Since the inception of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s deductive detective in 1887, over 250 adaptations have followed, making Sherlock Holmes themost portrayed literary human character in film & TV. Each new actor that dons the deerstalker and takes up the tobacco pipe contributes to the mythos of Sherlock, focusing on an aspect of the original character to reanimate.
The fidelity of Sherlock derivatives has varied over the years. Some follow the example of the 1984 Granada series, rarely straying from the detective found in the pages ofThe Strand Magazine. The portrayals on our list may forfeit the title of “most accurate” but merit the satisfaction of providing audiences with a novel interpretation of the Holmes persona.
8Enola Holmes (2020)
Played by Henry Cavill, the supportive older brother version of Sherlock inEnola Holmeswas not just a character change but a litigious risk. In June 2020, the Conan Doyle Estatesued Netflix, arguing that Cavill’s Sherlock (who displays emotions and kindness) stemmed from later stories still owned by the estate. The Holmes of the public domain wasunfeeling, misogynistic, and incapable of real friendship–any indication otherwise was copyright infringement. The estate eventually dropped the lawsuit, and Cavill went on to explore the humane and flawed aspects of the detective in the sequel,Enola Holmes 2.
7Mr. Holmes (2015)
Netflix wasn’t the first studio the Conan Doyle Estate took legal action against. Five years prior, Miramax’sMr. Holmesalso ventured intocopyrighted territoryby featuring a retired Sherlock who’d taken up beekeeping on his farm in Sussex.
Starring Ian McKellen, the former detective isn’t awaiting confrontation with Moriarty but grappling with the universal trepidation of old age. At 93, he struggles with dementia, and the detective once celebrated for his brilliant mind must now grapple with its decay. While McKellen’s depiction bears little resemblance to its predecessors, critics praised theaffection and graceof his performance as one providing further insight into the mythos of Sherlock Holmes.
Related:Fans Celebrate Sir Ian McKellen on His 82nd Birthday
6Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)
Age appears to be a conducive formula for creating variants of Sherlock, as shown by Barry Levinson’s film,Young Sherlock Holmes. After meeting at boarding school, an adolescent Sherlock and John Watson solve a string of crimes involving hallucinogenic drugs and occult-related murders.
Based on an original screenplay by Harry Potter director Chris Columbus, the film explores “why Holmes became so cold and calculating, and why he was alone for the rest of his life.” Worried aboutoffending Holmes purists, Columbus defended his decision to make Sherlock so emotional, proposing that “as a youngster, [Holmes] was ruled by emotion, he fell in love with the love of his life, and as a result of what happens in this film, he becomes the person he was later.”
5Miss Sherlock (2018)
Rather than play with age,Miss Sherlockreinvents the detective through a gender swap. Thefirst major series to cast a womanas Holmes, the showtakes place in present-day Tokyo where Sarah “Sherlock” Shelly Futaba (Yūko Takeuchi) and her flatmate Dr. Wato Tachibana (Shihori Kanjiya) aid the police with cases concerning alleged family curses and deadly chemical viruses. In addition to creating a modernized and feminized spin on the original stories, the show also affirms the prospect of a Sherlock Holmes without Victorian London.
4Without a Clue (1988)
Creating a deviant Sherlock Holmes sometimes involves reinventing his equally famous companion, Dr. Watson. Such is the case with Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley inWithout a Clue. In this film, Dr. Watson (Kingsley) is the genius, and “Sherlock” is a metafictional rendering of the illustrious detective. Watson hires stage actor Reginald Kincaid (Caine) to play the part of a crime-solving expert, but in reality, Kincaid is a complete imbecile who drunkenly stumbles his way through the cases (and scripts).
The premise of having Cainenot playing Holmes but an actor playing Holmes, though anomalous, did not land well with most critics, with David Kehr from theChicago Tribunedeclaring: “Sherlock Holmes movie can be many things, but stupid isn’t one of them.”
3Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes (2010)
With a title that goes out of its way to mention the original author, one might assume Rachel Lee Goldenberg’s film,Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes,to be a faithful interpretation, but less than ten minutes in, audiences discover an England under attack from giant octopuses and dinosaurs.
Produced by The Asylum, a film company known for low-budget titles that capitalize on productions by major studios (Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr.‘sSherlock Holmescame out the year before), this movie’s monster versus Victorian detective knows not to take itself seriously. And while the combination of extinct reptiles and futuristic technology only truly makes sense on an episode ofDoctor Who, Sherlock Holmes (apparently known as Robert Holmes to his friends) manages to explain away the mysteries with anachronistic machinery worthy of this sci-fi adaptation.
Related:How Carnival of Souls Influenced Generations of Low-Budget Horror Movies
2Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking (2005)
The Baker Street Detective takes on feet in this British television film starring Rupert Everett and Ian Hart, respectively, as Holmes and Watson.InSherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking,Sherlock is tasked with uncovering a Jack the Ripper adjacent killer responsible for the murders of young aristocratic women found suffocated with silk stockings down their throats.
Everett took amuch darkerapproach to Holmes, believing him capable of peering directly into the corruption of Victorian society. Critics called his performancerich in tortured silences and seasoned with touches of campy authority. TheDaily Telegraphranked this film in their top twenty greatest portrayals.
1Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (1999)
Rounding off our list is an animated version of Holmes from the short-livedSherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century. Aided by a robotic Dr. Watson (unfortunately not IBM Watson) and Beth Lestrade (a descendant of the original Inspector Lestrade), a regenerated 19th-century Holmes spends each episode solving a futuristic iteration of a classic story. With the intended younger audience, this version of Holmes joins the others that have irritated dedicated Sherlockians byshowing more emotion, worry, and concern. This cartoon remains one of the few to feature Conan Doyle’s characters in a completely new setting, though that may soon change with the newWatsondrama seriesin development at CBS.
