Good Sherlock Hunting Scottish Edition by Kristen Mertz

Hello adventurers! I’m back with another tale of hunting Sherlock statues. 

This time around, I started by meeting up with the Sherlock Holmes Society of London in Portsmouth for the Ships, Shanties and the Shingle of Southsea fall excursion. And what an adventure it was! 

I flew into Heathrow on an overnight flight, arriving 10 AM London time. After going to the wrong coach station, another wrong coach station and then standing befuddled in the middle of a car park, I finally gave up trying to find the bus from the airport and just took the tube to another coach station. 

Side note: the tube at Heathrow is free to get to that station and I CANNOT believe I didn’t know this. 

Moving on, I eventually got on my bus to Working and made my train to Portsmouth with no further issues, except being quite exhausted and working on very little sleep.  Before I knew it I was in Portsmouth and walked (trudged perhaps?) to the Royal Maritime Hotel where the conference was being held. 

Once there I found a whole plethora of Sherlockians! I got to meet Holly Turner and Robin Knowles in person for the first time and let me tell you they are just as nice as they seem over Zoom. I also was privileged to say hello again to a few of the Japanese Sherlockians, Yumiko, Ritsuko and Tommoya; and, I was introduced to a bunch more London Society members and found Paul Thomas Miller (pictured below, looking as jaunty as ever). 

I honestly need to start writing everyone’s names down under their pictures. I would say I’m pretty horrible with remembering names but, to be fair, when you meet 30 new people in one weekend, it rather taxes the memory. I will remember your face and where I met you and what we talked about, but for some reason, your name will elude me if I don’t write it down IMMEDIATELY. I pre-apologize to anyone for our future encounters.

The first evening was a traditional fish and chips dinner. I sat with Paul, Marina Stajic and Ashley Mayo. I didn’t have any vinegar with for my chips, but Paul said it wasn’t very British to complain so I refrained. I think he was having one over on me because he said later I should have asked (I will remember this Paul!). The conversation was lovely, as to be expected at any Sherlockian event. Ashley told us about his work posting posted ALL the articles from the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, which is a very handy reference for all of us. I hope I got this all correct but here is the link that leads to the “Scrapbook” that contains all of the articles for you (https://sherlock-holmes.org.uk/the-canon-and-the-journal-a-scrapbook/). 

After dinner there was a toast with gunpowder proof rum (Royal Navy certified). Absolutely excellent toast and though the rum had a bit of a bite, I guess that should be expected since it has to be volatile enough to still be able to light gunpowder for cannons. Our entertainment for the evening was “The Portsmouth Shantymen” who sang some very lively sea shanties for us. We all got to sing along to some and sing some of our own afterwards as well. All in all, the evening was great fun. 

The next morning, I woke up at 7:30 AM despite my alarm not going off, thank goodness. Lucky for me I seem to be jet lag immune or perhaps that is just a hope. Regardless, I made it down to breakfast and had a full English breakfast. Although quite large, I have become very fond of them as I tend to skip lunch (and a full Scottish breakfast is almost the same but with tattie scones and haggis). Wonderful food and tea. When in England, drink like the locals! Plus I like tea and need the caffeine, so there’s that. Holly got me in the habit of carrying a bag of biscuits everywhere too, so I was never without a snack. Thank you Holly! 

After eating breakfast, we all headed out and walked to the Central Library at the Guildhall across town thru Victoria Park (just missing a downpour of rain). We got to see the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection Lancelyn Green Bequest, which is huge. I don’t even think all of it is at the library. I should have asked, but someone told me he had 2 houses full of Sherlockian related material. We separated into 4 groups to cover different areas of the collection, some of which held boxes and boxes of pictures, correspondence, newspaper articles, and well I can’t even say what else is in all those categorized boxes (see below). 

The collection of books was quite a sight to behold. I don’t think I have ever seen so many copies of The Sign of the Four in one place. All the letters and stories and books and Strands, oh my. You can see some examples of my perusals below. Of course, I grabbed some postcards to commemorate the visit. 

