Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

has long been a popular character for

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

, Holmes-related work by authors and creators other than

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

. Their works can be grouped into four broad categories: *New Sherlock Holmes stories *Stories in which Holmes appears in a cameo role *Stories about imagined descendants of Sherlock Holmes *Stories inspired by Sherlock Holmes but which do not include Holmes himself

Sherlock Holmes stories

New Sherlock Holmes stories fall into many categories, including: * Additional Sherlock Holmes stories in the conventional mould * Holmes placed in settings of contemporary interest (such as World War II or the future) * Crossover stories in which Holmes is pitted against other fictional characters (for example, vampires) * Explorations of unusual aspects of Holmes' character which are hinted at in Conan Doyle's works (e.g., drug use)

Print

In 1913, the Greek novel ''Sherlock Holmes saving Mr. Venizelos'' (''Ο Σέρλοκ Χολμς σώζων τον κ. Βενιζέλον'') was serialized in the magazine ''Hellas''. Written by an anonymous author, it describes Holmes' attempts to save

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Cretan State, Cretan Greeks, Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. As the leader of the Liberal Party (Greece), Liberal Party, Venizelos ser ...

from a Bulgarian organization's assassination plot during the

London Conference of 1912–13 London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Thame ...

. It is considered the first

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

Greek literature Greek literature () dates back from the ancient Greek literature, beginning in 800 BC, to the modern Greek literature of today. Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving wri ...

. In January 1928, the short story "My Dear Holmes" was published in '' Punch, or the London Charivari''. The sub-title of the story was: "His positively last appearance on earth." Written from the point of view of Holmes, it starts out in the usual way, and then ends rather lamely with no mystery presented or solved, but Holmes dead of incautiously (and improbably) sniffing excessively at a bottle of an anesthetic ("A.C.E.") he has asked Watson to bring with them on an errand. In 1942, a short story entitled "The Case of the Man Who Was Wanted" was discovered by a Conan Doyle biographer, Hesketh Pearson, while searching through a trunk full of Doyle family papers. It was published in 1947 as a "lost" story written by Conan Doyle, but it was eventually discovered by Pearson that the story was originally written in 1914 by Arthur Whitaker, who had sent it to Doyle in hope of a collaboration. Doyle had bought the story from the author, in case he might use the ingenious plot at a later date, but never did. In 1944, American mystery writers Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee (writing under their joint pseudonym

Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1928 by the American detective fiction writers Frederic Dannay (1905–1982) and Manfred Bennington Lee (1905–1971). It is also the name of their main fictional detective, a mystery writer in New York City ...

) published ''

The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is an anthology of thirty-three Sherlock Holmes pastiches and parodies, first published in 1944. The first collection of Holmes pastiches, it consists of stories written by many prominent authors includi ...

'', a collection of thirty-three pastiches written by various well-known authors including

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

and

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dr ...

. Arthur Conan Doyle's son,

Adrian Conan Doyle Adrian Malcolm Conan Doyle (19 November 19103 June 1970) was the youngest son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his second wife Jean, Lady Doyle or Lady Conan Doyle. He had two siblings, sister Jean Conan Doyle and brother Denis, as well as two hal ...

, wrote—in a joint effort with

John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and ...

—12 Sherlock Holmes short stories that were published under the title '' The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes'' in 1954. The Crown Prince of Siam, the future

King Vajiravudh Vajiravudh (1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama VI. He reigned from 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts to create and promote Siamese nationa ...

created the character Nai Thong-in and his side-kick the lawyer Mr. Wat, and published them in Thai in 1904-1905. Vajiravudh borrowed ideas from Sherlock Holmes in the creation of his mystery stories. Using his alternate name of H.F. Heard,

Gerald Heard Henry FitzGerald Heard (6 October 1889 – 14 August 1971), commonly called Gerald Heard, was an English-born American historian, science writer and broadcaster, public lecturer, educator, and philosopher. He wrote many articles and over 35 boo ...

wrote three novels about a reclusive beekeeper in the English countryside who goes by the name of Mycroft; he is clearly intended to be Sherlock Holmes, but the books were written before the Doyle estate gave permission for other writers to use the name. The three stories are ''

A Taste for Honey ''A Taste for Honey'' is a 1941 mystery novel by H. F. Heard. Background ''A Taste for Honey'' was the first of three novels Heard wrote about a Mr. Mycroft, strongly implied to be an elderly Sherlock Holmes in retirement on the Sussex Downs. T ...

'', ''Reply Paid'' and ''The Notched Hairpin''. ''A Taste for Honey'' was adapted for American TV in 1955 as "Sting of Death," with

Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), known professionally as Boris Karloff () and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was a British actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstei ...

as Mr. Mycroft. American novelist and filmmaker

Nicholas Meyer Nicholas Meyer (born December 24, 1945) is an American screenwriter, director and author known for his best-selling novel '' The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'', and for directing the films '' Time After Time'', two of the ''Star Trek'' feature films, ...

has written five Holmes novels: ''

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution ''The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.'' is a 1974 novel by American writer Nicholas Meyer. It is written as a pastiche of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, and was made into a film of the same ...

'' (1974), ''

The West End Horror ''The West End Horror: A Posthumous Memoir of John H. Watson, M.D.'' is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Nicholas Meyer, published in 1976. It takes place after two of Meyer's other Holmes pastiches, '' The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'' and '' Th ...

'' (1976), ''

The Canary Trainer ''The Canary Trainer: From the Memoirs of John H. Watson'' is a 1993 Sherlock Holmes pastiche by Nicholas Meyer. Like '' The Seven Percent Solution'' and '' The West End Horror'', ''The Canary Trainer'' was published as a "lost manuscript" of t ...

'' (1993), ''

The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols ''The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols: Adapted from the Journals of John H. Watson, M.D.'' is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Nicholas Meyer, published in 2019. It takes place after Meyer's other Holmes pastiches, ''The Seven-Per-Cent So ...

'' (2019), and ''

The Return of the Pharaoh ''The Return of the Pharaoh: From the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.'' is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Nicholas Meyer, published in 2021. It takes place after Meyer's other Holmes pastiches, ''The Seven-Per-Cent Solution'', '' The ...

'' (2021). In 1977, the novel ''Exit Sherlock Holmes: The Great Detective's Final Days'' by Robert Lee Hall was published and featured an exploration of Holmes' origins with a science fiction twist. In this account Holmes and Moriarty are revealed to be from the future.

Randall Collins Randall Collins (born July 29, 1941) is an American sociologist who has been influential in both his teaching and writing. He has taught in many notable universities around the world and his academic works have been translated into various langu ...

published in 1978 ''The Case of the Philosophers' Ring'', under the pseudonym Dr. John H. Watson, with Holmes' services requested at Cambridge, around 1914, by

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

, and meeting the

Cambridge Apostles The Cambridge Apostles (also known as the Conversazione Society) is an intellectual society at the University of Cambridge founded in 1820 by George Tomlinson, a Cambridge student who became the first Bishop of Gibraltar. History Student ...

(Moore, Hardy,

Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originall ...

...)

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

Lytton Strachey Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of ''Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychology, psychologic ...

Annie Besant Annie Besant (; Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was an English socialist, Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an arden ...

and of course,

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

as a perfect villain.

Michael Dibdin Michael Dibdin (21 March 1947 – 30 March 2007) was a British crime fiction writer, best known for inventing Aurelio Zen, the principal character in 11 crime novels set in Italy. Early life Dibdin was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire (now ...

's novel ''

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story ''The Last Sherlock Holmes Story'' is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Michael Dibdin. The novel is an account of Holmes's attempt to solve the Jack the Ripper murders. Plot In Victorian-era London, noted detective Sherlock Holmes attempts ...

'' (1979) confronts a somewhat psychopathic Sherlock Holmes with the crimes of

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who was active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer was also ...

, whom Holmes suspects to be none other than

Professor James Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...

Raymond Smullyan Raymond Merrill Smullyan (; May 25, 1919 – February 6, 2017) was an American mathematician, magician, concert pianist, logician, Taoist, and philosopher. Born in Far Rockaway, New York, Smullyan's first career choice was in stage magic. He ...

wrote ''The Chess Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes'' (1979), in which Holmes (with Watson) applies retrograde analysis to solve chess problems. The detective novelist Loren D. Estleman wrote several short stories and two novels featuring Holmes; the novels pit the detective against

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

and

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is an 1886 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series ...

, respectively. The former was adapted for radio by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Cay Van Ash wrote the novel ''Ten Years Beyond Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes matches wits with the diabolical Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1984), set in 1914, in which the apparently retired detective comes into conflict with Sax Rohmer's villainous master criminal. Canadian writer

Ron Weyman Ronald Charles Tosh Weyman (December 13, 1915 – June 26, 2007) was a British-born Canadian film and television director and producer."RON WEYMAN, 91 SAILOR, PRODUCER, PAINTER AND NOVELIST: Pioneer filmmaker turned hard-hitting social issues into ...

published three novels between 1989 and 1994 which imagined Sherlock Holmes as being sent to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

at the behest of

Albert Edward, Prince of Wales Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

and investigating crimes there."RON WEYMAN, 91 SAILOR, PRODUCER, PAINTER AND NOVELIST: Pioneer filmmaker turned hard-hitting social issues into popular television". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', 7 July 2007. Holmes aficionado

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

wrote a short story featuring Holmes, "The Adventure of the Laughing Jarvey", in which Holmes and Watson encounter a great Victorian writer and are engaged on a mission to recover a lost manuscript. It includes introductory text claiming the tale itself to be a long-lost manuscript, which modern analysis has shown to use linguistic style and grammar typical of Watson. The story appears in Fry's collection of journalism and early writings, ''

Paperweight A paperweight is a small solid object heavy enough, when placed on top of papers, to keep them from blowing away in a breeze or from moving under the strokes of a painting brush (as with Chinese calligraphy). While any object, such as a stone, ...

'' (1992). In

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

's short story " The Doctor's Case" (1993), Holmes's alleged allergy to cats prevents him for once from solving the problem quicker than Watson.

Barrie Roberts Barrie Roberts (Hampshire, 1939 – 2007)Barrie Roberts
at Fantasticfiction.co.uk was an Engl ...

penned a series of Holmes pastiches, including ''

Sherlock Holmes and the Man from Hell ''Sherlock Holmes and the Man from Hell'' is a 1997 Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Barrie Roberts.Sherlock Holmes and the Railway Maniac ''Sherlock Holmes and the Railway Maniac'' is a 1994 Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel by Barrie Roberts which pits Sherlock Holmes against an anarchist who is bombing trains.

'' from 1994 until his death in 2007. '' O Xangô de Baker Street'' (1995) tells the comic story of Sherlock Holmes's visit to Brazil, invited by the Emperor Dom Pedro II, to solve the disappearance of a Stradivarius violin which becomes a hunt for a serial killer.

Larry Millett Larry Millett (born 1947 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American journalist and author. He is the former (retired 2002) architectural critic for the ''St. Paul Pioneer Press'', a daily newspaper in Saint Paul, Minnesota and the author of severa ...

has written six books and a short story featuring Holmes solving mysteries in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Michael Mallory Michael Mallory (born 1955) is a writer on the subjects of animation and post-war pop culture, and the author of the books ''X-Men: The Characters and Their Universe'', ''Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror'' ''The Science Fiction ...

has written more than two dozen short stories and two novels featuring "Amelia Watson," the second wife of

Dr. Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...

. These are not pastiches so much as original detective stories that view Holmes and Watson from a different and somewhat humorous point of view. Colin Bruce's '' The Strange Case of Mrs. Hudson's Cat: And Other Science Mysteries Solved by Sherlock Holmes'' (1997) and ''Conned Again, Watson!: Cautionary Tales of Logic, Maths and Probability'' (2001) are books of Sherlock Holmes stories in which Holmes uses scientific and mathematical approaches respectively to solve mysteries. '' The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes: The Missing Years'' (1999), by

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

an author

Jamyang Norbu Jamyang Norbu () is a Tibetan political activist and writer, currently living in the United States, having previously lived for over 40 years as a Tibetan exile in India. Biography Norbu attended St. Joseph's School in Darjeeling Darj ...

is an account of Holmes's adventures in India and Tibet where, posing as Sigerson, he meets the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

and Huree Chunder Mookerjee, a character from

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

's novel '' Kim''. The collection ''

Shadows Over Baker Street ''Shadows Over Baker Street'' is an anthology edited by Michael Reaves and John Pelan and combining the worlds of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Reaves and Pelan contributed the introduction. ...

'' (2003) contains 14 stories by 20 authors pitting Holmes against the forces of the

Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American Horror fiction, horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, t ...

. Among them is

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

's "

A Study in Emerald "A Study in Emerald" is a short story written by British fantasy and graphic novel author Neil Gaiman. The story is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche transferred to the Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Gaiman describes it as " ...

", which won the 2004

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

for Best Short Story. The title is a play on ''A Study in Scarlet''. The narrator, never named (but whose initials in the end point him to be the criminal henchman of James Moriarty,

Sebastian Moran Colonel Sebastian Moran is a fictional character in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. An enemy of Sherlock Holmes, he first appears in the 1903 short story " The Adventure of the Empty House". Holmes once described him as "the second mos ...

; his tour in Afghanistan point to this as well), meets the protagonist (who is also never named, but likely

himself, in a surprising role-reversal, making him the detective and Holmes the criminal) under similar circumstances to the meeting of Holmes and Watson in ''A Study in Scarlet'', even down to the deduction that the narrator has recently been in Afghanistan. The protagonist is tall and thin, a detective, chemist, and master of disguise. However, as the narrator and his friend investigate a murder of one of the Royal Family (shown to be the

Great Old One Cthulhu Mythos deities are a group of fictional deities created by American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937), and later expanded by others in the fictional universe known as the Cthulhu mythos. These entities are usually depicted as immens ...

s of the

) the murderer is revealed to be a tall, thin, pipe-smoking man, going by the name Sherry Vernet (a reference to the first name Sherlock, or possibly Conan Doyle's earlier "Sherrinford", and the last name of Holmes' grandmother). He is assisted by a "limping doctor", later tentatively identified as John (or possibly James) Watson. "Vernet" also had gone by the name Sigerson.

