Sherlock Holmes is a fictional consulting detective in London 1880-1914 created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes, master of disguise, reasoned logically to deduce clients' background from their first appearance. He used fingerprints, chemical analysis, and forensic science. Arthur Conan Doyle's estate had sued makers of Enola Holmes for showing a humane side to the detective only visible in stories still protected under US law Last modified on Tue 22 Dec 2020 08.57. Holmes: He sent the snake in night after night until it found its victim. Helen: But you were waiting this time. I hit it with my cane, making it angry. Watson: Then it went back through the hole. Holmes: And bit the first person it saw: Roylott. Helen: So many little clues, Mr. You added them up and saved my life. Recognized as one of the best licenses in gaming and lauded by the press, Sherlock Holmes is back with an investigation that is sure to be the most horrifying of the series. The famous detective stands against the most dangerous serial killer England has ever known - Jack the Ripper.
- Sherlock Holmes Is Back Cast
- Sherlock Holmes Is Back Pain
- Sherlock Holmes Coming Back
- Sherrilock Holmes Is Back In
Sherlock Holmes has become one of history's greatest detectives. He lives on, not just in Arthur Conan Doyle's original four novels and 56 short stories, but in movies, TV shows, and plays. In just the last 10 years there have been at least four actors who played Holmes in film and TV. Who did it best? Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr., Jonny Lee Miller, or the most recent inductee, Henry Cavill? Holmes mania is not a 21st-century thing. It was the reason why Doyle made — and then reversed — his most controversial decision. Doyle killed his most famous literary creation. And then brought him back.
Doyle was a financially unsuccessful physician and author when he wrote the first Holmes story in 1887, according to Doyle's official website. The novel, titled A Study in Scarlet, was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual. Doyle based his detective on a teenage hero of his, Dr. Joseph Bell, who himself was as fascinating as his fictional counterpart. The first adventure proved popular, and Doyle was commissioned to write a sequel, the novel that became The Sign of Four. He then wrote Holmes short stories, published in TheStrand Magazine.
Despite creating a money-making character, Doyle didn't really like Holmes. The Los Angeles Times said Doyle told his mother that Holmes 'takes his mind off better things.' Before publishing the Holmes stories, Doyle had difficulty finding a publisher for his works. But now that he was writing a well-read series, he tired of it.
The not exactly hard choice to kill him off
Doyle chose to kill off his fictional consulting detective in 1893's 'The Final Problem,' with little fanfare. In it, Holmes battles his archnemesis, Professor James Moriarty. In the ensuing fight, both men tumble off the Reichenbach Falls, seemingly to their death. The BBC reports that on the day it was published, Doyle wrote in his journal, 'Killed Holmes.' Later, he would say he 'had such an overdose of him' that he felt sick every time he had to write another Holmes piece. Oh, if only Doyle could see how overexposed Holmes is now. Doyle honestly thought he could kill off history's greatest detective because he got bored, and other people would be like, yeah, that's cool, what's next for you, pal?
Doyle gravely misjudged his creation's popularity. Readers sent him letters cursing his decision (a woman called him a brute for killing Holmes), men and women wore mourning clothes, and the owner of Strand Magazine, which published 'The Final Problem,' had to assure shareholders that while Holmes's death was devastating, the magazine should bounce back. More than 20,000 subscribers canceled their Strand subscriptions.
Such public reaction had never been seen before, explained the BBC. It'll be years before Star Trek fans would go to great lengths to save their show, after all. In fact, it was Sherlock Holmes that created 'fandom' as we know it today. And despite the extreme public reaction, Doyle refused to write another Holmes novel.
Sherlock Holmes will just never die
The public outcry finally drove Doyle to write the novel TheHound of the Baskervilles in 1901, though he maintained it was because he wanted to write a story about the legend of a hound in the moors. He also explained to fans that the book didn't mean Holmes was back; rather, it was meant to be an older story in his timeline. Two years later, American and British publishers finally convinced Doyle to return to Holmes and make an obscene amount of money. Doyle explained Holmes survived falling off waterfalls because of his knowledge of a Japanese wrestling style. He never addressed the fact that Holmes's best friend and sidekick, Watson, mourned for three years (in the Holmes stories, he was only gone for three years) and said he'd been spending time in the Far East.
Sherlock Holmes Is Back Cast
It didn't seem that reviving Holmes meant Doyle was suddenly excited to write him again. The later stories were far more inconsistent than their predecessors. But Doyle knew there was no way he could kill off his most famous character again. Holmes, Watson, and the rest of the supporting characters are forever alive in the minds of fans.
While it seems that Sherlock Holmes mania is new, thanks to the obsessive way people talked about the BBC's Sherlock, in reality, Sherlock Holmes might well represent the first time a creator realized he had zero control over the thing he created.
While Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is best known for his Sherlock Holmes stories, that was not the work he valued the most. In fact Conan Doyle once referred to them as 'an elementary form of fiction'. He was very proud of his historical novels and considered them some of his finest work.
While his Sherlock Holmes stories were hugely successful Conan Doyle was concerned that they were keeping him from more important work. As early as 1891 he shared with his mother his concerns about Holmes. 'He takes my mind from better things.'
Sherlock Holmes Is Back Pain
As time went on Conan Doyle found himself more closely identified with Sherlock Holmes to the exclusion of his other works. 'I weary of his name,' he told his mother.
In his own mind, the matter was settled. Holmes must die. The only question was how? Conan Doyle wanted a dramatic finish for the great Sherlock Holmes.
Sherlock Holmes Coming Back
In 1893 Conan Doyle visited Reichenbach Falls in the northern Swiss Alps. After seeing the magnificent falls he decided the place would make a worthy tomb for Sherlock Holmes.
The Adventure of the Final Problem was published in December of 1893 in The Strand magazine. People were so upset that more than twenty thousand of them canceled their subscription to The Strand magazine.
Holmes and Moriarty fighting over the Reichenbach Falls. Art by Sidney Paget.
It took a story of a ghostly hound to inspire Conan Doyle to bring the great detective back. In 1901 Sherlock Holmes reappeared in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Conan Doyle needed a strong central character for his ghostly novel. Why invent one when he already had that in Holmes? However, Conan Doyle made it clear that Holmes was not alive. This story took place before the incident at Reichenbach Falls.
Sherrilock Holmes Is Back In
The public's response was phenomenal. The Hound of the Baskervilles was also first published in The Strand. The magazine's circulation rose by thirty thousand overnight.
Later Holmes was truly brought back to life in The Adventure of the Empty House. At the start of the story, Watson is alone. His wife is dead and he believes Holmes to be dead as well. However, Watson learns that Holmes's death was a ruse to hide from Moriarty's associates.
I moved my head to look at the cabinet behind me. When I turned again, Sherlock Holmes was standing smiling at me across my study table. I rose to my feet, stared at him for some seconds in utter amazement, and then it appears that I must have fainted for the first and the last time in my life. Certainly a gray mist swirled before my eyes, and when it cleared I found my collar-ends undone and the tingling after-taste of brandy upon my lips. Holmes was bending over my chair, his flask in his hand. – The Adventure of the Empty House