In the afternoon, we visited the Mary Rose at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, where we got to see the remains of the historic Mary Rose, the story of her sinking and the artifacts that were recovered from the raising. If you have never heard the story of the Mary Rose and how it sank at the Battle of Solent in 1545 and are a Tudor fan, I would recommend reading about it. It was Henry the VIII’s favorite ship and has quite the history. 

For Saturday evening, dinner was a more formal affair. I can’t remember what I had, but who is worried about food when there are Sherlockians to talk to. I remember it was good (except for the turnips because I think they had horseradish, I am not fond of horseradish). I was seated next to Robert Ellis and his wife. 

After dinner, Mia Lagergaard gave a presentation on the 75th Anniversary of the Sherlock Holmes Klubben of Denmark. It was a very nice presentation and the attendees of the anniversary all got named honorary members. Then Pankaj Chandak gave a very informative presentation on Joseph Lister, his work with antiseptics, as well as his connections to the University of Edinburgh, where Conan Doyle attended medical school. I sincerely appreciated hearing the history and medical facts and how very fitting that in just a couple days I would be headed to Edinburgh to see the university for myself. It made for the perfect end to a very enjoyable evening.

Sunday morning, after another English breakfast, we went for a walking tour around Portsmouth. Luckily the rain held off again. We walked to the Camber, where Doyle landed after arriving in Portsmouth. We also visited Bush House, where Doyle lived, had his practice and where the first Sherlock Holmes stories were written, which is now commemorated with a plaque as you can see me pointing out below. It is now a block of flats. Some person(s) lives right over the spot where Sherlock was invented; and, I’m not sure if they’re chuffed about it or not. I guess it depends on how nice they consider their flat to be. 

We also passed Ye Spotted Dogge (where the Duke of Buckingham was assassinated in 1628, now a B&B), a door that leads or led to the local Masons where Conan Doyle would have been a member and the spot where he had fisticuffs after he first arrived (another little story for you to look up!). 

Eventually we made our way around to the Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery, which contains a wonderful collection of Sherlockian artifacts, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s and his wife Jean’s tombstones, on loan from All Saints Church in Minstead, Hampshire, England. This was the last stop of our tour, so we visited the gift shop and had some tea before heading back to the hotel for Sunday roast. The weekend wrapped up with more conversation, a good hearty roast and goodbyes.

It was pouring down rain by the time I headed to the train station. I went to Eastbourne to catch up with my friend and then up to London so I could catch my train to Edinburgh early the next morning. It was quite the whirlwind travel day and unfortunately the weather was about the same. Wind, rain and football fans aplenty from a Portsmouth / Hampton game made it a challenge. I nearly got on the wrong train to Eastbourne, OK I did, but I was able to get off at the next stop and catch the correct one (disaster averted). Well, it was an adventure but I finally hit the hay around midnight. 

The next morning I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed to get to Kings Cross and catch my train to Waverly Station in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was a very lovely and relaxing ride, with a lot of beautiful scenery along the way. I had booked the Parliament Hotel, by a lucky accident, it is at the bottom of Calton Hill and a mere 400m walk to the Sherlock Statue. Of course, I couldn’t wait to see the statue despite the rain. 

As soon as I arrived, I headed directly to the hotel, checked in, dropped off my bags and headed straight back out in the rain. It was a light rain, not worth an umbrella and definitely nothing that would stop me from seeing Sherlock. 

I do want it noted that if you ever go to Edinburgh, Google maps will lie to you. It will say on all your walks “mostly flat, stairs”. This is a most egregious fabrication. Mostly flat will have you at the bottom of a hill that you will eventually have to hike back up, probably a very steep hill and likely in a close, but the locals will tell you it is a SLOPE not a hill, which I guess is fair since they call mountains “hills” in Scotland. Having said that, the stairs and hills were on the way down to Sherlock in all his glory, standing in the rain in his Inverness cape and deerstalker and because it was the afternoon and rainy, he was all mine. Many photos were taken, standing in the rain alone with the great detective before I gave into my hunger.  

You see, I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast on the train, which was yogurt from a coffee shop and some biscuits (thank you, Holly!). Also, yes, I admit it I was saving my appetite for just this. I crossed the street to the Conan Doyle pub. There I had a pint of Innis & Gunn’s and a lovely, award winning steak and ale pie. This is pretty much as good as it gets. A nice hearty meal, sitting and looking at one of the best sites I could ask for, in a very cozy pub on a lovely rainy day in Edinburgh. 