Inspector Lestrade Detective Inspector G. Lestrade ( or ) is a fictional character appearing in the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade's first appearance was in the first Sherlock Holmes story, the 1887 novel ''A Study in Scarlet''. Hi ...

also appears in the story. Gaiman has also written a short story called "The Case of Death and Honey", which was featured in "A Study in Sherlock" and "Trigger Warning."

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, D.C., he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, ...

wrote '' The Final Solution'' in 2004. This book, which received favorable reviews, deals with an elderly Sherlock Holmes, referred to only as 'the old man,' solving the case of the missing parrot belonging to a nine-year-old Jewish refugee boy from Germany. While readily solving the mystery, 'the old man' and the rest of the characters in the novella fail to see what the parrot's incessant muttering of random German numbers really means.

Caleb Carr Caleb Carr (August 2, 1955 – May 23, 2024) was an American military historian and author. Carr was the second of three sons born to Lucien Carr and Francesca Von Hartz. Carr authored '' The Alienist'', '' The Angel of Darkness'', '' Casing t ...

was approached to pen a tale for the anthology '' Ghosts of Baker Street''. Carr's short story grew to become a full length novel which became 2005's '' The Italian Secretary''. An example of a Sherlock Holmes pastiche is found in ''The Curse of the Nibelung: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery'' (2005) by Sam North, which is currently in reprint. It finds Holmes at the very end of his career, together with a geriatric Watson, sent by Winston Churchill to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

to help uncover a terrible secret. '' Elemental, querido Chaplin'', by Rafael Marín (2005, Minotauro, Barcelona, ), is presented as a false document unpublished manuscript in which

Charles Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered ...

tells how, as a London poor child, he helped Sherlock Holmes in an adventure against Dr. Fu Manchu. Nick Rennison's 2006 '' Sherlock Holmes: The Unauthorized Biography'' is a "biography" of the detective much like William S. Baring-Gould's earlier '' Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World's First Consulting Detective''.

Mitch Cullin Mitch Cullin (born March 23, 1968) is an American writer. He is the author of seven novels, and one short story collection. He currently resides in Arcadia, California and Tokyo, Japan with his partner and frequent collaborator Peter I. Chang. Hi ...

's novel '' A Slight Trick of the Mind'' (2005) takes place two years after the end of the Second World War and explores the character of Sherlock Holmes (now 93) as he comes to terms with a life spent in emotionless logic. Now old and frail, his once-steel trap mind begins to fail him as he loses items and forgets whole parts of his day. The story follows Holmes both at his home where he now tends bees in quiet retirement, as well as a vacation in Japan where he observes their post-war society first-hand. The novel is also interspersed with chapters from Holmes's's own book that reveal a fleeting moment of love that even he does not yet realise. It was adapted into the film '' Mr. Holmes'' starring

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

. The film released in 2015. Manly W. Wellman's ''

Sherlock Holmes' War of the Worlds ''Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by American writers Manly Wade Wellman and his son Wade Wellman. A sequel to H. G. Wells's ''The War of the Worlds'', it was published in 1975. It is a pastiche crossover which ...

'' combined the elements of Holmes canon with

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

's science fiction classic ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was ...

'' and describes Holmes' and Watson's adventures in the Martian-occupied London (in passing, the book also asserts that Holmes had a long-lasting romantic relationship with Mrs. Hudson, but the puritanical Dr. Watson never noticed it). Laurie R. King recreates Sherlock Holmes in her Mary Russell series (starting with ''

The Beekeeper's Apprentice ''The Beekeeper's Apprentice, Or On the Segregation of the Queen'' is the first book in the Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King. It was nominated for the Agatha best novel award and was deemed a Notable Young Adult book by the American Li ...

''), set during World War I and the 1920s. Her Holmes is (semi-)retired in Sussex, where he gradually trains a teenage Russell as his apprentice. The series includes 11 full length novels and a short story tie-in with a book from her Kate Martinelli series, ''

The Art of Detection ''The Art of Detection'' is the fifth book in the Kate Martinelli series by Laurie R. King. It is preceded by '' Night Work''. It features elements of the Sherlock Holmes character who appears in King's Mary Russell series. Plot summary Philip ...

''. Another story which pits Holmes and Watson against Jack the Ripper is Lyndsay Faye's '' Dust and Shadow'' (2009). In Robert Wilton's 'The Adventure of the Distracted Thane', Holmes investigates the assassination of King

Duncan I of Scotland Donnchad mac Crinain (; anglicised as Duncan I, and nicknamed An t-Ilgarach, "the Diseased" or "the Sick"; – 14 August 1040)Broun, "Duncan I (d. 1040)". was king of Scotland (''Alba'') from 1034 to 1040. He is the historical basis of the " ...

, previously explored by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

in ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' (which itself, according to this interpretation, featured Dr. Watson). For younger readers, Shane Peacock has written '' The Boy Sherlock Holmes'' series.

Andy Lane Andrew Lane (born 17 April 1963), as Andy Lane, is a British author and journalist best known for the Young Sherlock Holmes series of Young Adult novels. He has written novels in the Virgin New Adventures range and audio dramas for Big Fin ...

begun a young adult series of Sherlock Holmes adventures with the publication of ''

Death Cloud ''Young Sherlock Holmes: Death Cloud'' is the first novel in the Young Sherlock Holmes series that depicts Arthur Conan Doyle's detective Sherlock Holmes as a teenager in the 1860s and 70s. It was written by Andrew Lane and released in the UK ...

'' in 2010. This series is the first authorized series of teenage adventures. Alberto López Aroca wrote "El problema de la pequeña cliente", a short story included in the book ''Nadie lo sabrá nunca'' (2004), where Sherlock Holmes meets

Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...

. The Conan Doyle estate commissioned

Anthony Horowitz Anthony John Horowitz (born 5 April 1955) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His works for children and young adult readers include the '' Alex Rider'' series featuring a 14-year-old British boy who spi ...

, author of the

Alex Rider ''Alex Rider'' is a series of spy novels by the English author Anthony Horowitz. The novels revolve around the teenaged spy Alex Rider and are primarily aimed towards young adults. The series comprises 14 novels, as well as seven graphic ...

novels ''

The Power of Five ''The Power of Five'' (known as ''The Gatekeepers'' in the US) is a series of five fantasy and suspense novels, written by English author Anthony Horowitz. Published between 2005 and 2012, it is an updated re-imagining of Horowitz's ''Pent ...

'' and TV's ''

Foyle's War ''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...

'', to write a new, uniquely ''authorised'' Sherlock Holmes novel. Published by

Orion Books Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It was founded in 1991 and acquired Weidenfeld & Nicolson the following year. The group has published numerous bestselling books by notable authors including Ian Rankin, Michael Connell ...

in 2011 under the title ''

The House of Silk ''The House of Silk'' is a Sherlock Holmes novel written by British author Anthony Horowitz, published in 2011. Plot summary ''The House of Silk'' begins with a brief, personal recounting of events by Watson, much like that in ''A Study in S ...

'', the content and title were a "closely guarded secret" before publication.Anthony Horowitz to Write New Sherlock Holmes Novel
," News release,

Orion Publishing Group Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It was founded in 1991 and acquired Weidenfeld & Nicolson the following year. The group has published numerous bestselling books by notable authors including Ian Rankin, Michael Connell ...

, 17 January 2011. ''(Retrieved 20 January 2011.)''Rider Author, Anthony Horowitz to write new Sherlock Holmes novel
" News release, AnthonyHorowitz.com, 17 January 2011.''(Retrieved 20 January 2011.)'' Japanese mystery author Keisuke Matsuoka published ''Sherlock Holmes: A Scandal in Japan'' in 2017, exploring the time between Holmes' alleged death at Reichenbach Falls and his reappearance three years later. The Hong Kong series ''

The Great Detective Sherlock Holmes ''The Great Detective Sherlock Holmes '' () is an illustrated children's book series, depicting Sherlock Holmes, published by in Hong Kong. Some of the books are written by , using Arthur Conan Doyle's characters. Other books include stories or ...

'' includes books written by , using

's characters, as well as books with stories originally written by Doyle which were modified by Lai Ho. Short stories featuring sage-detective Zavant Konniger and his halfling manservant Vido, written by fantasy authors

Gordon Rennie Gordon Rennie is a Scottish comics writer, responsible for ''White Trash: Moronic Inferno'', as well as several comic strips for '' 2000 AD'' and novels for '' Warhammer Fantasy''. In May 2008, he announced he was leaving comics to concentrate ...

and Josh Reynolds for the ''Warhammer Fantasy'' universe, were published by

Black Library The Black Library is a division of Games Workshop (formerly a part of BL Publishing) which is devoted to publishing List of Black Library novels, novels and audiobooks (and has previously produced art books, background books, and graphic novels) ...

from 2002 to 2018, including "How Vido Learned the Trick" ("

How Watson Learned the Trick "How Watson Learned the Trick" is a Sherlock Holmes parody written by Arthur Conan Doyle in 1924. It concerns Doctor Watson attempting to demonstrate to Holmes how he has learned the latter's "superficial trick" of logical deduction by giving a ...

") and "The Problem of Three-Toll Bridge" ("

The Problem of Thor Bridge "The Problem of Thor Bridge" is a Sherlock Holmes short story by Arthur Conan Doyle collected in '' The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes'' (1927). It was first published in 1922 in ''The Strand Magazine'' (UK) and '' Hearst's International'' (US). ...

").

TV

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

played Sherlock Holmes opposite

Willie Rushton William George Rushton (18 August 1937 – 11 December 1996) was an English cartoonist, comedian actor and satirist who co-founded the satirical magazine ''Private Eye''. Early life Rushton was born 18 August 1937 at 3 Wilbraham Place, Chelsea, ...

as Dr. Watson in the ''

Comedy Playhouse ''Comedy Playhouse'' is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 128 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including '' Steptoe and Son'', '' Meet the Wife'', ' ...

'' episode "Elementary, My Dear Watson: The Strange Case of the Dead Solicitors" (aired 18 January 1973 on the

). The

's TV series '' Sherlock'' re-imagines Holmes and Watson (played by

Benedict Cumberbatch Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch (born 19 July 1976) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Benedict Cumberbatch, various accolades, including a BAFTA TV Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Laurenc ...

and

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won two Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most ...

) as contemporary figures, with Watson publishing his accounts of Holmes' exploits online. The US TV series ''

Elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, an ...

'' features a modern Holmes (

Jonny Lee Miller Jonathan Lee Miller (born 15 November 1972) is an English actor. He achieved early success for his portrayal of Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson in the dark comedy-drama film '' Trainspotting'' (1996) and as Dade Murphy in '' Hackers'' (1995) before ...

) who lives in the United States, where he is assisted by Dr. Joan Watson (

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu (; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, producer, and artist. Widely regarded as a trailblazer for Asian Americans in arts and entertainment, Asian American representation in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, she is t ...

). The 2014

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

puppetry ''

'' is set in a fictional boarding school " Beeton School" and Holmes and Watson are pupils who live in 221B of Baker House. There is no murder and the same characters appear many times. HBO Asia's 2018 series ''

Miss Sherlock ''Miss Sherlock'' (ミス・シャーロック) is a female-led adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. The show is primarily set in Tokyo, Japan. It is a co-production between HBO Asia and Hulu Japan. Both the ma ...

'' is set in modern-day Japan, starring

Yuko Takeuchi was a Japanese actress. She is known for her roles in television series ''Asuka'' (1999), ''Pride'' (2004), ''FlashForward'' (2009), and ''Miss Sherlock'' (2018) as well as films such as ''Ring'' (1998), ''Yomigaeri'' (2003), and ''Dog in a Sid ...

as the titular character, with

Shihori Kanjiya is a Japanese actress. She is nicknamed , , and . Kanjiya dropped out from Otsuma Women's University. Filmography TV series Films Dubbing *'' Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons'', Duan (Shu Qi) *'' Journey to the West: The Demons S ...

as 'Wato'.

Radio

Bert Coules Bert Coules is an English writer, mainly for the BBC, who has produced a number of dramatisations and original works. He works mainly in radio drama but also writes for TV and the stage. Early years Bert Coules worked in radio drama for ten year ...

penned ''

The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a series of radio dramas based on Arthur Conan Doyle's detective Sherlock Holmes. Written by Bert Coules as a pastiche of Doyle's work, the series was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2002, 2004, 200 ...

'' starring

Clive Merrison Clive Merrison (born 15 September 1945) is a Welsh actor of film, television, stage and radio. He is best known for his long running BBC Radio portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, having played the part in all 64 episodes of the 1989–1998 series o ...

as HolmesThe Further Adventures
and

Andrew Sachs Andreas Siegfried Sachs (7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016), known professionally as Andrew Sachs, was a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and found his greatest fame for his portrayal of the comical Spanish waite ...

as Watson. The episodes of ''The Further Adventures'' were based on throwaway references in Doyle's short stories and novels. He also produced original scripts for this series, which was also issued on CD. Coules had previously dramatised the entire Holmes canon for Radio Four.

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

also broadcast in 1999 a more ribald six-episode

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

series featuring Holmes and Watson titled ''

The Newly Discovered Casebook of Sherlock Holmes ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' starring

Roy Hudd Roy Hudd (16 May 1936 – 15 March 2020) was an English comedian, actor, presenter, radio host, author and authority on the history of music hall entertainment. Early life Hudd was born in Croydon on 16 May 1936 to Evalina "Evie" (née Barham ...

as Holmes ("the brilliant detective, master of disguise and toffee-nosed ponce"),

Chris Emmett Christopher Roderick Emmett (born 13 December 1938 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire) is a British actor and comedian best known for his work on the BBC Radio 4 comedies '' The Burkiss Way'' (1976-1980) and '' Alison and Maud'' (2002-2004). He was a re ...

as Watson ("contributor to the

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...

, ''Which Stethescope Magazine'' and inventor of the self-raising

thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature (the hotness or coldness of an object) or temperature gradient (the rates of change of temperature in space). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb ...

