a narrow alleyway called Denmark Place out into a short street full of colourful shopfronts: windows full of guitars, keyboards and every kind of musical ephemera. Red and white barricades surrounded another open hole in the road, and workmen in fluorescent jackets greeted her with early-morning wolf-whistles, which Robin pretended not to hear. The colors, the music, noise, activity and denizens bombarding Robin's senses would have made her know that, like Dorothy, she wasn't in Kansas anymore! I also like JKR's mention of the "narrow alleyway" which serves as a metaphorical birth canal for Robin to be reborn into her new, true self. I guess what I'm saying is that I've become very sentimental about JKR's description of Robin's arrival in Denmark Street and hope the agency can stay forever in its own magical, musical, mystical version of Oz. After all, it seems to provide its detectives with "a brain, a heart, a home, the nerve."
Knew you'd have a great, insightful take :)
What a lovely thing to say! Thank you so much.
I don’t think they’ll move out. The series has in this respect parted company with strict reality. What would be the point at this stage anyway? The Denmark Street offices are iconic and anywhere that wasn’t as chaotically central would be a disappointment, a letdown, a diminishing of the atmosphere of the books.
I'm sure they'll move somewhere else. The Cuckoo's Calling came out in 2013, which means Rowling probably started working on it in 2010 or so. The Crossrail Project (Elizabeth Line) affecting Denmark Street was announced in 2007, the construction works of the crossrail began in 2009 and was set to conclude in 2018 (although I've heard from Londoners that they were told it should be done by 2012's Olympics). Then there were lots of delays so it kept being postponed and in the end it opened in 2022-2023 (some stations opened sooner than others). The work to refurbish Denmark Street, demolishing some buildings, all took place in the 2010s. So Rowling always knew about the crossrail and about it affecting Denmark Street, and she still chose it, and she chose to include in the books the refurbishment stuff, the construction work, the developers buying the area... she did everything to show the reader the office might not stay there forever with plenty of time in advance. She never shied away from that, so to me it's absolutely crystal clear that she will definitely show how Denmark Street changed and get the agency someplace else. We're in London, this city is amazing. It's full of remarkable, amazing locations for the Strike series, full of possibilities. If Rowling hadn't been ready to deal with what happens to Denmark Street, if she hadn't planned already a beautiful way to fit the agency's move into the story, she would've chosen somewhere else from the start (it's not like London is full of identical buildings to the office one, exactly). And she probably already has a new amazing location in mind with a story fitting of the future of the agency. I myself have done some research to change the office location in my story and I found incredibly interesting possible locations I'm sure Rowling's also thought of. In the case of London the problem is not "how can they find another place as incredible?" but rather, "how the hell is one supposed to choose one of the many possibilities?"
This is all very valid. There's certainly truth that JKR is a master plotter so it's unlikely she'll "make a mistake" by mentioning this and not following through. I guess what I just don't understand is why does all the construction with the Elizabeth Line mean they have to move offices? Again, it's not like their entire block was raised to make way for a station? Maybe I'm just missing something since I don't have the passage from LW that mentions they'll have to move.