One more Sherlock Holmes statue in the books. Sitting in that window seat, I couldn’t help thinking that I will likely never see the statue in Russia unless some miracle happens in my lifetime…so where to now? Well, Steve Mason has told me there is a statue in Oklahoma. I will definitely be headed there sometime in the next year, but what then? I suppose I will have to find something besides statues to collect on my adventures. Until Oklahoma, dear readers and then we will see where my Sherlock hunting takes me after that.

India in the World of Sherlock Holmes: Tracing Colonial Echoes in Conan Doyle’s Fiction by Srinivasan Raghavan

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, written between 1887 and 1927, are famed for their puzzles, eccentric detective, and foggy London settings. But behind the gas lamps and cobbled streets is the looming shadow of the British Empire—especially India, the crown jewel of Victorian colonial ambition. A deeper reading of the Holmes canon reveals that India is not a mere backdrop, but a rich source of mystery, trauma, and imperial tension.

This post explores the key Indian references in the Sherlock Holmes stories, the historical realities they reflect, and what they reveal about how Victorian England saw its empire.

I. India in The Sign of Four (1890)

Among all Holmes stories, The Sign of Four stands out as the most deeply embedded in Indian history and colonial themes.

Key Indian References:

• The Indian Rebellion of 1857: The plot revolves around a treasure looted during the rebellion. British officers Major Sholto and Captain Morstan betray Indian convicts and flee with the Agra Treasure.

• Characters: Jonathan Small, a former British soldier-turned-prisoner, Tonga, a tribal man from the Andaman Islands, who come to England to exact retribution and claim the treasure.

Though intended as exotic, these portrayal reflects colonial stereotypes.

• Themes: Treachery, imperial plunder, racial anxiety, and the blurred line between empire and criminality.

More about Agra

Who has not heard about one of the Wonders of the World , the Taj Mahal, the hauntingly beautiful mausoleum built by the Mogul emperor in honor of his wife Mumtaz who died in childbirth.

There is of course the Agra Fort which was the nearest big British military post to Delhi, the headquarters of the Mogul kingdom, which was in the waning period of its rule.

Historical Context: The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857

Known in British texts as the “Mutiny,” but often called India’s First War of Independence, the 1857 rebellion began with Indian soldiers (sepoys) revolting over the use of animal fat in cartridges. But the anger ran deeper triggered by political overreach, economic exploitation, and cultural insensitivity. Key figures like Rani Lakshmibai, Begum Hazrat Mahal, and Nana Sahib led uprisings against British forces. Though the rebellion was eventually crushed, it led to the dissolution of the East India Company, and Britain took direct control of India in 1858.

While the Canon mentions atrocities perpetrated by the Sepoys there is no mention of the same perpetrated by the British which included tying suspected rebels to cannons and blowing them to smithereens.

II. “The Speckled Band” and the Mythical Swamp Adder

In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" (1892), India is once again the source of a deadly mystery.

The Plot:

Dr. Grimesby Roylott, a violent former colonial doctor, uses a swamp adder, the deadliest snake in India” to murder his stepdaughter in a locked room.

The Truth About the Snake:

The swamp adder is fictional. Several deadly species may have inspired Conan Doyle (Russell’s Viper, Common Krait, Indian Cobra), but none can be trained as depicted. The snake serves as orientalist horror, using exotic animals as symbols of imperial fear and fascination.

The assertion by Holmes that the venom of this snake can kill in a few seconds is clearly incorrect. It can take many minutes to hours depending on the size of the victim and the amount of venom injected.

None of these snakes can be tamed to where they will slither up and down a rope on command! Likewise, milk supposedly provided to the snake by Dr Roylott is not part of a snake’s diet. A juicy mouse is always preferred.

III. Watson and the Afghan Wars

Dr. John H. Watson’s backstory begins with war. In A Study in Scarlet, we learn he was wounded while serving as an army surgeon in Afghanistan.

Historical Background: The Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880)

As part of the “Great Game” between Britain and Russia. Britain sought to install a friendly Afghan ruler to block Russian influence.