") and

June Whitfield Dame June Rosemary Whitfield (11 November 1925 – 29 December 2018) was an English radio, television and film actress. Whitfield's big break was a lead in the radio comedy '' Take It from Here'', which aired on the BBC Light Programme ...

as Mrs. Hudson. Titles in this series included "The Case of the Clockwork Fiend", "The Mystery of the Obese Escapologist", "The Case of the Deranged Botanist", "Sherlock Holmes and the Glorious Doppelganger", "Holmes Strikes a Happy Medium" and "The Demon Cobbler of Greek Street", and usually turned out to have Holmes' mortal enemy Moriarty (

Geoffrey Whitehead Geoffrey Whitehead (born 1 October 1939) is an English actor. He has appeared in a range of television, film and radio roles. Early life Whitehead was born on 1 October 1939 in Grenoside, Sheffield. After his father was killed in the Second Wo ...

) behind each mystery. This series has since been re-broadcast on

BBC Radio 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

, later

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

. Starting in 1998, U.S. radio producer Jim French was given permission from the Conan Doyle estate to produce new, original Sherlock Holmes stories for radio in North America.Jim French Productions
These are presented within the ''

Imagination Theatre ''Imagination Theatre'' is an American syndicated radio drama program airing on AM broadcasting, AM and FM broadcasting, FM radio stations across the United States. It features modern radio dramas. The program first aired in 1996. Originally prod ...

'' program on radio stations and XM satellite radio. The new stories are also broadcast under the banner ''The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. John Gilbert played Holmes until 2000, when

John Patrick Lowrie John Patrick Lowrie (born June 28, 1952) is an American voice actor best known for voicing the Sniper in ''Team Fortress 2'' and various characters in ''Dota 2''. He has played Sherlock Holmes in the radio series ''The Further Adventures of Sher ...

took over the role. Watson is played in all shows by Lawrence Albert. Scripts are by Jim French, M. J. Elliott, Matthew Booth, John Hall, Gareth Tilley, J R Campbell and Lawrence Albert. In 2005, with adaptations written by M. J. Elliott, French and his company began a new series based on Conan Doyle's original tales called ''The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. Many episodes are available on CD as well as downloadable from the ''Imagination Theatre'' website.

Film

Holmes has been an inspiration of both serious and comedy films.

Serious films

A series of fourteen Sherlock Holmes films starring

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was an Anglo-South African actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume drama ...

as Sherlock Holmes and

Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was an English character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series '' The New Adventures of Sherlo ...

as Dr. John Watson were released between 1939 and 1946. Many are loosely based on the original stories by Sir

and some are original stories. Those that pit Holmes and Watson against the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s, made during the Second World War, were in the spirit of Conan Doyle's patriotism, and indeed the quintessential " His Last Bow" describes Holmes and his connections with

British Intelligence The Government of the United Kingdom maintains several intelligence agencies that deal with secret intelligence. These agencies are responsible for collecting, analysing and exploiting foreign and domestic intelligence, providing military intell ...

on the eve of the First World War. ''

A Study in Terror A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' (1965), directed by James Hill starring John Neville as Holmes and

Donald Houston Donald Daniel Houston (6 November 1923 – 13 October 1991) was a Welsh actor whose first two films—'' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949) with Jean Simmons, and '' A Run for Your Money'' (1949) with Alec Guinness—were highly successful. Later in his ...

as Watson, connected Holmes with the

case, and was later novelised by

. ''

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1970 DeLuxe Color film in Panavision written and produced by Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond, and directed by Wilder. The film offers an affectionate, slightly parodic look at Sherlock Holmes, ...

'' (1970) was directed by

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...

and stars

Robert Stephens Sir Robert Graham Stephens (14 July 193112 November 1995) was an English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre. Early life Stephens was born in Shirehampton, Bristol, in 1931, the eldest of three children of shipyard ...

as the famous sleuth. In this film, Holmes travels to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

in search of

the Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster (), known affectionately as Nessie, is a mythical creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or more humps protrud ...

. ''

'' (1976), based on

's very successful novel, concentrates on Holmes' cocaine addiction and stars

Nicol Williamson Thomas Nicol Williamson (14 September 1936 – 16 December 2011) was a British actor. He was once described by playwright John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando". He was also described by Samuel Beckett as "touched by genius" an ...

and

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor. With a career spanning seven decades, he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. He has received an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards ...

as Holmes and Watson, respectively. Professor Moriarty (

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

) is characterised here as an inoffensive mathematics tutor, his villainy a fantasy of Holmes' drug habit. '' Sherlock Holmes in New York'' (1976 TV movie) starred

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the actor to portray Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series, playing the ...

as Holmes and

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British-American actor best known for his breakthrough role as secret agent John Steed in the television series ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'' (1961–1969). Starting out ...

as Watson. ''

Murder by Decree ''Murder by Decree'' is a 1979 mystery thriller film directed by Bob Clark. It features the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who are embroiled in the investigation surrounding the real-life 1 ...

'' (1979) portrays Holmes (played by

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...

) and Watson (played by

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two ...

) tracking down

and dealing with the violent political situation of the day. The theory of the Ripper murders presented in that film is similar to that portrayed in the comic book and film ''

From Hell ''From Hell'' is a graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell, originally published in serial form from 1989 to 1998. The full collection was published in 1999 by Top Shelf Productions. Set during the Whitechapel murders of ...

''. Both are derived from Stephen Knight's book '' Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution (1977)''. In 1985, director

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Levinson won the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Rain Man'' (1988). His other best-known works are ''Diner'' (1982), '' The Natural'' (1984 ...

made a film called ''

Young Sherlock Holmes ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (also known with the title card name of ''Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear'') is a 1985 American mystery adventure film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, based on the characters ...

'' (a.k.a. ''Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear'') with a story about the youth of Holmes and Watson as

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

students and their first great adventure, even before ''A Study in Scarlet''. There are a lot of references about Holmes canon such as the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, the

pipe Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...

, "elementary, my dear...", the clothes and the reason why Holmes never married, and it includes the first meeting of Holmes and

Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...

. The film was produced by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

and written by Chris Columbus; the novelization was written by Alan Arnold. In both ''

The Return of Sherlock Holmes ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1905 collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903–1904, by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the ''Strand Magazine'' in Britain and ''Collier's'' ...

'' (1987 TV movie) and '' Sherlock Holmes Returns'' (1993 TV movie) a cryogenically frozen Holmes is awakened in the present day. ''Hands of a Murderer'' (1990 TV movie) sees

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. He began his career on stage, appearing in productions in both the West End of London and on Broadway in New York City. He came to wider att ...

playing Holmes and

John Hillerman John Benedict Hillerman (December 20, 1932 – November 9, 2017) was an American actor best known for his starring role as Jonathan Quayle Higgins III on the television series '' Magnum, P.I.'' that aired from 1980 to 1988. For his role as ...

(of

Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980, to May 1, 1988, during its first-run broadcast on ...

fame) as Watson, in a plot involving Mycroft (

Peter Jeffrey Peter Jeffrey (18 April 1929 – 25 December 1999) was an English actor. Starting his performing career on stage, he later portrayed many roles in television and film. Early life Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence Alice (née ...

) and Moriarty (

Anthony Andrews Anthony Colin Gerald Andrews (born 12 January 1948) is an English actor. He played Lord Sebastian Flyte in the ITV miniseries ''Brideshead Revisited'' (1981), for which he won Golden Globe and BAFTA television awards, and was nominated for ...

) battling for control of government secrets. '' Sherlock: Case of Evil'' (2002 TV movie) has

James D'Arcy James D'Arcy (born Simon Richard D'Arcy; 24 August 1975) is an English actor and film director. He is known for his portrayals of Howard Stark's butler, Edwin Jarvis, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series '' Agent Carter'' and th ...

as a youthful, bed-hopping Holmes, meeting Roger Morlidge's Watson for the first time while pursuing

Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Philip D'Onofrio (; born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his supporting and leading roles in both film and television. He has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. His roles include Private Leona ...

's Moriarty, whose

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

-trading schemes have left Mycroft (

Richard E. Grant Richard E. Grant (born Richard Grant Esterhuysen; 5 May 1957) is an Eswatini-born English actor and presenter. He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987). Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack H ...

) physically and mentally scarred. ''

The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire ''The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire'' is a non-canonical Sherlock Holmes film. The film was produced in 2002 for The Hallmark Channel as the last installment in a series of Hallmark Sherlock Holmes films. Plot Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson a ...

'' (2002 TV movie) stars

Matt Frewer Matthew George Frewer (born January 4, 1958) is an American-Canadian actor and comedian. He portrayed the 1980s icon Max Headroom in the 1985 TV film and 1987 Max Headroom (TV series), television series of the same name. He became prominent when ...

and

Kenneth Welsh Kenneth Clifford Welsh, (March 30, 1942 – May 5, 2022) was a Canadian actor, who made over 300 stage, film, and television appearances over a nearly 60-year career. Educated at the National Theatre School, he was a member of the Stratford S ...

as Holmes and Watson investigating reports of

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

attacks in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. The film was preceded by adaptations of ''

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four Detective fiction, crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serial (literature), serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from ...

'' (2000 TV movie) and ''

The Sign of Four ''The Sign of the Four'', also called ''The Sign of Four'', is an 1890 detective novel, and it is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes by British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 short stories featuring ...

'' (2001 TV movie). ''

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking ''Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking'' is a British television film originally broadcast on BBC One in the UK on 26 December 2004. Produced by Tiger Aspect Productions, it was written by Allan Cubitt and was a sequel to the sa ...

'' (2004 TV movie), has Holmes (

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil at an English public scho ...

) and Watson (

Ian Hart Ian Davies (born 8 October 1964), better known by his stage name Ian Hart, is an English actor. His most notable roles have been in '' One Summer'' (1983), '' Backbeat'' (1994), '' Land and Freedom'' and '' Nothing Personal'' (1995), '' Michae ...

) searching for a killer with a foot fetish. The production was an original story written by Allan Cubitt. This was preceded by ''

'' (2002 TV movie) with Holmes now played by

Richard Roxburgh Richard Roxburgh (born 23 January 1962) is an Australian actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of a number of accolades across film, television, and theatre, including several AFI and AACTA Awards, Logie Awards, and Helpmann Awards. He bega ...

and

returning as Watson. ''

'' (2009) was directed by

Guy Ritchie Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter known primarily for British comedy gangster films and large-scale action-adventure films. Ritchie left school at the age of 15, and worked in e ...

for

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

and stars

Robert Downey Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965), also known as RDJ, is an American actor. One of the highest-grossing actors of all time, his films as a leading actor have grossed over $14 billion worldwide. In 2008, Downey was named by ''Time ...

and

Jude Law David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an English actor. He began his career in theatre before landing small roles in various British television productions and feature films. Law gained international recognition for his role in An ...

as Holmes and Watson. It also features

Rachel McAdams Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. After graduating from York University in 2001 with a BFA in theatre, she worked in Canadian television and film productions, such as the drama film '' Perfect Pie'' (2002), ...

Irene Adler Irene Adler is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A former opera singer and actress, she was featured in the short story " A Scandal in Bohemia", published in July 1891. Adler is one of the ...

. The film explores Holmes and Watson's most complex adventure in which the antagonist Lord Blackwood (

Mark Strong Mark Strong (born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia; 5 August 1963) is a British actor best known for his film roles such as Prince Septimus in '' Stardust'' (2007), Archibald in '' RocknRolla'' (2008), Lord Henry Blackwood in ''Sherlock Holmes'' (200 ...

) seemingly rises from his grave after being executed and draws plans to control the British Empire. The sequel, '' Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows'' (2011) pits the original cast against

(played by

Jared Harris Jared Francis Harris (born 24 August 1961) is a British actor. His roles include Lane Pryce in the drama series ''Mad Men'' (2009–2012), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Seri ...

). '' Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes'' (2010) was directed by Rachel Lee Gondenberg and produced by low-budget direct-to-DVD film company

The Asylum The Asylum is an American independent film production and distribution company based in Burbank, California, known for producing low-budget, direct-to-video films, in particular mockbusters, which capitalize on the popularity of major studio f ...

. It stars Gareth David Lloyd as Watson and new actor Ben Syder as Holmes. The film placed a younger Holmes and Watson in a

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

story set in 1881, in which Holmes and Watson investigate the crimes of a mechanical genius known as

Spring Heeled Jack Spring-heeled Jack was an entity in English folklore of the Victorian era. The first claimed sighting of Spring-heeled Jack was in 1837. Later sightings were reported all over the United Kingdom and were especially prevalent in suburban Lond ...

, who creates mechanical monsters to terrorise London.

Comedy films

Holmes' talents have sometimes been inverted for comic effect, as in

Gene Wilder Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker. He was mainly known for his comedic roles, including his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Fa ...

's 1975 film '' The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother''. Here Holmes' younger brother Sigurson (Wilder), who is jealous of 'Sheer Luck' as he calls him, is manipulated by Holmes into solving one of his cases. 1988 brought

Thom Eberhardt Thomas Everett "Thom" Eberhardt (born March 7, 1947) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Eberhardt has won two awards and two nominations. He is most noted for his work on ''Without a Clue'', ''Honey, I Blew Up the Kid'', a ...

's role-reversal comedy ''

Without a Clue ''Without a Clue'' is a 1988 British comedy film directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley. It is based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories but, in this version, the roles are reve ...

''. The film depicts Dr. Watson (

Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Kingsley, various accolades throughout Ben Kingsley on screen and stage, his career spanning fi ...

) as the real detective genius and Holmes (

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...

) as a bumbling idiot who is merely an actor and a front man for Watson, with a plot which cleverly mirrors the real life circumstance of Conan Doyle (also a physician) who eventually tired of his creation, Sherlock Holmes.

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his leading man roles in comedy films and for his work as a television producer. Ferrell received various accolades, including ...

and

John C. Reilly John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is known as a character actor taking leading and supporting roles in independent drama films and studio comedies. He gained exposure through his supporting roles in '' Days of ...

starred as the eponymous characters in the 2018 mystery comedy film ''

Holmes & Watson ''Holmes & Watson'' is a 2018 mystery comedy film written and directed by Etan Cohen. The film stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as the eponymous characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, respectively; with Rebecca Hall, Rob Brydon, Kelly Ma ...

