Why Sherlock Holmes will outlive us all
In 1893, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle found the solution to his literary headache – he knew how to kill Sherlock Holmes. The sleuthing duo of Holmes and Watson had consumed him for six years and it was time to put an end to that chapter. The Final Problem ended with Holmes plunging to his demise over the Reichenbach Falls, entangled in the arms of his nemesis, Professor Moriarty. As Holmes fell to this death, the author’s conundrum was solved and Conan Doyle could start to live his life again outside the realms of the great detective – or so he thought.
Overnight, readers in Victorian London went into mourning. Rumour has it that young men wore black mourning crêpes on their hats or bands on their arms for the entire month following their beloved Holmes’ death. The Strand magazine, where the sleuthing tales were published, nearly suffered a similar fate losing 20,000 readers and barely surviving. Yet, Conan Doyle didn’t quite share this heartbreak, emotionlessly jotting down “killed Holmes” in his diary – job done.
In 1902, Conan Doyle finally succumbed to pressure, penning another Sherlock Holmes novel – The Hound of the Baskervilles. Setting the mystery before the detective’s death he wasn’t yet persuaded to bring him back to life. It took one more year and The Adventure of the Empty House for Holmes to be resurrected.
When he tried once again to put the Holmes saga to bed, he decided to retire, rather than kill him. A preface from Watson opens the collection of stories in His Last Bow explaining that his friend was alive and well, save for the occasional rheumatism, but had taken to the simple life refusing any more cases. Retirement would anger the public less than death, the author determined, as they could surely sympathise that he had earned the chance to put his feet up. But, the literary genius had no idea what he had started with this precedent. Victorians refused to let Holmes be killed, a mission that was passed down generations as Holmes became a seemingly immortal cultural figure.
The Sherlockian community was born and their adoration only grew over time. In fact, for some, Holmes became a god-like figure. In August 2013, at the first meeting of The Sherlock Holmes Society of India, Kumar Bhatia commented in his address that, to him, Sherlockism was almost religion-like. How else to explain his all-deducing genius?
As time progressed, fans wanted more – to be fully immersed in his world. To Londoner’s delight this can be achieved in Northumberland Street in The Sherlock Holmes pub, where a pint can be enjoyed sitting in a replica of the Baker Street sitting room. If this doesn’t quite quench the fan’s thirst, sitting on, naturally, 221B Baker Street is The Sherlock Holmes Museum, inviting amateur sleuths to come and try their luck at uncovering mysteries.
But, the devotion of fans can only take Holmes so far. His malleable character enticed production teams to make adaptation after adaptation, bringing the Victorian sleuth into their own era. Holmes continued to live on, just not in a manner Conan Doyle ever would’ve predicted. In fact, in 2012 the Holmes canon etched its way into the Guinness World Book of Records with the detective being portrayed an impressive 254 times. From Robert Downey Jr. and Henry Cavill to Sir Ian McKellan and Michael Caine, many have thrown their deerstalker in the ring to take on Holmes.
Remove the deerstalker and transport him out of London, and curiously Holmes is still Holmes too. In 2012, Johnny Lee Miller played a lankier and somewhat more sexual Holmes trotting around the streets of New York assisting the police with crimes. The biggest surprise of all was to see his companion written as a female as John became Joan. What’s more, this wasn’t the only production to toy with gender.
In 2018, Japanese production Miss Sherlock took Elementary’s vision further writing the famous sleuth as a woman. HBO saw her in a sleek long black coat solving crimes on the streets of Tokyo. After all, why leave all the fun to the men?
And still, the fascination continues. Over lockdown, theatre company Les Enfants Terribles brought a Holmes mystery, The Case of the Hung Parliament, to life, albeit online, in an interactive performance. The latest adaption to join the ranks is The Irregulars, an eight-part British Victorian crime drama, created by My Mad Fat Diary’s Tom Bidwell, set to air on Netflix on 26th March. It follows the efforts of Holmes’ sidekicks who often failed to receive credit. The gang of street teens (including Sex Education’s Jojo Marcari and Us star Thaddea Graham) must solve crimes put to them by a sinister Watson. All the while, the torch is passed to Killing Eve’s Henry Lloyd-Hughes to play a Holmes who, rather out of character, lurks on the sidelines. A 60-second trailer promises paranormal undertones as a mystery narrator warns fans, “you think you’ve seen horror, you know nothing of what it is to be afraid.” Once again, it’s Holmes, only in a different light.
It’s more than appearances, however, that makes the character immortal. Sherlock Holmes is an enigma. He spent his fictional career solving puzzles, but if he was to glance into the mirror which famously sat above the fireplace of 221B Baker Street, he would see the greatest puzzle of all – himself. In 1883, Watson first struggled to understand if the man was a human or calculative machine, an addict or a recreational drug user, a recluse or sought connection?
These tantalising questions are too good for producers and directors alike to pass up as they try their hand at getting Holmes right, while simultaneously putting their own spin on it. In Gatiss and Moffat’s BBC adaptation Sherlock, Watson callously snipes that his detective housemate will, “outlive God trying to have the last word.” How right he was.