After Dr Watson joined the Northumberland Fusiliers, and after basic training he was sent off to India where the British were in a state of war with Afghanistan.

His ship docked at the port of Bombay, now renamed Mumbai, also called the Gateway of India.

One can only imagine his excitement and trepidation as the train chugged out of the station bound on its journey up the coast of western India thence to New Delhi (most likely) and across the fertile plains of Punjab (now partly in Pakistan and India), and finally to the rugged terrain of the Pak-Afghanistan border, to the garrison town of Peshawar ,the last major outpost in British India.

His travels then took him to Kandahar, in Afghanistan, the next staging area, and onwards to the battle of Maiwand. The British-Indian army was defeated by the Afghan forces in that battle and had to beat a hasty retreat to Peshawar.

During this battle he sustained an injury by a “Jezail bullet."  The Jezail is a gun with a long barrel, up to 5-6 feet in length, and the effective range of this gun was 300-400 yards, whereas the range of British guns were limited to about 200 yards! These guns were essentially assembled by the Afghans, in their own homes and villages.

The Afghans hid amid the crevices and gullies of the hilly terrain and picked off the officers and NCOs one by one, and once their enemy was whittled down, they would then attack in force.

Poor Dr Watson recovered from the Injury to be laid low by “Enteric fever," also called Typhoid fever. in those pre-antibiotic days, the mortality and morbidity were quite high up to 35%.

Present Day Afghanistan and Pakistan

The picture below shows the Durand line drawn by the British, to delineate Afghanistan and Pakistan but as noted in the rust-colored shaded area, the Pashtun area straddles the line, and to this day this line is not accepted by the Afghans in its entirety! The Pashtuns are in the majority in Afghanistan and most of the Taliban then and now, came from this group.

They were originally displaced by the Soviet invasion, to Pakistan, and as kids many of them attended local seminaries or Madrasas where they had some religious education. They were imbued with the fervor to teach the Soviets a lesson and became willing fighters and were able to cross this poorly guarded line to engage the Soviet Army, with help from outside forces.

Once the American forces occupied Afghanistan, the same process repeated itself and now these new forces were on the receiving end of this cycle of violence. 

There was no external force that was able to ever subdue and rule over the Afghans for any length of time, and so history repeated itself, time and again.

IV. “The Crooked Man” and the Cawnpore Massacre

This story, in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, returns explicitly to the 1857 rebellion, focusing on betrayal during the Siege of Cawnpore. This city on the Indo-Gangetic plain had a large British Cantonment, about 300 kms from Agra.

It was from this city that the British Brigadier Edward Greathead liberated Agra Fort. The interesting part here is that the British Indian army had mainly British officers, but the enlisted men were drawn from the local population.

V. Other Exotic Elements from India

India, in the Holmes stories also serve as a source of strange animals and eerie customs: monkey glands in “The Creeping Man,” hints of Eastern superstition in “The Sussex Vampire,” and the cheetah and baboon in "The Speckled Band."

Final Reflections: Why India Matters in Sherlock Holmes

India in Conan Doyle’s fiction functions as a narrative source of crime, a psychological trigger for trauma, and a cultural symbol of imperial anxiety and angst. These stories reveal the emotional and political entanglements of British colonialism, illustrating how the echoes of empire permeate even the most quintessentially British detective tales.

What’s your take on India’s presence in the Holmes stories? Have you noticed other colonial echoes in classic British fiction? That could be a topic for another day!

Announcing Holmes in the Heartland 2026

Mark your calendars!  Holmes in the Heartland will be back in St. Louis, Missouri on July 24-26, 2026!

This weekend-long event is a great chance to visit with other Sherlockians, enjoy fantastic speakers, shop a roomful of vendors, and experience some of the great things that St. Louis has to offer.  Registration for Holmes in the Heartland will open soon but we wanted everyone to get a taste of what’s coming next summer:

Friday night will kick the event off with a welcome reception in the evening, ending in time for everyone to venture out and enjoy dinner with friends old and new.

Saturday is a day full of events that include a full lineup of presentations under the theme of “Sherlock Haunts,” lunch, vendors, and a dinner banquet with toasts and a special presentation.