''.

Animation

The 1999 animated series ''

Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century ''Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century'' is an animated television series in which Sherlock Holmes is brought back to life in the 22nd century. The series is a co-production by DIC Entertainment, L.P. and Scottish Television Enterprises a ...

'' was set in the year 2103 and involved Beth Lestrade, a direct descendant of Holmes's associate

, reanimating the cryogenically preserved corpse of Holmes to battle Moriarty-later revealed to be a clone of the original-who was believed to be responsible for a series of crimes in New London. Watson was long dead, but a robotic counterpart was made to physically resemble him after downloading Watson's stories-and essentially his personality-into his databanks by accident, and the three solved a number of cases patterned on the original Holmes stories; for instance, a retelling of ''

'' took place on the moon and involved werewolves. The series was created by DIC and Scottish Television, and ran for approximately two seasons. It was unique in Sherlockiana for a number of reasons, including the fact that Holmes, who is canonically described as having black hair and grey eyes, was depicted with blond hair and blue eyes. ''

Sherlock Hound is an Italian-Japanese anime television series produced by RAI and Tokyo Movie Shinsha. Based on the character Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, almost all the characters are depicted as anthropomorphic dogs. The show featured re ...

'' (名探偵ホームズ Meitantei Hōmuzu?, lit. "Detective Holmes") is a 1984 anime television series based on Conan Doyle's work where almost all the characters are depicted as anthropomorphic dogs. The show featured regular appearances of Jules Verne-steampunk style technology, adding a 19th-century science-fiction atmosphere to the series. It was coproduced by Japanese and Italian companies and animated by TMS (

Tokyo Movie Shinsha , formerly known as the is a Japanese animation studio owned by Sega Corporation. TMS is one of the oldest and most renowned animation studios in Japan, known for its numerous anime franchises such as ''Detective Conan'', ''Lupin the Third'' ...

). Some episodes were directed by

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

. Holmes and Watson appear in the '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "Trials of the Demon!", respectively voiced by

Ian Buchanan Ian Buchanan (born 16 June 1957) is a Scottish television actor who has appeared on multiple American soap operas including ''General Hospital'', ''Port Charles'', ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', ''All My Children'', and ''Days of Our Lives''. ...

and

Jim Piddock Jim Piddock (born April 8, 1956) is an English actor, producer and writer who began his career on the stage in the United Kingdom before immigrating to the United States in 1981. After establishing himself in leading roles on Broadway, he moved ...

. This version of the duo are acquaintances of Jason Blood, and work with him and Batman to clear his name after

Gentleman Ghost Gentleman Ghost (James "Jim" Craddock), introduced as Ghost, and also known as Gentleman Jim, is a supervillain appearing in works published by DC Entertainment. Created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert, the character first appeared ...

frames him for his crimes. Upon encountering Batman, Holmes is able to deduce much about his nature, but is then baffled when Batman recognizes him immediately; he comes to see the Caped Crusader as something of a rival as they attempt to unravel the plot of Gentleman Ghost. After the villain's defeat, Holmes and his Victorian era allies see Batman off, and as Batman departs he acknowledges Holmes as the "World's Greatest Detective". The 2015 anime film, ''

The Empire of Corpses is a 2015 Japanese science fiction adventure horror anime film produced by Wit Studio and directed by Ryoutarou Makihara. The movie is the first of a series of films based on novels written by Project Itoh, followed by ''Harmony'' and '' Geno ...

'', features a younger, re-imagined Holmes and Watson, the latter actually the protagonist, in a steampunk world where the dead are reanimated and used as a labor force.

Comics

In the Italian comic book ''

Martin Mystère ''Martin Mystère'' is an Italian comic book whose protagonist is Martin Mystère. Created by writer Alfredo Castelli and artist Giancarlo Alessandrini, it was first published in Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore in 1982. Dark Horse Comics has ...

'' and spin-off series ''Storie di Altrove/Stories from Elsewhere'' Holmes is a historical character. In the late 1880s, he worked on the case of

and met Professor Richard Van Helsing, a

who destroyed

. Along with Professor Challenger, Holmes visited a secret valley of dinosaurs in South America in 1896, which became the basis for Doyle's novel '' The Lost World''. The same year he worked with the American Secret Service "Elsewhere" to stop paranormal threats from another dimension. In 1910, he discovered a life extension serum. At the beginning of World War I, he had a final confrontation with Professor Moriarty. After the war, he moved to Ukraine, giving Arthur Conan Doyle the task to convince everyone that he was just an imaginary character. With the help of his serum, Holmes prolonged his life for several decades. In the 1990s, he indirectly helped Martin Mystère to capture a villain who found a formula of his serum.

Leah Moore Leah Moore (born 4 February 1978) is a British comic book writer and columnist. The daughter of comics writer Alan Moore, she frequently collaborates with her husband, writer John Reppion, as Moore & Reppion. She is a Bachelor of Arts in Classic ...

and

John Reppion John Mark Reppion (born 1978) is an English comics writer. He is married to Leah Moore, the daughter of Alan Moore, and he has worked with both on the comic ''Albion''. John Reppion and Leah Moore have co-writing credits on '' Wild Girl'', a 6- ...

's '' The Trial of Sherlock Holmes'' (2009) and

Scott Beatty Scott Beatty is an American author, comic book writer, and superhero historian actively published since the late 1990s. He is a distinguished alumnus of Juniata College (B.A. English/Creative Writing) and Iowa State University (M.A. English/Creati ...

's ''Sherlock Holmes: Year One'' (2011) published by

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded in 2004 by Nick Barrucci in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, known for publishing comic book adaptations of licensed feature film properties, such as ''Army of Darkness'', '' Terminator ...

Ian Edginton Ian Edginton is a British comic book writer, known for his work on such titles as ''X-Force'', '' Scarlet Traces'', '' H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds'' and ''Leviathan''. Career Ian Edginton is known for his steampunk/alternate history work ...

wrote the 2010

Wildstorm Wildstorm Productions (stylized as WildStorm) is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi to publish through Image Comics, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC C ...

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

'' Victorian Undead'' which pitted Holmes against zombies. New Paradigm Studios in August 2012 debuted "Watson and Holmes" digital comic on digital app. "Watson and Holmes" is a modern re-interpretation of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson as African-Americans in present day Harlem, NY. "Watson and Holmes" is in limited print black and white comics of the first three issues. Issue #1 will be in wide release July 2013. The Korean

manhwa Manhwa () is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to Korean comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its reach to many other countries. These comics have branched outside of Korea by acce ...

series, '' Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries'', is set in the Sherlock Holmes universe, but in an earlier period in history. Set in the year 1864, it features younger versions of characters in the series. These include

as a junior police officer and Professor Moriarty as a student. ''

Moriarty the Patriot is a Japanese mystery manga series with storyboards by and illustrated by , based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's ''Sherlock Holmes'' series. It focuses on Holmes' nemesis, William James Moriarty. It has been serialized in Shueisha's manga m ...

'' is a Japanese manga series by Ryōsuke Takeuchi and Hikaru Miyoshi, focused on Holmes' nemesis, William James Moriarty, but Sherlock is also a major character. This Moriarty is a crime consultant who, alongside his brothers, hopes to end the English class system and reform society. Sherlock becomes first his rival and then his friend. Sherlock Home set to appear in the upcoming comic ''Godzilla's Monsterpiece Theatere'' by IDW where he teams up with Dracula, the time traveler and Gabsty against

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

Video games

Sherlock Holmes has taken the starring roles in a number of video games, officially licensed or not.

Text only

* Melbourne House released an

interactive fiction Interactive fiction (IF) is software simulating environments in which players use text Command (computing), commands to control Player character, characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narrati ...

adventure game for

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

and

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

called '' Sherlock'' in 1984. * Peter Allen Golden in 1984 published a Sherlock Holmes computer interactive novel ''Another Bow''. * Ellicott Creek Software in 1986 published ''Sherlock Holmes: The Vatican Cameos'' for ZX Spectrum and

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

. * Infocom released a text adventure game, ''Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels'', in 1987. The plot revolves around Moriarty's theft of the Crown Jewels days before the celebration of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee; Holmes rightly senses that a trap has been set for him and allows Watson to investigate the case. *

Pack-In-Video was a Japanese video game publisher and video distributor. The games published were mostly focused on the Japanese market although a few titles have been published abroad. In October 1996, the company was merged with the video game division of Vi ...

released in 1987 '' Young Sherlock: The Legacy of Doyle'' for the

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...

, mostly a text adventure with some graphics. It is based on the 1985 film ''

'', but the plot is different. * Slovakian Sybilasoft (Michal Hlavac) created a text adventure for ZX Spectrum called ''Traja Garridebovia'' in 1987. * British Creative Juices (David Court) in 1988 created a text adventure for ZX Spectrum called ''Sherlock Holmes: a Matter of Evil''. * British 8th Day Software in 1988 published a text adventure with some additional graphics created by Stephen Kee and Alan Bolger called ''The Raven'' for ZX Spectrum. * Zenobi Software released two text-only adventure games for the ZX Spectrum: ''Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Beheaded Smuggler'' in 1988 and ''Sherlock Holmes: The Lamberley Mystery'' in 1990. * Mycroft Systems published a text-only adventure for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

in 1990 called ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' set in London and featuring Dr. Watson, Mrs. Baker and Inspector Lestrade. * Yestersoft in 1991 published ''PC-Sherlock: a Game of Logic and Deduction'', with very little graphics and focusing on logic aspects.

Graphic adventures

* Datasoft released a

graphic adventure An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an Interactive storytelling, interactive story, driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus ...

game called '' 221B Baker St'' in 1986. * Towa Chiki released three action-adventure games called '' Sherlock Holmes: Hakushaku Reijō Yūkai Jiken'' in 1986, ''Meitantei Holmes: Kiri no London Satsujin Jiken'' in 1988, and '' Meitantei Holmes: M-Kara no Chousenjou'' in 1989 only in Japan for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

. *

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

in 1987 published a graphic adventure called ''Loretta no Shouzou: Sherlock Holmes'' ("The Portrait of Loretta") exclusively in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. *

ICOM Simulations ICOM Simulations, Inc. (later known as Rabid Entertainment) was a software company based in Wheeling, Illinois. It is best known for creating the MacVenture series of adventure games including '' Shadowgate''. Following the foundation in 1981 ...

released '' Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective'', a multimedia

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

adventure game for PCs in 1991 and later for the

Sega CD The Sega CD, known as in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory and format for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. Originally released in November 1991, it ca ...

system 1992,

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation of video game con ...

and Apple computers. One of the earliest multimedia titles, it was to become a series of three games, each with three cases. Each game in the series uses full motion video clips. A collected edition followed in 1993. A re-mastered version for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, and

OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

was released in 2012. ** '' Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. II'', ICOM, 1992. ** '' Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. III'', ICOM, 1993. *

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

released a series of original

computer game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual feedback from a display device, mo ...

s for

DOS DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

called '' The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes'': '' The Case of the Serrated Scalpel'' was released in 1992, '' The Case of the Rose Tattoo'' in 1996. * Game developer

Frogwares Frogwares is a Ukrainian video game development studio headquartered in Kyiv with subsidiary offices in Dublin, Ireland. The studio and its subsidiaries develop adventure games for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch as ...

created the titles '' Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Mummy'', '' Sherlock Holmes: Secret of the Silver Earring'' and '' Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened'', both marketed as "inspired by ''

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published on 14 October 1892. It contains the earliest short stories featuring the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, which h ...

''", and released in 2004 and 2006, respectively. Frogwares also created '' Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis'', released in 2008 and '' Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper'', released in 2009 and converted to play in the Xbox 360. In September 2012, Frogwares released '' The Testament of Sherlock Holmes'' for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

, and

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. Also in September 2014, Frogwares released '' Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments'' and in 2016 '' Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter''. These eight games comprises the '' Adventures of Sherlock Holmes video game series''. In addition to them, Frogwares released also four

casual game A casual game is a video game targeted at a mass market audience, as opposed to a hardcore game, which is targeted at hobbyist gamers. Casual games may exhibit any type of gameplay and genre. They generally involve simpler rules, shorter sessio ...

s: ''Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Persian Carpet'', '' Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House'', ''Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles'', and ''Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Frozen City''. * Three games have been inspired by movies ''

'' and '' Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows'' directed by

: Gameloft S. A. published in 2009 ''Sherlock Holmes: The Official Movie Game'' for Java,

developed ''Sherlock Holmes Mysteries'' for

, and Sticky Game Studios released in 2011 an online game called ''Sherlock Holmes 2: Checkmate''. *'' The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures'', a video game on the

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

and a spin-off of the ''

Ace Attorney ''Ace Attorney'' is a visual novel franchise developed by Capcom. With storytelling fashioned after legal dramas, the first entry in the series, '' Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'', was released in 2001; since then five further main series game ...

