r/SherlockHolmes

One of the most interesting things about Sherlock Holmes is how often he relies on disguises. Holmes appears as clergymen, sailors, booksellers, and even opium addicts — sometimes fooling Watson completely.

But the disguises aren’t just entertaining plot devices. They reflect a deeper Victorian anxiety about identity itself. In Doyle’s London, people could disappear into crowds, reinvent themselves, and hide behind respectability. The Holmes stories are full of characters leading double lives or concealing their true nature.

What makes Holmes fascinating is that he fights deception through deception. He uses masks to uncover truth. And in many ways, he understands something modern readers still recognise: most people perform versions of themselves for the world.

That may be why these stories still feel contemporary. Beneath the fog, disguises, and gaslight, Doyle was writing about a society where appearances could no longer be trusted completely which feels surprisingly familiar today.

I've always vaguely known about Sherlock Holmes but I've never properly gotten into the series. There's so many books, television shows, radio dramas and miniseries'. My dad really liked some of the adaptations, especially the BBC 2010 one and recently saw the Netflix one with milly bobby brown. (I can't say it because it will get taken down). But he really enjoyed them.

I read The Famous Five growing up and someone once told me that Sherlock Holmes was basically a "adult" version of that, which made me even more curious because I loved mystery stories growing up.

So I was wondering, where should I actually start? Should I begin with the Arthur Conan Doyle stories, or is it better to start with the adaptations my dad watch or even the old 40s ones.

Thanks in advance.

Searched the web for a bit and the only discussion I found regarding the issue was an AI chatbot conversation on a site called Just Answer, as well as Google's AI summary suggesting the haircut was real, using that site as source.

Just a question about what readers think are the preferred Sherlock experience? There are 4 novels written by Sir Doyle and I beleive 5 collection of short stories. I have read the first 2 novels and tbh was a tad bit underwhelmed. But I feel like the short stories would be more fun due to possibily being breezy reads.

Kann es sein das ich eine der wenigen Personen bin die den original Sherlock Holmes liebt aber weder die BBC Sherlock Serie noch Elementary mag. Als Interpretation von modernen Menschen von Sherlock mag ich hauptsächlich Moriarty the Patriot und die Interpretation von Lupin III Part 6.

Die bbc Serie von Sherlock wirkt oft auch total wirr und Chaotisch(besonders ab der 3 Staffel). Besonders die Szene von dem einen Reichen Typen und Sherlock im Krankenhaus (der Lügende Detektiv) oder auch die letzte Folge in der Sherlock und Mycroft plötzlich eine Schwester haben die in einer Irrenanstalt ist. Und Watson läuft in der Version Sherlock nur hinterher ohne eine Persönlichkeit. Mycroft ist entschuldige für die Wortwahl einfach nur ein fettes Arschloch(besonders in die Braut des Grauens). Lestrad existiert halt einfach.

bei Elementary wurde aus Sherlock ein hochfunktionalen unterwürfigen sozialunsicherer Mensch der von seinem Umfeld ständig kritisiert wurde für seine Art zu existieren. Und Sherlock hat sich so oft selbst erniedrigt. Und auch das er für sex bezahlt hat. Das hat der original soweit ich weiß nie getan. Und das PCS hat Sherlock nur noch schwächer gemacht. Joan hat es eindeutig gefehlt im Krieg zu sein und spielt sich als Sherlocks empathielosen Babysitter auf. Sie ist so toxisch und wäre bestimmt schon lange weg wenn Sherlocks Papi nicht reich wäre. Irene Adler = Moriarty richtig dumme Entscheidung. Gragson ist einfach nur unsympathisch. Mycroft hat zu wenig Macht und das Mycroft mit Joan geschlafen hat WTF. Dann die echte Mrs Hudson fehlt. Kittys Existenz ist fehl am Platz. Und zum Schluss die Sache das sie Joan einen Kinderwunsch geben mussten und später dann die Brustkrebs Diagnose bei der Sherlock sich ein Jahr Auszeit genommen hatte. Ohne das es ihm schwer fiel nicht zu ermitteln.

Welche Sherlock holmes Versionen könnt ihr mir empfehlen?

Mycroft in the canon literally appears in only two stories but even there I resonated with his character - eldest sibling, introvert, smart, loves his brother and creates the Diogenes not just for himself but so Sherlock has a place to go when he’s having his quiet days. Adaptations such as Granada and BBC solidified my love for the character and I’m hoping I’m not the only one… so, what do you guys like most about him?

Does anyone else remember an American TV show (or possibly a made-for-TV movie) about Sherlock Holmes being transported to modern times, that was never made into a series?

It was quite a while ago, before the Benedict Cumberbatch or Jonny Lee Miller modern day adaptations, and there was only a single episode. If I recall correctly, the premise was a Victorian Sherlock Holmes somehow transported to modern day ... New York, maybe? ... and part of the challenge / humor was him learning about modern technological advances from his (female, I think) sidekick.

I recall reading an interview with the actor portraying Holmes, where he said he thought it was intended as the pilot to a series, which he was quite excited about, but the producers denied having any such intentions, and it never did end up as a series.

Google is, predictably, useless, continually steering me to "Sherlock" and "Elementary" no matter how I ask the question.

Forgive me if this has been asked a million times before. Going through the entire canon story by story via audio versions and want to start at the bottom and work my way up. But so far the lists I’ve found are by an individual, not the collective opinion of a group of readers (the more the merrier).

A thought occurred to me watching the Basil Rathbone films again. I wonder if, for a lot of the public, that version of Holmes became more real than Doyle’s.

The deerstalker, the pipe, the rapid deductions, the almost military certainty, Nigel Bruce’s loyal but baffled Watson. Even people who have never read the Canon often picture Holmes that way.

What’s interesting is that the films take huge liberties with the stories, especially the later wartime ones. And yet somehow they still feel like Sherlock Holmes.

Maybe accuracy is not really the point. Maybe Rathbone captured something essential about Holmes that audiences immediately recognised, even when the plots had very little to do with Doyle.

Curious what others think. Did the Rathbone films preserve Holmes for modern audiences, or did they permanently replace the Canon version with a different character altogether?

My favourite TV Holmes is definitely Jeremy Brett, but my original exposure to SH was listening to the BBC radio adaptations with Clive Merrison and Michael Williams. Some might argue that Merrison's Holmes was sometimes too "normal" but I love both of their performances and deep down he is still the Holmes I have in my head when I read the books. Is it just me?

Also, IMO the best telling of The Final Problem