Sunday gets participants out and about in St. Louis with a trip to the Missouri History Museum in historic and beautiful Forest Park and lunch with friends.

More details will come soon about all of these great events, but we wanted to start off telling everyone about our event space and hotel for the weekend, The Cheshire Inn.

Our hotel is the charming Cheshire Inn and its British aesthetic will make every Sherlockian feel like they’ve hopped across the pond for the weekend!  King or Double Queen rooms can be reserved with the Holmes in the Heartland discount through this link: https://reservations.travelclick.com/98391?groupID=4787994

If you really want that British feel, The Cheshire Inn also offers themed suites!  You can choose from Peter Rabbit, Lord Byron, Gulliver’s Travels, James Bond, Romeo and Juliet, Treasure Island, Death on the Nile, or Brideshead Revisited (viewable at www.cheshirestl.com/).  To book one of these suites please contact the hotel directly to request a quote at 314-932-7858.

We recommend booking your room early as this is a boutique hotel and we don’t want anyone to miss out!

We are very excited about this new venue.  In fact, when one of the committee members toured it earlier this year, they said, "I didn't know I could fall in love again this late in life."  Here are a few pictures to give you a taste of where Holmes in the Heartland will take place:

Fox and Hounds pub is a re-creation of a gathering room in an English home

Hotel lobby

Event space dining room

Courtyard

Pool

And this is just the hotel and event space!  Just wait until you see our lineup of speakers.  But that's a post for another day...

A Night of Magic by Heather Hinson

“Spiritualism is the most important fact in life, and we much make this world accept it in the interest of both worlds!” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Alton Illinois has a rich and unusual history. Well known for its limestone bluffs and being an important town for the abolitionists during the Civil War. It was the site for the seventh Lincoln-Douglas debate and housed the first penitentiary in Illinois which during the Civil War held 12,000 confederate Prisoners of War, many of whom died during the smallpox epidemic of 1863.

All of this is to say that Alton is haunted.  So, it makes Alton the perfect place to host an event titled, “The Ghosts of Arthur Conan Doyle.”

The event was located at the American Oddities Museum which is located inside the historic (and haunted) Mineral Springs Hotel. The event’s host was Master Magician and Mind Reader, Carlos David who amazed and spellbound his audience with history and magic.

While Arthur Conan Doyle was discussed, it wasn’t for his brilliant consulting detective, who, had he never explained his deductions, might have been mistaken for a spiritualist himself. Instead, it was the later part of Conan Doyle’s life when he was deep into his beliefs of spiritualism and his parting of the ways with Magician Harry Houdini.

Each of David’s points were accented with a magic trick. Turning on a light bulb inside a plastic bag and not attached to any electrical device. Calling out the correct cards of five different people without looking. Calling someone’s number whom he didn’t know because of a dream he had the night before.  Having five people pick a key from a bowl and then know which person had the correct key to a lock around a wine stem.

I am of the generation who saw David Copperfield at his height of popularity. Illusionists and magicians have a bit of whimsy for me. And watching Carlos David that night brought me back to those evenings watching Copperfield fly across a stage.

He spoke of how both Houdini and Conan Doyle were motivated by the need to speak to loved ones who had passed on. For Houdini, it was his mother. For Conan Doyle, it was his father and his son Kingsley. How this need of both men sent them decidedly different paths.

The most dangerous trick of the night was bringing a woman up front who had lost someone and “sending her a message” from her deceased husband. Watching David perform this, and he was very clear that this was a magic trick, brought home like no other trick how dangerous this could be. Especially for people who want to believe and the magicians out there who prey on vulnerable people.

Even in the early 20th century, when Houdini was at his height, according to David, Conan Doyle and others believed that magicians were just trained in the art of illusions, but instead they were true spiritualists, being guided by the other side and merely refused to tell anyone the truth.

David’s final trick was sweet if not a little sad. David spoke of when Conan Doyle was on his deathbed, his final words to his wife were “You are wonderful”.  As David spoke he flipped around two old-fashioned chalkboards used in schools to show they were empty. He then placed a stick of chalk between the two and placed a bell on top of them. Bells, he said, had meaning to the spirits and the spirit realm and were used a great deal. After the ringing of the bell, he lifted both boards and the words “You are” were written on one board and the world “wonderful” was written on the second. It is magic at its simplest. And a show that I’m sure Arthur Conan Doyle, if he were alive today, would have insisted the spirits were in fine form for that evening.