'' series, features Sherlock Holmes as a major supporting character, aided by protagonist Ryunosuke Naruhodo to solve a mysterious case. He is accompanied by Iris Watson, a 10-year-old girl genius and purported daughter of Dr. Watson. Holmes and Iris also appear in the game's sequel, '' The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve''. Due to copyright concerns, the characters' names are localized in international releases to

Herlock Sholmes is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Space Pirate Captain Harlock'' manga series created by Leiji Matsumoto. Harlock is the archetypical Romantic hero, a space pirate with an individualist philosophy of life. He is as noble as ...

and Iris Wilson, in homage to Holmes' renaming in the Arsène Lupin stories. *''The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes'' and ''The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes 2'' (also called ''The Lost Cases of 221B Baker St.''), two casual games by Legacy Interactive with 16 new cases each (mostly hidden objects scenes) with Holmes and Watson. The cases of the first games are "The Zouch Emerald", "The Assassinated Aerialist", "Murder in the Third Act", "The Purloined Painting", "The Suspicious Sting", "The Death Card Devil", "The Wayward Will", "The Curse of Anan Thotep", "The Mystery of the Billiard Blackmailer", "A Duchess' Diamonds", "The Maestro's Violin", "The Porcelain Dragon", "The Docklands Spy", "The Vanishing Actress", "King Arthur's Arrow", and "The Eight Clocks Assassin", plus a bonus game in Holmes' chemistry laboratory. The cases of the second game are "Slaying at the Standing Stones", "The Harbor Pirates Prisoner", "The Curious Chrononaut", "The Return of Jack the Ripper", "The Lost Blade of Calcutta", "The Murdered Musician", "The Vulnerable Pugilist", "The Haunting at Marlsbury Castle", "The Pups of Baskerville", "The Tainted Truffle", "The Case of the Unwanted Suitor", "The Secret of the Father Christmas Club", "The Sticky-Fingered Dinner Guest", "The Disappearing Doomsday Formula", "The Mystery of the Millionaire's Daughter", and "The Bohemian Crown Heist", plus four bonus stories. *''Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Time Machine'' (also released as ''Cerebral Sherlock'') and ''Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Vanishing Thief'', two comedy adventures for children by Green Street, Anuman Interactive, gameX and . The playing character here is Watson, but Holmes is also present, as well as Sergeant Plymouth. Watson has to catch "the biggest criminal of all time", Jailhouse Jimmy. No clear license on the packaging.

Apps

*SecretBuilders Games has released in 2013 a game called ''Sherlock Holmes: The Blue Diamond''; the same year another game was released called ''Sherlock Holmes: The Norwood Mystery'' and in 2014 two games for iOS and Android were released called ''Hidden Object Valley of Fear 1'' and ''Valley of Fear Mystery 2'', featuring Holmes and Watson. *Hidden Object World has released an app called ''Hidden Object – Sherlock'', basically a casual game with hidden objects search. *Another plain hidden object app has been released in 2017 by Lory Hidden Object Games and called ''Hidden Objects Sherlock Holmes''. *In recent times, Crisp App Studio has released two apps inspired by Sherlock Holmes: ''Detective Holmes: Hidden Objects'' and ''Sherlock Holmes: Trap for the Hunter''. Although mainly targeted at smartphones and tablets, they have been released also on Steam. *DikobrazGames has released an app ''Sherlock Holmes Adventure Free'' inspired by

's '' Sherlock''. *

G5 Entertainment G5 Entertainment is a Swedish video game developer that produces free-to-play mobile games. History G5 Entertainment was founded by Aleksandr Tabunov, Sergey Shults and Vlad Suglobov. In 2006, the company went public on the Nasdaq Nordic exc ...

has released in 2020 a

free-to-play "Free-to-play" ("F2P" or "FtP") video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content for free. The term "free-to-play business model" or simply, "free-to-play model", refers collectively to business models tha ...

game called ''Sherlock: Hidden Match-3 Cases'', featuring Holmes and Watson.

Sherlock Holmes cameos

Print

According to ''The Alternative Sherlock Holmes: Pastiches, Parodies, and Copies'' by Peter Ridgway Watt and Joseph Green, the first known period pastiche dates from 1893. Titled " The Late Sherlock Holmes", it came from the pen of Doyle's close friend,

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

, who was to create

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

a decade later. The police are apprised of the death of Holmes and believe that Dr. Watson has killed him because of a disagreement about money. However, Holmes turns out to be alive and, although it is not made clear, Watson is presumably released. In 1902

painted an unflattering portrait of Holmes and his methods of deduction in his '' A Double Barrelled Detective Story''. In the short story, set at a mining camp in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, Fetlock Jones, a nephew of Sherlock Holmes, kills his master, a silver-miner, by blowing up his cabin. Since this occurs when Holmes happens to be visiting, he brings his skills to bear upon the case and arrives at logically worked conclusions that are proved abysmally wrong by an amateur detective with an extremely keen sense of smell which he employs in solving the case. Perhaps this ought to be seen as yet another piece where Twain tries to prove that life does not quite follow logic. In 1905 the French writer

Maurice Leblanc Maurice Marie Émile Leblanc (; ; 11 December 1864 – 6 November 1941) was a French novelist and writer of short stories, known primarily as the creator of the fictional gentleman thief and detective Arsène Lupin, often described as a French ...

pitted his gentleman burglar

Arsène Lupin Arsène Lupin () is a fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created in 1905 by French writer Maurice Leblanc. The character was first introduced in a series of short stories serialized in the magazine '' Je sais tout''. The first ...

against Holmes in a story called ''Sherlock Holmes arrive trop tard'' (Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late), the first of four in the Lupin series. Copyright concerns at the time forced Holmes to be renamed "Herlock Sholmes" or "Holmlock Shears", and Watson to be renamed "Wilson", in subsequent appearances. However, in many modern editions, the names have reverted to the original. In 1910, the French writer Arnould Galopin teamed up his detective Allan Dickson, the ''Australian Sherlock Holmes'' with an aging Holmes renamed ''Herlokolms'' who had been much impressed by the young man's early exploits in ''L'Homme au Complet Gris'' (The Man in Grey). Allan Dickson may have been the prototype for '' Harry Dickson'' (see #Successors of Sherlock Holmes, below). Another French writer,

Théodore Botrel Jean-Baptiste-Théodore-Marie Botrel (14 September 1868 – 28 July 1925) was a French singer-songwriter, poet and playwright. He is best known for his popular songs about his native Brittany, of which the most famous is ''La Paimpolaise''. Dur ...

, wrote the play ''Le Mystère de Kéravel'' in 1932 in which Holmes, travelling incognito in Brittany, solves a murder at the request of local police, who know his true identity. He is referred to as ''L'étranger'' in the list of characters, but named in the text. In 1967, a ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and Illya Kuryakin, p ...

'' novel, "The Rainbow Affair" by David McDaniel, features a cameo by an elderly bee-keeper named William Escott (Holmes in his retired identity). Several characters from the canon appear in

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

series ''

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (''LoEG'') is a multi-genre, cross-over comic book series co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill which began in 1999. The comic book spans four volumes, an original graphic novel, and ...

'', in which various characters from Victorian fiction are recruited to serve the interests of an alternate-history

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. Holmes himself appears only in a flashback during the first series, as he is still presumed dead. Mycroft has a more substantial role in the second series. References in the series suggest Sherlock was a member of an earlier iteration of the League. Moriarty also figures into the first series and the film adaptation. Holmes also makes a minor but significant appearance in

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is an English comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ...

and

John Cassaday Johnny Mac Cassaday (; December 14, 1971 – September 9, 2024) was an American comic book artist, writer, and television director. He was best known for his work on the critically acclaimed ''Planetary (comics), Planetary'' with writer Warren Ell ...

's comic book series '' Planetary''. Michael P. Hodel and Sean M. Wright presented a mystery-adventure ''Enter the Lion: A Posthumous Memoir of Mycroft Holmes'' (1979) in which Sherlock's older brother prevents a conspiracy involving a return of the American "colonies" to Great Britain. Sherlock makes appearances with Victor Trevor (from "The Adventure of the ''Gloria Scott''"),

and Moriarty's father.

Carole Nelson Douglas Carole Nelson Douglas (November 15, 1944 – October 20, 2021) was an American writer of sixty novels and many short stories. She has written in many genres, but is best known for two popular mystery series, the ''Irene Adler'' Sherlockian suspen ...

has written a spin-off series centring upon Holmes' nemesis

. The first book is titled ''Good Night, Mr. Holmes'' and takes place concurrently with ''

A Scandal in Bohemia "A Scandal in Bohemia" is the first short story, and the third overall work, featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It is the first of the 56 Holmes short stories written by Doyle and the first of 38 Sherlock Holmes ...

''. While Irene Adler is the main character, Sherlock Holmes plays a role in every book in the series.

has written a series of short stories and one novel (''Murder in the Bath'') about the second wife of

Doctor Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...

, here named "Amelia Watson." Holmes appears in several of the stories as a semi-antagonistic foil for Amelia—a detective who is in reality slightly less than infallible, but who has been made to appear so to the public through Watson's writings. In

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. He is interested in film history and horror fiction – both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at the age of eleven & ...

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

novel ''

Anno Dracula ''Anno Dracula'' is a 1992 horror novel by British writer Kim Newman, the first in the ''Anno Dracula'' series. It is an alternate history using 19th-century English historical settings and personalities, along with characters from popular fict ...

'', set in a world where

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

becomes the monarch of Britain, Holmes is one of the prominent "warms" to protest against the new order. The vampire government of Lord Ruthven in turn imprisons him in a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

Devil's Dyke, Sussex Devil's Dyke is a deep V-shaped dry valley on the South Downs in Sussex in southern England, north-west of Brighton. It is managed by the National Trust, and is also part of the Beeding Hill to Newtimber Hill Site of Special Scientific Inte ...

. Holmes and Watson appear briefly in

George MacDonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a Scottish author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Harry Paget Flashman, Flashman. Over the course of his career he wrote eleven n ...

's short story '' Flashman and the Tiger'' (1999), which appears in the collection of that name. The events there are consistent with those of the canonical story ''

The Adventure of the Empty House "The Adventure of the Empty House", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as '' The Return of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in ''Collier's'' in the ...

'', which takes place in 1894. Holmes sees Flashman disguised as a tramp and draws a series of conclusions about him which are all wrong. Holmes and Watson also appear in

Alan Coren Alan Coren (27 June 1938 – 18 October 2007) was an English humorist, writer and satirist who was a regular panellist on the BBC radio quiz '' The News Quiz'' and a team captain on BBC television's '' Call My Bluff''. Coren was also a journalist ...

's children's books, ''Arthur and the Great Detective'' and ''Arthur and the Bellybutton Diamond''. The titular Arthur is an erstwhile Baker Street Irregular. In 1993 the psychologist Keith Oatley wrote ''The Case of Emily V.'', a novel in which

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

, Watson and Sherlock Holmes turn out to be investigating the same person. This book won the 1994 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Novel. In Oatley's book the reader finds out the "real truth" behind Freud's case notes on Emily V. In the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

Virgin New Adventures The ''Virgin New Adventures'' (NA series, or NAs) are a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British Science fiction on television, science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. They continued the story of the Doctor from th ...

novel ''

All-Consuming Fire The ''Virgin New Adventures'' (NA series, or NAs) are a series of novels from Virgin Publishing based on the British Science fiction on television, science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. They continued the story of the Doctor from th ...

'' by

the Time Lord meets Holmes and Watson while investigating a recent theft from the Library of St. John the Beheaded, revealed to be the work of Holmes's unknown eldest brother Sherringford (sic), Holmes in the end being forced to kill Sherringford (sic) to save Watson. They are later amongst numerous characters from the series who attend

Bernice Summerfield Professor Bernice Surprise Summerfield, or simply Benny, is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length ''Doctor Who'' novels, the '' New Ad ...

's wedding in ''

Happy Endings A happy ending is a type of plot conclusion. Happy Ending or Happy Endings may also refer to: Film and television * Happy Ending (Schitt's Creek), "Happy Ending" (Schitt's Creek), the 2020 series finale of ''Schitt's Creek'' * Happy Ending (20 ...

'' by

Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer. He has worked in television drama and ''Doctor Who'' fiction, being the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. Other British television dramas f ...

. Holmes also features in the ''

Faction Paradox ''Faction Paradox'' is a series of novels, audio stories, short story anthologies, and comics set in and around a "War in Heaven", a history-spanning conflict between godlike "Great Houses" and their mysterious enemy. The series is named after a ...

'' novel ''Erasing Sherlock'' by Kelly Hale and in the novelette ''The Shape of Things'' by Stuart Douglas in the Iris Wildthyme collection

Miss Wildthyme and Friends Investigate Obverse Books is a British publisher initially known for publishing books relating to the character Iris Wildthyme, and currently for the '' Black Archive'' series of critical books on ''Doctor Who,'' and two sister series - the Gold Archive, ...

Mycroft Holmes Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character appearing in stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from 1893 to 1908. The elder brother (by seven years) of detective Sherlock Holmes, he is a government official and a founding me ...

, Dr John Watson and Professor George Challenger also appear in the same book.

Boris Akunin Grigori Chkhartishvili (; ka, გრიგორი ჩხარტიშვილი), better known by his pen name Boris Akunin (, born 20 May 1956), is a Georgian and Russian writer residing in the United Kingdom. He is best known as a write ...

's short story ''The Prisoner of the Tower, or A Short But Beautiful Journey of Three Wise Men'' in the '' Jade Rosary Beads'' compilation describes Holmes and Erast Fandorin's race to thwart a devious

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

plan by

. Author

Nancy Springer Nancy Springer (born July 5, 1948) is an American author of fantasy, young adult literature, mystery, and science fiction. Her novel ''Larque on the Wing'' won the Tiptree Award in 1994. She also received the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writer ...

has written a series of novels of the adventures of Enola Holmes, the much younger teenage sister of Sherlock and Mycroft. Upon their mother's disappearance, Enola discovers that she in fact left of her own volition according to a carefully devised plan to live independently and raised her daughter with the skills to do the same if she chose to. Finding the resources her mother carefully hid for her, Enola decides to run away rather than be forced into

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

by Mycroft. She eventually comes to London where she secretly sets herself up in business as a private investigator when she realises she is equally as talented at the profession as her older brother even as she is determined to elude his notice. Holmes cameos at the end of ''

Detective Comics ''Detective Comics'' (later retitled as ''Batman Detective Comics'') is an American comic book series published by Detective Comics, later shortened to DC Comics. The first volume, published from 1937 to 2011 (and later continued in 2016), is ...

'' #572, the comic series' 50th anniversary issue, helping

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

Robin Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), inclu ...

The Elongated Man Elongated Man (Randolph William "Ralph" Dibny) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''The Flash'' #112 (February 25, 1960). The character made his live-action debut on The CW's live-actio ...

, and Slam Bradley tie up a case involving the descendants of both Dr. Watson and Professor Moriarty. Well over a century old now, Holmes attributes his longevity to "a proper diet, a certain distillation of royal jelly, developed in my beekeeping days, and the rarified (sic) atmosphere of Tibet, where I keep my primary residence." He apparently gave up tobacco, too, indicating that his pipe was now "purely for show these days."