I Spy Sherlock Everywhere by Kristen Mertz

After going to 221bcon and the Midwest BSI Canonical Conclave is April, I thought I would have a ton of material in my brain to do a blog post. Of course, that didn’t work out for me at all. I wracked my brain for things and then it kind of occurred to me that there is SO MUCH Sherlock everywhere right now! 

First, the Sherlock & Co podcast that has become quite the rage among Sherlockians and has created a fandom all its own as well. I have recommended it to several people outside the Sherlock world who have told me they loved it. This year at 221bcon, there was a panel for where we all got to meet the creators via Zoom and ask questions. It was really cool to get to hear them answer questions from everyone; AND, we got big news. I guess this isn’t a spoiler by now. They announced a spin-off podcast about Raffles! I’m really looking forward to hearing those adventures as well. Sherlock and Daughter on CW premiered as well. I haven’t had a chance to see this one, but I’ve heard promising things from other Sherlockians. 

There so many shows, podcasts, comics, music with Sherlock references. Heck there are so many books with just lists of this stuff, but I’m thinking now about all the little things we might just miss, unless we weren’t as keyed in to hearing Sherlock’s name.  There are so many references to that use Sherlock phrases are just everyday vernacular. We all know, and some hate, the phrase “no sh*t Sherlock”. And of course, we hear phrases like “elementary my dear Watson” despite how non-canonical it is. The name Sherlock has come to mean anyone that is extremely smart, and that uses logic and deduction to solve problems. Sherlock is even, in fact, in the Oxford English Dictionary as both a noun and a verb *https://www.oed.com/search/dictionary/?scope=Entries&q=Sherlock.

Then there are all Sherlock references that I see randomly everywhere, even when I least expect it. Walking back to the train station in Tokyo after the Sherlockian dinner, I just happened to find the 40th Anniversary edition of the Railway Detective, with a very nice likeness of our venerated Holmes.

The video games, the comics, the podcasts, endlessly putting in cute little nods to our favorite detective or someone that played him or a favorite line from Watson. Like in Dr. Strange when Benedict Cumberbatch flips up the collar of his cloak, *wink* we Sherlock fans know what you did and yes, Benedict, you do look cool. I watched The Residence recently and I loved that they named all the episodes for detective stories. Including titled “The Adventures of the Engineer’s Thumb”, which (NO SPOILERS), is actually about an engineer. There was no hydraulic press, rather a pressure issue that he solved and no murder attempt on his life in which he lost a thumb, but I loved the reference all the same.  

And then, while watching a Japanese show about a team of forensics pathologists who solves murders, I saw a more twisty reference that ended up tying the entire episode together. A young student had been murdered at his school and a classmate challenged one of the pathologists, Mikoto, to determine his cause of death through only video while and the clues he would give her, while live-streaming the entire interaction. She is under pressure to solve the mystery because he has threatened to kill another student once his stream reaches 100,000 viewers. Whew, what a challenge! The final clue is a reading from a novel (pictured below) where he obscured the character’s names by using only their initials. Just as Mikoto and team were gathering what seems to be the most confusing evidence ever and she attempts to put things together, the name of the story the live streamer is reading is revealed to be “Thor Bridge”. Mikoto immediately goes to the library, as one does, gets a copy of Sherlock Holmes and reads “The Problem of Thor Bridge” and with that figures out how the events unfolded. Yes, dear readers, it was indeed a suicide cleverly hidden by a block pulling the murder weapon into a hiding place to seem as though his death was caused by a student who had been relentlessly bullying him. No river, no bridge, no affair, but a very updated version of the same sad tale.

I submit, dear readers, that based upon the evidence presented if you are looking for more Sherlock or just some mysteries to solve in Sherlockian style, dig around. You might be surprised by what you find. So, I invite you to play I Spy Sherlock edition and post all the Sherlock references you have found today in the comments.

PS. I will be back in the fall to share more statue hunting adventures!

Too Old to Play Holmes? by Adam Presswood

Recently, I found myself an unwilling prisoner at one of the city's many auto repair shops. A good one, for the record, but that hardly matters. You wake up early, get the car to the shop right when it opens, and somehow there are still so many people ahead of you that you end up stuck for hours in what feels like a Soviet bread line. On top of that, I turned 50 this month. With that milestone came an increase in grouchiness and a decrease in patience. Thus, I was far from the happiest person in the waiting room.

Fate, however, has a way of changing things like that, and I soon found myself engaged in the liveliest conversation with a young woman who had recently relocated to St. Louis to work on her postdoctoral research at Washington University. Somehow, the topic of Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man movies came up. She said she was a huge fan, and that she couldn't wait until he came out with another one. I probably shouldn't have, but I broke her heart by telling her that there was some question as to Downey's ability to continue in the role. 

"Why," she asked. "Is it ageism? I hate that so much!"

I don't think age is the main concern with regard to Downey reprising the role of Iron Man, but I wasn't sure at the time, so I let it go.

"Well," she added. "Maybe they will at least let him keep playing Sherlock Holmes. I love those movies."

As a Sherlockian, I of course felt my ears perk up at this statement. We chatted for some time about the Parallel Case, the Harpooners, and myriad other scions. She was unfamiliar with all of them, just for the record. Then I broke her heart again (Is it any wonder I'm single?) by telling her that the much awaited third installment seems to have been put on the shelf (something I have since learned is inaccurate). 

"Age again?" she asked. "There's no such thing as someone who is too old to play Sherlock Holmes!"

I agreed completely, but her comment got me thinking about the respective ages of the many actors who have portrayed our favorite detective. So, I did what all good historians do best. I did some research. I discovered quickly that, since silent movies arrived on the scene, approximately 350 actors have donned the deerstalker cap and the pipe. While it is impossible to pinpoint all of their ages, here are some highlights:

Basil Rathbone - 47

Ian Richardson - 49

Jonny Lee Miller - 39

Charlton Heston - 57, 67

Peter Cushing - 46, 53, 66

Stewart Granger - 61

Hans Albers - 39

Christopher Lee - 69/70?

Carlyle Blackwell - 45

John Neville - 40, 50

Jeremy Brett - early 50s

Christopher Plummer - 50

Robert Stephens - 39

George C. Scott - 53

Benedict Cumberbatch - 34

John Barrymore - 35

Robert Downey Jr. - early 50s

Ian Mckellan - 75

As you can see, Downey is well within the average age range for portraying Holmes. In fact, there seems to be a historical preference for older actors where Sherlock's character is concerned. It is also worth noting that the vast majority of the actors who have played Holmes have done so in a manner consistent with their own ages at the time - including Heston, Mckellan, Cushing, and Lee. It would seem, then, that not only is one never too old to play Holmes, but Downey is still a few years away from hitting his peak. Good news, considering that after a hiatus of more than ten years since Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Downey will be in his early 60s when he begins filming the third installment. Given the high energy level of the first two films, he will need all of the stamina he can get.

So, all things considered, the list of impressive men who have taken on the role of Holmes has had me feeling pretty good about turning 50. After all, age is really just a number. Right? And you're only as old as you feel. Right? If Downey can continue to pull off the high energy, swashbuckling version of Holmes that he has become famous for, then there are really no limits for any of us. Right? Good! Now maybe Holmes and Watson can help me convince my cardiologist, my foot and ankle specialist, my pulmonologist, my orthopedic surgeon, my .............. :)

Sherlock Holmes Film Night 2025 by Joe Eckrich

On Saturday, February 22, The Parallel Case of St. Louis held a Sherlockian Film Night at the Ethical Society of St. Louis.  Joe Eckrich hosted the event with films from his extensive Sherlockian film collection.  The program consisted of three films from three different eras and, naturally, a cartoon.  

Up first was a film from 1932 naturally entitled Sherlock Holmes, starring Clive Brook (1887 – 1974).  Brook first played  Sherlock Holmes in The Return of Sherlock Holmes in 1929.  This was the first sound Sherlock Holmes film, although a silent version was made for those theaters not yet converted to sound.  It was actually this film which started the trend for giving Holmes a much older and dimmer Watson, played by H. Reeves-Smith.  