Mercedes Lackey Mercedes Ritchie Lackey (born June 24, 1950) is an American writer of Fantasy literature, fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar (fictional co ...

's Elemental Masters series is set in a world in which magic and psychic powers are real. Holmes and the Watsons appear in three of the books; Dr Watson is a Water Master, Mary is an Air Master, and Holmes is at first skeptical, dismissing their talk of magic as superstitious twaddle. In

Theodora Goss Theodora Goss (born September 30, 1968) is a Hungarian-American fiction writer and poet. Her writing has been nominated for major awards, including the Nebula, Locus, Mythopoeic, World Fantasy, and Seiun Awards. Her short fiction and poetry ...

' 2017 novel, '' The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter'', the protagonist Mary Jekyll meets Holmes and Watson, and they help each other solve their respective mysteries, which happen to converge.

TV

In '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', a Sherlock Holmes mystery was one of the programmes on the ''Enterprise''-D's

holodeck The Holodeck is a fictional device from the television franchise ''Star Trek'' which uses "holograms" (projected light and electromagnetic energy which create the illusion of solid objects) to create a realistic 3D simulation of a real or imagi ...

. In the episode ''

Elementary, Dear Data "Elementary, Dear Data" is the third episode of the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', the 29th episode overall. It was written by Brian Al ...

'',

Data Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...

, after memorising all of the Sherlock Holmes books, is challenged to use deduction in an original mystery created by Dr. Pulaski. However, the programme goes awry when

Geordi La Forge Geordi La Forge ( ) is a fictional character who appeared in all seven seasons of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and its four feature films as well as the third season of '' Star Trek: Picard ...

, in response to Pulaski's challenge, asks the computer to create an adversary capable of defeating ''Data'', resulting in the hologram of Professor Moriarty (played by Daniel Davis) gaining full sentience, kidnapping Dr. Pulaski and taking over the ship's computer. In a later episode, ''

Ship in a Bottle An impossible bottle is a bottle containing an object that appears too large to fit through the bottle's mouth. The ship model in a bottle is a traditional and the most iconic type of impossible bottle. Other common objects include fruits, matchb ...

'', the holodeck Moriarty again takes control of the ship, insisting that a way be found for him to experience life beyond the confines of the holodeck, until the crew manage to trap him in a permanent simulation. The first Holmes-based episode was produced with the understanding that Sherlock Holmes was

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

, but a protest from the Doyle estate indicated otherwise (and, it is rumoured, prevented a plan for Data-as-Holmes to become a recurring character). An elderly Holmes and Watson appear in a sketch of comedy show ''

That Mitchell and Webb Look ''That Mitchell and Webb Look'' is a British sketch comedy television series starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb that ran from 2006 to 2010. Many of its characters and sketches were first featured in the duo's radio show '' That Mitchell an ...

'', where Holmes is portrayed as an increasingly senile old man whose flawed deductions are merely humoured by Watson to try to make his old friend feel better; the sketch ends on a tearful note as Holmes, his mind briefly clear, admits to Watson that he knows that his powers are failing him but simply cannot think clearly enough to get past his age. In 2020 Netflix released the film Enola Holmes based on the Nancy Springer character of the same name starring Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things) as the titular character and Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes. The cast also includes Helena Bonham Carter as Eudora Holmes and Sam Claflin as Mycroft Holmes. The film was originally set for theatrical distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures but the distribution rights were picked up by Netflix due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A sequel, Enola Holmes 2, was released in 2022 with a third thought to be currently in production. No release date has yet been confirmed.

Animation

* Disney's ''

The Great Mouse Detective ''The Great Mouse Detective'' (released as ''Basil the Great Mouse Detective'' in some countries and ''The Adventures of the Great Mouse Detective'' during its 1992 re-release) is a 1986 American animated mystery adventure film produced by W ...

'' (1986), also known as ''Basil of Baker Street'', was a relatively successful theatrical feature

animated film Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

based on the

Basil of Baker Street ''Basil of Baker Street'' is a series of children's novels written by Eve Titus and illustrated by Paul Galdone. The stories focus on the titular Basil of Baker Street and his personal biographer Doctor David Q. Dawson. Together they solve the m ...

books of

Eve Titus Eve Titus (July 16, 1922 – February 4, 2002) was an American children's writer. She is particularly known for her books featuring the anthropomorphic mice characters Anatole, a heroic and resourceful French mouse, and Basil of Baker Street, ...

, featuring a miniature subworld of London with mice, rats and cats in the lead roles. The title character is a mouse who lives in 221B Baker St and models his own detective career on Holmes, who lives at the same address and makes a cameo appearance. * In one episode of The Fairly Oddparents Holmes is portrayed in stereotypical attire; he starts every sentence with "elementary, my dear (whomever he is addressing)" and will always know the answer to every single question posed to him about the asker. * In the ''

VeggieTales ''VeggieTales'' is an American Christian media, Christian Computer animated, CGI-animated series and multimedia franchise created by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki under Big Idea Entertainment. The series stars Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumb ...

'' episode, ''

Sheerluck Holmes and the Golden Ruler This is a list of VHS and DVD releases of the animated children's television series ''VeggieTales''. Videos Original videos (1993–2015) Theatrical films Compilation videos Collections # ''Lessons From The Sock Drawer'' ...

'', Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato portray vegetable versions of Holmes and Watson, respectively, in order to teach a lesson on friendship.

Video games

Everett Kaser has published a series of free reflection games (puzzles) with names referring to Sherlock Holmes stories: ''Sherlock: The Game of Logic'', ''Dinner with Moriarty'', ''Watson's Map'', ''Baker Street'', ''Scotland Yard'' ''Inspector Lestrade'', ''Mrs. Hudson'', ''Reichenbach Falls'', ''Queen's Gambit'', ''Mycroft's Map''. Sherlock Holmes, however, does not appear in the games, except some very small icons. In ''Midnight Mysteries: Haunted Houdini'' a hidden-object/puzzle video game released in 2012 by

MumboJumbo MumboJumbo, LLC was an independent developer of games for personal computers, game consoles and mobile devices. MumboJumbo Mobile, LLC publishes entertainment software for Android and iOS devices. History The company was founded in January 200 ...

, Sherlock Holmes is on the suspects list. In ''

Fate/Grand Order is a free-to-play Japanese gacha game, gacha mobile game, developed by Lasengle (formerly Delightworks) using Unity (game engine), Unity, and published by Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The game is based on Type-Moon' ...

'', released in

in 2015, Holmes briefly appears in the Camelot singularity. Then he appears in the Shinjuku singularity as an ally. He is a Ruler class servant. In '' There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension'', the second chapter sees the player trapped in a fictional

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

based on Sherlock Holmes. The player must alter the game's user interface and environment in order to manipulate Holmes and Watson into solving specific puzzles so that they might escape.

Successors of Sherlock Holmes

These stories treat Sherlock Holmes as an historical character but concern themselves with one of his successors – biological or spiritual – who usually take after him in some way, e.g. being good detectives.

Film

In the 1977 spoof ''

The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It ''The Strange Case of the End of Civilisation as We Know It'' (also known as ''The Strange Case of the End of Civilisations'') is a 1977 comedy film directed by Joseph McGrath and starring John Cleese. It is a low-budget spoof of the Sherloc ...

'',

plays Arthur Sherlock Holmes, grandson of the famous sleuth, alongside Watson's grandson Dr. William Watson, played by

Arthur Lowe Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. His acting career spanned 37 years, including starring roles in numerous theatre and television productions. He played Captain Mainwaring in the British sitcom ''Dad ...

TV

The Adventures of Shirley Holmes ''The Adventures of Shirley Holmes'' is a children's mystery television series that aired on YTV from May 7, 1997, to May 7, 2000. The show was created by Ellis Iddon and Phil Meagher (of Winklemania Productions, UK) who had produced a successf ...

'' is the story of the teenage Anglo-Canadian grandniece of Sherlock Holmes, Shirley, who after discovering some of Sherlock Holmes' effects (which he had concealed to ensure that only a fitting successor of similar intellect would find them), goes on to solve many crimes and mysteries with the assistance of her male Watson-like friend, Bo Sawchuk. She also has a Moriarty-like arch-enemy in the form of Molly Hardy.

Manga/anime

In '' Hidan no Aria'' series, the character Aria Holmes Kanzake is the descendant of Sherlock Holmes. ''

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes is a media franchise owned by the Japanese entertainment company Bushiroad. The first release was an Internet radio drama, released in December 2009. An anime adaptation by J.C.Staff aired between October and December 2010, with a sp ...

'' has four protagonists named after famous literary detectives, and they even adopt the iconic deerstalker into their uniform. Ron Kamonohashi, the main character of '' Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective'', is a sixth-generation descendant of Sherlock Holmes, and a ninth-generation descendant of James Moriarty.

Video games

Big Fish Games and Elephant Games have released three games with a main character named "Ms. Holmes", a female detective who investigates in England during the absence of Sherlock Holmes after his disappearance at Reichenbach Falls. Some recurring Holmes' characters such as Professor Moriarty, Inspector Lestrade, and the Baskervilles are cited in the games. Later she is revealed to be Sharlotte Holmes, a Holmes' descendant.

Holmes-inspired characters

Print

The future King of Thailand, Crown Prince

Vajiravudh Vajiravudh (1 January 188126 November 1925) was the sixth Monarchy of Thailand, king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama VI. He reigned from 1910 until his death in 1925. King Vajiravudh is best known for his efforts to create and pro ...

, published 15 stories featuring a detective Mr. Thong-in, and his assistant Mr. Wat, which were published in 1904-1905. The stories are widely recognised as containing elements from both Arthur Conan Doyle's

stories, and

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

's "

The Murders in the Rue Morgue "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in ''Graham's Magazine'' in 1841. It has been described as the first modern detective fiction, detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of wikt:ratio ...

August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an American writer and anthologist. He was the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft. He made contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Lovecraftian horror, cosmi ...

's Holmes-inspired sleuth

Solar Pons Solar Pons is a fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portr ...

is an obvious and early homage to Holmes. Derleth began to write the stories in 1928 after asking permission of

to continue the series of Sherlock Holmes stories (it was denied). The first collection of Pons stories was published in 1948, and Derleth's stories are contained in 13 additional books, several published after his death in 1971.

Basil Copper Basil Frederick Albert Copper (5 February 1924 – 3 April 2013) was an English writer and former journalist and newspaper editor. Mike Ashley, "Basil Copper", in David Pringle, ed., ''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers.''(Londo ...

continued the Pons series with an additional eight books, the most recent published in 2005. The protagonist of

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...

's novel ''

The Name of the Rose ''The Name of the Rose'' ( ) is the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco. It is a historical fiction, historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, and an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, ...

'', Friar William of Baskerville (per ''

''), and his novice Adso (who, like Watson, is the narrator), are patterned on Holmes and Watson. William of Baskerville is physically similar to Holmes, has the habit of addressing his companion with "My dear Adso" and the story itself is about a strictly rational brain following a path of investigation of a seemingly inexplicable chain of violent deaths.

Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson ( ; November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until his death in 2001. Anderson also wrote historical novels. He won the Hugo Award seven times an ...

wrote several stories in which characters modelled themselves on Holmes, including "The Martian Crown Jewels", "The Queen of Air and Darkness", and "The Adventure of the Misplaced Hound". In

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

's ''

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress ''The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress'' is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein about a lunar colony's revolt against absentee rule from planet Earth. The novel illustrates and discusses libertarian ideals. It is respe ...

'' (1966) one of the characters is a computer, a model "HOLMES IV", which adopts the name Mycroft, after Sherlock Holmes' brother.

Julian Symons Julian Gustave Symons (originally Gustave Julian Symons, pronounced ''SIMM-ons''; 30 May 1912 – 19 November 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature. He was born ...

created a character named Sheridan Haynes, an actor immersed in the role of Holmes for an epic project to adapt the entire canon for television (almost ten years before

Jeremy Brett Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes from 1984 to 1994 in 41 episodes of a Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV ...

took up a similar challenge), in the 1975 novel '' A Three Pipe Problem''. Haynes finds himself confusing his own identity with Holmes', and becomes involved in a mystery. The character returned for a 1988 sequel, ''

The Kentish Manor Murders ''The Kentish Manor Murders'' is a 1988 mystery detective novel by the British writer Julian Symons. A pastiche of the traditional Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, it is a sequel to the 1975 novel '' A Three-Pipe Problem''.Mason, Bi ...

'', and Symons also wrote a Holmes short story pastiche. Charles Hamilton, under the pseudonym Peter Todd, wrote almost 100 short parodies of the Holmes short stories from 1915 onwards. The characters became Herlock Sholmes and Dr Jotson, living in a Shaker Street apartment; and the sophisticated deductive reasoning of the original became absurdity in the spoofs, which were mainly published in a range of boys' comics of the period (''The Greyfriars Herald'', ''

The Magnet ''The Magnet'' was a British weekly boys' story paper published by Amalgamated Press. It ran from 1908 to 1940, publishing a total of 1,683 issues. Each issue contained a long school story about the boys of Greyfriars School, a fictional publ ...

'', ''

The Gem ''The Gem'' (1907–1939) was a story paper published in Great Britain by Amalgamated Press in the early 20th century, predominantly featuring the activities of boys at the fictional school St. Jim's. These stories were all written using the pe ...

'', etc.). Although satirical and often mocking contemporary mores (and World War I shortages), the stories had a real feel for the dialogue and structure of the originals. They were all reprinted in ''The Complete Casebook of Herlock Sholmes'' (Hawk Books 1989).

's novella '' The Final Solution'' (2004) features an unnamed protagonist who is likely a retired Holmes. The story takes place during World War II, and features the Holmes character investigating the appearance of a mute boy with a

parrot Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

who repeatedly calls a string of seemingly random numbers in German. References to Holmes are plentiful: the protagonist is a

bee keeper Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus ''Apis (bee), Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless be ...

, is familiar with detectives in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and smokes a pipe. The title simultaneously refers to the Nazi plan for genocide hinted at in the book and mirrors one of Doyle's own shorts, "

The Final Problem "The Final Problem" is a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring his detective character Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in ''The Strand Magazine'' in the United Kingdom, and ''McClure's'' in the United States, under the title " ...

Sarah Monette Sarah Elizabeth Monette (born November 25, 1974) is an American novelist and short story writer, mostly in the genres of fantasy and horror. Under the name Katherine Addison, she published the fantasy novel '' The Goblin Emperor'', which receive ...

's '' The Angel of the Crows'' (2020), transposed to an alternative London with angels and werewolves, portrays Dr Watson as a field surgeon injured in the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dy ...

instead of India, and Sherlock Holmes as an angel. The work tries to be an anthology of several Holmes cases. In the

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...

short stories "The Sleuths", "The Adventures of Shamrock Jolnes" and "The Detective Detector" – story collections: ''Sixes and Sevens (1911)'', and ''

Waifs and Strays ''Waifs and Strays'' is a short story collection by O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also ...

'' (1917)'' – the character Shamrock Jolnes parodies Sherlock Holmes' deductive methods and disguises. In

Bret Harte Bret Harte ( , born Francis Brett Hart, August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a caree ...

's collection of

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

s of contemporaneous writers, ''Condensed Novels: New Burlesques'', the character ''Hemlock Jones'' in the story "The Stolen Cigar Case By A. Co—n D—le" has been praised by

as "probably the best parody of Sherlock Holmes ever written". In the first novel of

Joyce Ballou Gregorian Joyce Ballou Gregorian Hampshire (July 5, 1946 – April 29, 1991) was an American author, expert on Oriental rugs, and horse breeder. Life Joyce Ballou Gregorian was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the third child of Phebe Ballou, of New England ...

's Tredana Trilogy, ''The Broken Citadel'', a young girl is transported from our world to a fantasy world called Tredana. She learns that the only previous traveller there from our world is a Norwegian explorer named Sigerson, who was taught how to get there by the Dalai Lama. In Conan Doyle's stories, during the period in which Holmes is presumed dead between the events of ''

'' and ''

'', one identity Holmes adopts is a Norwegian explorer named Sigerson who meets with the Dalai Lama.

Timothy Zahn Timothy Zahn (born 1951) is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy. He is known best for his prolific collection of ''Star Wars'' List of Star Wars books, books, chiefly the Thrawn trilogy, ''Thrawn'' trilogy, and has published several ...

's series of novels about the

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

character

Grand Admiral Thrawn Grand Admiral Thrawn (full name: Mitth'raw'nuruodo; born: Kivu'raw'nuru) is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He first appeared in what came to be known as the ''Thrawn'' trilogy of novels (1991–1993) by Timothy Zahn. A ...

have led many to draw comparisons between the Chiss and Conan Doyle's Sherlock, from Thrawn's deductive methods to his companions and rivals. In Heir to the Empire, Captain Pellaeon serves as Thrawn's Watson, though in later books like

Thrawn Grand Admiral Thrawn is a character who appears in ''Star Wars'' media. ''Thrawn'' may also refer to the title of several ''Star Wars'' novels featuring the character: * The ''Thrawn'' trilogy (1991–1993) by Timothy Zahn, also known as the '' ...

and Thrawn: Treason, Eli Vanto also plays a similar role to Watson, serving as Thrawn's aide, friend, and successor. The elusive Nightswan serves as Thrawn's Moriarty in the 2017 novel, and Thrass could arguably serve as Thrawn's Mycroft. In contrast, others have compared Thrawn to Moriarty due to his role within the Empire.

Film

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked Vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckler film, swashbu ...

played a cocaine-addicted Holmes spoof named "Coke Enneday" in '' The Mystery of the Leaping Fish'' (1916). Many of this "scientific" detective's possessions are checkered in the Holmes manner, including his detective hat, jacket, and even his car, and whenever he feels momentarily dejected, he nonchalantly extracts yet another syringe from a bandolier on his chest and quickly injects himself with

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

, laughing in merriment as an immediate result. In 1924, comedian

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

made '' Sherlock Jr.'', about a film projectionist who dreams of becoming a great detective. The 1971 film ''

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

'', adapted from

James Goldman James Goldman (June 30, 1927 – October 28, 1998) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He won an Academy Award for his screenplay '' The Lion in Winter'' (1968). His younger brother was novelist and screenwriter William Goldman. Biog ...

's 1961 British stage play of the same name, featured

George C. Scott George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American actor. He had a celebrated career on both stage and screen. With a gruff demeanor and commanding presence, Scott became known for his portrayal of stern but complex ...

as a widowed judge named Justin Playfair who imagines himself to be Holmes. When his brother seeks to have him committed, he is brought to Dr. Mildred Watson (

Joanne Woodward Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward (born February 27, 1930) is an American retired actress. She made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a characteristic nuance and depth of character. ...

). In '' The Return of the World's Greatest Detective'' (1976 TV movie), a rather ineffectual

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

, and avid fan of Sherlock Holmes, named ''Sherman Holmes'' (played by American actor

Larry Hagman Larry Martin Hagman (September 21, 1931 – November 23, 2012) was an American actor, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera ''Dallas'', and the handsome astronaut Major Anthon ...

) suffers a brain injury when his parked

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

tips over and falls onto his head (he was lying beside it, reading). He wakes with both the unshakeable delusion that he is Sherlock Holmes and that he possesses all of Holmes' incredible deductive abilities. His friend and case-worker, Dr. Joan Watson (

Jenny O'Hara Jenny O'Hara (born February 24, 1942) is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is best known for Dixie in ''My Sister Sam'' (1986–1988), Janet Heffernan in ''The King of Queens'' (2001–2007), and Nita in ''Big Love'' (2006– ...

), moves him to Apartment B of 221 Baker Street, where he becomes involved in the murder of an embezzler.

Nicholas Colasanto Nicholas Colasanto (January 19, 1924 – February 12, 1985) was an American actor and television director. He is best known for his role as Ernie Pantusso in the American television sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982 – 1985). Early life Colasanto was b ...

also stars as Lt. Tinker, Holmes' former superior, who is in charge of the murder investigation. Reviewers of the day pointed out parallels to ''

.'' The 1986 Soviet comedy '' My Dearly Beloved Detective'' features two women (Shirley Holmes and Jane Watson) opening a private detective agency in London, to the displeasure of Scotland Yard at the competitors. Sherlock Holmes is fictional in the setting. ''

Zero Effect ''Zero Effect'' is a 1998 American mystery comedy film written and directed by Jake Kasdan in his feature directional debut. Starring Bill Pullman as "the world's most private detective", Daryl Zero, and Ben Stiller as his assistant Steve Arlo, ...

'', loosely based on the Sherlock Holmes story "

", features

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. Pullman made his film debut i ...

as Daryl Zero, a neurotic detective who is only in his element when on a case, and

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known for his blend of slapstick humor and sharp wit, Stiller rose to fame through comedies such as ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998), ' ...

as Watson-like assistant Steve Arlo. Set in modern

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, the search for a shady businessman's lost keys reveals a plot involving murder, blackmail, and secret identities. Instead of

, Zero's occasional need for mental stimulation leads to experimentation with the drug

mescaline Mescaline, also known as mescalin or mezcalin, and in chemical terms 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine, is a natural product, naturally occurring psychedelic drug, psychedelic alkaloid, protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, found ...

. In the film, Zero indicates that he has mastered his technique of "Observation and Objectivity" – or as he calls them, "The Two Obs". Sherlock Holmes also inspired

Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligraphy, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influ ...

to create the character Pradosh Mitter. Mitter, affectionately called

Feluda Feluda is a fictional detective, private investigator created by Indian director and writer Satyajit Ray. Feluda resides at 21 Rajani Sen Road, Ballygunge, Calcutta, West Bengal, India. Feluda first made his appearance in a Bengali childre ...

, was immensely popular in Bengal. Feluda used the method of deduction to solve his cases, most of which were set in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. Ray even made some movies with Feluda as hero, including ''

Sonar Kella ''Sonar Kella'', also ''Shonar Kella'', is a 1971 mystery novel written by Bengali writer and filmmaker Satyajit Ray. In 1974, Ray directed a film adaption of the book, also named ''Sonar Kella'', starring Soumitra Chatterjee, Santosh Dutta, ...

'' (''The Golden Fortress''). Additionally, the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

writer Saradindu Bandyopadhyay also had a detective named

Byomkesh Bakshi Byomkesh Bakshi is a fictional detective created by Bengali author Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. A self-proclaimed "satyanweshi" (literally seeker of truth), Bakshi is known for his keen observation, logical thinking, and knowledge of forensic sc ...

, which had some resemblance to Doyle's Holmes. In many ways Bakshi was different from the "drug-addict" bachelor image that Holmes had. Bakshi was married and had few addictions except that of a cigarette. In many ways, Byomkesh's character was distinctly different from that of Holmes. However both used deductions and were astute observers. In their character portrayal though the biggest difference lies. The frequently brooding trait in Holmes' character was not found in the cheerful portrayal of Byomkesh Bakshi. The adventures of Bakshi was later developed into a television series that was aired in

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

, India's premier TV channel during those times, in the early 1990s. The series featuring Rajit Kapoor as Byomkesh Bakshi, telecast on the Doordarshan, inspired a lot of Indians to read the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and re-read the works of Saradindu Bandyopadhyay.

TV

'' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''

The highly popular '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' featured an entire episode circling around the death of a man who held 'mystery nights' with a group of friends in which they roleplayed as Holmes characters and solved invented crimes; his basement was an exact replica of Sherlock Holmes' 221B Baker Street parlour, and he emulated everything Holmes did in the books – from his smoking to his cocaine addiction. The episode was called "Who Shot Sherlock?". CSI is also notable for the lead character,

Gil Grissom Gilbert Arthur Grissom (born August 17, 1956), Ph.D. is a fictional character portrayed by William Petersen on the CBS crime drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and its sequel, '' CSI: Vegas''. Grissom is a forensic entomologist and for t ...

(

William Petersen William Louis Petersen (born February 21, 1953) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Gil Grissom in the CBS drama thriller series ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (2000–2015), for which he won a Screen Actors Guild Award an ...

), has more than a passing similarity to Sherlock Holmes. Like Holmes, Grissom is dispassionate with a fierce devotion to logic and little regard for societal norms of behaviour; Grissom once smashed mustard jars in a grocery store to illustrate a theory, much as Holmes once practiced spearing a pig in a butchers shop to determine how strong a man would have to be to transfix a man with a harpoon. Grissom also possesses a Moriarty-like nemesis, Paul Millander (

Matt O'Toole Matt O'Toole is an actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such a ...

), whom he pursues in several episodes. Coincidentally, "Paul Millander" has the same initials as "

." There's also a woman, Lady Heather Kessler (

Melinda Clarke Melinda Patrice Clarke (born April 24, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Faith Taylor on the soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' (1989–1990), Julie Cooper on Fox's teen drama series '' The O.C.'' (2003–2007), Lady Heath ...

), in whom he takes an unusual interest. Their relationship is similar to that of

and Holmes. Both Irene and Lady Heather enchant Holmes and Grissom with their beauty, their wit and their resolution. Lady Heather often wears Victorian-style dresses, referencing Holmes's era. Whilst Grisoms replacement D.B. Russell's (

Ted Danson Edward Bridge Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1982–1993), for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe A ...

) official character sheet was described as "A west coast Sherlock Holmes who devours crime novels and looks at every crime scene as if it were a story waiting to be told". Both Grissom and Russell work with their CSI partners

Catherine Willows Catherine Willows is a fictional character, portrayed by Marg Helgenberger, from the CBS crime drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' and its sequel, ''CSI: Vegas''. Helgenberger made her franchise debut in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (s ...

(

Marg Helgenberger Mary Margaret Helgenberger (born November 16, 1958) is an American actress. She began her career in the early 1980s and first came to attention for playing the role of Siobhan Ryan on the daytime soap opera ''Ryan's Hope'' from 1982 to 1986. Sh ...

) and Julie Finlay (

Elisabeth Shue Elisabeth Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She has starred in films such as '' The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), '' Back to the Future P ...

), respectively (both the equivalent of Dr. John Watson) while both working under the Las Vegas Police Department's Homicide Captain

Jim Brass '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony E. Zuiker and executive produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue, William Petersen, Cynthia Chvatal, Naren Shankar, and Don Mc ...

(

Paul Guilfoyle Paul Vincent Guilfoyle () (born April 28, 1949) is an American character actor. He was a regular cast member of the CBS crime drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', on which he played Captain Jim Brass from 2000 to 2014. He returned for ...

) (the equivalent of

''
House MD ''House'' (also known as ''House, M.D.'') is an American medical drama television series created by David Shore for Fox. It ran for eight seasons from November 16, 2004, to May 21, 2012. It features the life of Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) ...
''

According to series creator

David Shore David Shore (born July 3, 1959) is a Canadian television writer. Shore worked on '' Family Law'', ''NYPD Blue'' and '' Due South'', also producing many episodes of the latter. He created the critically acclaimed series ''House'' and more recent ...

Gregory House Gregory House is a fictional character and the titular protagonist of the American medical drama series ''House''. Created by David Shore and portrayed by English actor Hugh Laurie, he leads a team of diagnosticians and is the Head of Diagnos ...

was inspired by the fictional character Sherlock Holmes, particularly about drug use and his desire (and capacity) to solve the unsolvable. House uses Holmesian deductive techniques to diagnose his patients' problems. For example, references to Sherlock Holmes range from the obvious (House's apartment number is 221B) to the subtle (his friendship with Dr.

James Wilson James Wilson may refer to: Politicians and government officials Canada * James Wilson (Upper Canada politician) (1770–1847), English-born farmer and political figure in Upper Canada * James Crocket Wilson (1841–1899), Canadian MP from Queb ...

and the similarities between House and Holmes, and Wilson and Watson). In the pilot episode, the patient's last name was Adler, and in the last episode of season two, the man who shot House was Moriarty. House's act of faking cancer in season three, episode fifteen, "Half-Wit," is similar to the Holmes story, "The Adventure of the Dying Detective," Holmes fakes a deadly eastern disease to catch a criminal. The character of Holmes, was in turn, based on a Doctor that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle knew while studying medicine, Dr.