In general, reviewers liked Brooks’ Holmes and he was given another opportunity with the film shown that night.  Sherlock Holmes was produced by Fox and directed by William K. Howard.  Brook was originally cast as Holmes because producer David O. Selznick though he looked like the Paget drawings, although Brook, along with most critics, failed to see the resemblance.  Brook was essentially a stage actor of the old school and he often appeared as the perfect English gentleman.  

In this film Watson is played by Reginald Owen, who a year later would play Holmes himself in A Study in Scarlet, and would go on to play Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.

By the way, in between his two Holmes films, Brook would play the detective in a revue Paramount on Parade.  One of the skits featured in the film was Murder Will Out which combined two of Paramount’s successful series of films featuring Philo Vance played by William Powell and the other Dr. Fu Manchu played by Warner Oland.  The sketch also included Sherlock Holmes played by Brook.  Both Vance and Holmes are killed by Fu Manchu.

Sherlock Holmes contained a romance for Holmes which was not new, having been taken from the Gillette play and introduced in several previous movies.  In addition, we are presented with a Holmes who has invented a gadget that produces an electric ray to immobilize automobiles.  However, in spite of these anomalies the film was considered “great fun, moved at a fast pace and was far glossier that its British counterparts.”

Our next film was The House of Fear starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.  Rathbone and Bruce first played Holmes and Watson in two films produced by Twentieth Century Fox, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, both in 1939.  These were both set in the Victorian period.  Afterwards Fox dropped the series and in 1942 Universal picked up the series and brought it forward to the current time.  In the first three films Holmes faced off against the Nazis and, of course, won.  After that it reverted to normal detective films and the fifth of these was The House of Fear (number 8 overall) produced in 1945 and directed by Roy William Neill.

A press release at the time confessed that attempts to modernize Holmes "to solve problems of the current war, in Canada and Washington, did not meet with the expected response from devotees of the Conan Doyle mysteries.  Film fans want to see their Holmes and Watson in typical Doyle plots and in English settings where they belong."

The House of Fear is the nearest the series got to an old-fashioned, old dark house whodunit.  The setting was a remote Scottish mansion perched on the cliff top with a nearby fishing village with quaint inhabitants and even quainter buildings from Universal’s Frankenstein set. It is loosely based on “The Five Orange Pips," very loosely.

It was now time for a cartoon and Joe chose “The Case of the Screaming Bishop," produced in 1944 and directed by Howard Swift. The best that can be said is that this was a seven minute wild and crazy Columbia Phantasy cartoon starring Hairlock Combs and Dr. Gotsum.

The final offering of the evening was “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” produced in 1968 as part of a series starring  Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock.

In 1964-65 the BBC brought Sherlock Holmes to television in the person of Douglas Wilmer with Nigel Stock as Watson in a 13 episode series.  Many, including many British Holmesians, believe Wilmer to have been an excellent Holmes.  However, he was dissatisfied with many of the production values, including rehearsal time and the quality of the scripts.  He would often spend hours rewriting them, so after one series he left to star in several Fu Manchu films in a very Holmes like character of Nayland Smith.

In 1968 the BBC decided to try again this time with Peter Cushing in the lead and Nigel Stock again as Watson.  Cushing had previously played Holmes in the 1959 Hammer Films production of The Hound of the Baskervilles.  The series was produced in color and 16 50-minute episodes were filmed.  Unfortunately only six episodes have survived.

Cushing was a fan of Sherlock Holmes from his childhood.  When he was approached to play the part in Hammer’s The Hound of the Baskervilles he accepted immediately. Cushing shared many qualities with the Great Detective, including a steely gaze, gaunt features and a preciseness of speech, although he did lack height.  Cushing’s interpretation of Holmes is decidedly prickly in the Hammer Hound, but when he resumed the part for the BBC series in 1968 he presented a softer, more humane version of the character.  Many consider the two-part Hound of the Baskervilles that was part of this series to be superior to his Hammer Hound.

That brought the evening to a close and everyone looked forward to the next film night.

Information provide at the film program and contained in this article come primarily from the book Starring Sherlock Holmes by David Stuart Davies, an excellent guide to Sherlockian film.