Joseph Bell Joseph Bell FRCSE (2 December 1837 – 4 October 1911) was a Scottish surgeon and lecturer at the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in the 19th century. He is best known as an inspiration for the literary character, Sherlock Ho ...

, whose specialty was diagnosis. In season five, episode eleven, "Joy to the World," Wilson presents House with

's Manual of the Operations of Surgery as a Christmas gift. When House's staff begins to wonder why he would throw away the expensive gift, an amused Wilson begins making up a story about House having a closeted infatuation with a patient named Irene Adler, who he will always consider to be "the one who got away." One character, Irene Adler, was wrongly characterized as Sherlock Holmes' love interest in several adaptations. Here, the one who got away parallels her was the one woman who defeated Sherlock Holmes, making Sherlock Holmes respect her. But he was never in love with her. The false story of Wilson about Irene Adler pays tribute to both of these facts. House also believed that his biological father was a family friend named Thomas Bell. The resemblance is evident in House's reliance on

deductive reasoning Deductive reasoning is the process of drawing valid inferences. An inference is valid if its conclusion follows logically from its premises, meaning that it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be false. For example, t ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, even where it might not seem obviously applicable and his reluctance to accept cases he finds uninteresting.

'' Law & Order: Criminal Intent''

The character of Detective

Robert Goren Robert "Bobby" Goren is a fictional character featured in the NBC-USA Network police procedural and legal drama television series '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent,'' portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio. Goren is a detective investigator first grade f ...

(

) is based on the popular fictional character of Sherlock Holmes, but instead of relying upon physical evidence like Holmes, Goren focuses on psychology to identify the perpetrators, whom he often draws into confessing or yielding condemning evidence. Goren also works with a John Watson like partner in Detective

Alexandra Eames Alexandra "Alex" Eames is a fictional character within the ''Law & Order'' universe portrayed by Kathryn Erbe. Eames first appears on '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' as a detective partnered with Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio). Following the e ...

(

Kathryn Erbe Kathryn Elsbeth Erbe (born July 5, 1965) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Alexandra Eames on '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', a spin-off of ''Law & Order'', and Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series '' Oz''. Early l ...

) and works for

type commanding officers Captain James Deakins (

Jamey Sheridan James Patrick Sheridan (born July 12, 1951) is an American actor known for playing a wide range of roles in theater, film, and television. He is known for Randall Flagg in ''The Stand'' (1994), Captain James Deakins on ''Law & Order: Criminal I ...

) and

Captain Danny Ross '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', a spin-off of the crime drama ''Law & Order'', follows the detectives who work in the "Major Case Squad" of the New York City Police Department, a unit that focuses on high-profile cases (in most cases murder, ju ...

(

Eric Bogosian Eric Michael Bogosian (; born April 24, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, monologuist, novelist, and historian. Descended from Armenian-American immigrants, he grew up in Watertown and Woburn, Massachusetts, and attended the University ...

). The character of Nicole Wallace (

Olivia d'Abo Olivia Jane d'Abo (; born 22 January 1969) is a British actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Karen Arnold, Kevin Arnold's rebellious teenaged hippie sister in the ABC comedy-drama series ''The Wonder Years'' (1988–1993), as fema ...

) is a direct attempt to play on the part of Sherlock Holmes' female antagonist

, also known as "The Woman". Wallace is employed as a "Professor of Literature" during her first appearance, which could be a parallel to Holmes' nemesis

''
Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
''

Andy Breckman Andrew Ross Breckman (born March 3, 1955) is an American screenwriter, comedian, and radio personality. He is the creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series ''Monk'' on the USA Network and is co-host of WFMU radi ...

, head writer of ''

Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

'', admitted to copying

Adrian Monk Adrian Monk, portrayed by Tony Shalhoub, is the title character and protagonist of the USA Network television series ''Monk (TV series), Monk''. He is a renowned former homicide detective for the San Francisco Police Department. He has obsessive� ...

from Conan Doyle "almost as if I used a

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...

machine". The characters and basic structure of the series were inspired by the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The character name "

" was intended to be unusual like that of Sherlock Holmes. Other characters correspond to Holmes characters:

Sharona Fleming The following is a list of characters from ''Monk'', an American comedy-drama detective television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk. Monk's assistant Sharona Fleming, portrayed by Bitty Schram, was replac ...

(a nurse) and Dr. John Watson; Captain

Leland Stottlemeyer The following is a list of characters from ''Monk'', an American comedy-drama detective television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk. Monk's assistant Sharona Fleming, portrayed by Bitty Schram, was repl ...

and Lieutenant Randall Disher (named Randall Deacon in the pilot) served much the same function on this show as did

in the Sherlock Holmes stories. This relationship may have inspired these characters' names: taking the first two letters of each name in order – LE from "Leland", ST from "Stottlemeyer", RA from "Randall" and DE from "Deacon" – spells out "Lestrade". (However, after the show's pilot episode, Randy Deacon's last name was changed to Disher.) There's also Monk's brother Ambrose and

(Sherlock's brother) and Harold Krenshaw and James Moriarty (Holmes' nemesis), (JM) initials shifted two characters to the left in the alphabet (HK). Also, on another side note, Monk's second psychiatrist was called Dr. Bell. Sherlock Holmes was modeled on Dr Joseph Bell, a surgeon with outstanding deductive powers.

Others

Sherlock Hemlock Sherlock Hemlock (who calls himself "the world's greatest detective") is a List of Sesame Street Muppets, Muppet character on the PBS series ''Sesame Street''. His catchphrase is "Minced oaths in media, Egad!" which he exclaims whenever he makes ...

is a

muppet The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential style of musical variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, the eponymous media franchise encompasse ...

character based on Sherlock Holmes, who appears on the American children's programme ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

''. The pilot episode of the well-remembered series, ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'', starring

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress, producer, and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles on stage and screen. Among her numerous accolades wer ...

, aired on 30 September 1984. The story had to do with her character, mystery writer

Jessica Fletcher Jessica Beatrice "J. B." Fletcher () is a fictional detective and writer and the main character and protagonist of the American television series ''Murder, She Wrote''. Portrayed by award-winning actress Angela Lansbury, Fletcher is a best-sel ...

, searching out the murderer of Caleb McCallum (played by

Brian Keith Robert Alba Keith (November 14, 1921 – June 24, 1997), known professionally as Brian Keith, was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his six-decade career gained recognition for his work in films such as the Disney family ...

) who is killed at a masquerade party where he is dressed in deerstalker cap and cape-coat. It was titled "The Murder of Sherlock Holmes". Although never directly stated, ''

Psych ''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened o ...

'' is said to have been based on, or at least a parody of, Sherlock Holmes, with

Shawn Spencer Shawn Spencer is a fictional character and main protagonist on the American television comedy-drama ''Psych'' and the sequel film series of the same name played by American actor James Roday Rodriguez. Taking advantage of his eidetic memory a ...

being Sherlock Holmes, Burton "Gus" Guster being Dr. John Watson, Henry Spencer being

, Police Chief

Karen Vick This is a list of characters in the USA Network original comedy-drama television series ''Psych'' and subsequent sequel film series of the same name, the majority of which have been released to the Peacock streaming service. The principal cast o ...

being

, and "

Mr. Yang This is a list of characters in the USA Network original comedy-drama television series ''Psych'' and subsequent sequel film series Psych (film series), of the same name, the majority of which have been released to the Peacock (streaming service) ...

" being Moriarty. When

's '' Sherlock'' premiered in 2010, parallels were also drawn between Detective

Juliet O'Hara Head Detective Juliet Lynn "Jules" O'Hara is a character on the American comedy ''Psych'' and the sequel film series of the same name played by Maggie Lawson. The character is noted in part for strong relationships with other characters, includi ...

and Molly Hooper, and between Detective

Carlton Lassiter Detective Carlton Jebediah "Lassie" Lassiter MCJ is a fictional character in the American sitcom ''Psych'' and the sequel film series of the same name, played by Timothy Omundson. Fictional biography One of the main supporting characters of the ...

and Phillip Anderson and Sally Donovan. Many fans of the series ''

The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, t ...

'' believe that the series' main character

Patrick Jane Patrick Jane is a fictional character and the protagonist of the CBS crime drama ''The Mentalist'', portrayed by Simon Baker. Jane is an independent consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation, and helps by giving advice and insight fro ...

is inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Jane can read a crime scene with his observation skills and uses his team as his own version of Dr. John Watson/

and has an enemy with

Red John Red John is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the CBS crime drama ''The Mentalist'' for the first five seasons and in the first half of the sixth season. As a serial killer, he is believed to have begun his killing spree in 19 ...

being Patrick's own version of Professor James Moriarty.

Animation

long-running ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' cartoon show,

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett for Leon Schlesinger Productions. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Me ...

did a turn as "Dorlock Holmes" in the episode "Deduce, You Say", first shown in 1956. In this episode, Dorlock Holmes (festooned in deerstalker cap and residing on Beeker Street) and his assistant Watkins (played by

Porky Pig Porky Pig is a cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created man ...

) must track down the Shropshire Slasher. Several

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy, a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the '' Detroit Mirror'', and was distributed by the Chicago T ...

animated cartoons centre around a white bulldog, helmeted like a London bobby, named Hemlock Holmes.

is extremely popular in

, and was an inspiration for the

ese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

, ''

Case Closed ''Case Closed'', also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' since January 1994; its chapters are collected in 10 ...

'' (''Detective Conan'' in Japan), where the main character,

Jimmy Kudo , known in some major English adaptations as Jimmy Kudo, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the manga series ''Case Closed'', created by Gosho Aoyama. A high school detective, he is forced to ingest a poison after an encounter wi ...

(Shin'ichi Kudo), takes his pseudonym, Conan Edogawa, from two detective fiction authors,

Edogawa Rampo , better known by the pen name , was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery and thriller fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogoro Akechi, who in later books was the ...

and

. Incidentally

took his name from

, the American writer known as the 'Father' of detective fiction. In addition, many of the characters of Detective Conan are inspired by characters from Doyle's original canon. Most notably is that Kudo himself is a take on Sherlock Holmes. This connection is made even more obvious by the naming of some of its fictional locations like Beika City and Haido City named after Baker Street and Hyde Park respectively. The Kudo family residence is even located at no. 21 of the second block in Beika Town.

Video games

The Other Guys has released in 2016 an app called ''Sherlock Holmes: Lost Detective''. Divided into two seasons, the main character is a young Scotland Yard agent; in this game there is a professor of English literature claiming to be Sherlock Holmes. Originally for iOS and Android, at present time can be found only on iTunes. ''Doctor Watson: Mystery Cases'' (also ''Doctor Watson: Treasure Island'') and ''Doctor Watson 2: The Riddle of the Catacombs'' are two casual games (hidden object games with 3D capabilities) released by German software house UIG in which the main character is loosely inspired by the original Watson. Holmes himself, however, does not appear. SecretBuilders Games has released in 2018 a casual game, ''Dr. Watson Mysteries – Hidden Objects Game'', where the protagonist is Dr. Watson, not Sherlock Holmes, but it features many Conan Doyle's stories such as ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'', ''The Valley of Fear'', ''The Speckled Band'', ''The Silver Blaze'', ''The Musgrave Ritual'', ''The Gloria Scott'', and ''The Copper Beeches''. Crisp App Studios has developed a crime-comedy casual game named ''Sherlock Pug'' where the main character is an anthropomorphic dog who is also a police officer, assisted by a superhero (Super Al) to defeat the evil Skindiver who has seized Oddopolis; mainly targeted to a children audience, it is available on Steam and, freely, on Microsoft website.

Manga

Throughout '' Gender-Swap at the Delinquent Academy'', the main character Torao Kadoki occasionally dons a fake moustache and deerstalker hat to investigate mysteries as "Herlock Sholmes".

Audio

'' The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra'' is a comedy album created by

The Firesign Theatre The Firesign Theatre (also known as the Firesigns) was an American surreal comedy troupe who first appeared on November 17, 1966, in a live performance on the Los Angeles radio program ''Radio Free Oz'' on station KPFK FM. They continued app ...

featuring Hemlock Stones and Flotsam.

References

Bibliography

* Text was copied fro
Influence of Sherlock Holmes
at the Baker Street Wiki, which is released under
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA 3.0) license
* Peter Ridgway Watt, Joseph Green, ''The alternative Sherlock Holmes: pastiches, parodies, and copies'',

Ashgate Publishing Ashgate Publishing was an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham (Surrey, United Kingdom). It was established in 1967 and specialised in the social sciences, arts, humanities and professional practice. It had an American office in ...

, 2003, * Bernard A. Drew, ''Literary afterlife: the posthumous continuations of 325 authors' fictional characters'', McFarland, 2009, , pp. 110–117

External links

*A Thoroughgoing Listing of Sherlockian Pastiche Novels: http://home.earthlink.net/~glennbranca/unclubables/id12.html
''Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol''
a play by John Longenbaugh, world premiered at Taproot Theatre Company in Seattle in 2010 {{Sherlock Holmes by others

Pastiches A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

Sherlock Holmes stories

Print

TV

Radio

Film

Serious films

Comedy films

Animation

Comics

Video games

Text only

Graphic adventures

Apps

Sherlock Holmes cameos

Print

TV

Animation

Video games

Successors of Sherlock Holmes

Film

TV

Manga/anime

Video games

Holmes-inspired characters

Print

Film

TV

'' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''

''House MD ''House'' (also known as ''House, M.D.'') is an American medical drama television series created by David Shore for Fox. It ran for eight seasons from November 16, 2004, to May 21, 2012. It features the life of Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) ...''

'' Law & Order: Criminal Intent''

''Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...''

Others

Animation

Video games

Manga

Audio

See also

References

Bibliography

External links

''
House MD ''House'' (also known as ''House, M.D.'') is an American medical drama television series created by David Shore for Fox. It ran for eight seasons from November 16, 2004, to May 21, 2012. It features the life of Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) ...
''

''
Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
''