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1. The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate 2
18th March 2012
12:00 GMT

2. Introduction
• Since 1887 – 125 years and going strong
• Conan Doyle is ‘the father of crime fiction’
• Sherlock Holmes is the most recognised
fictional character of several generations
• There has never been a better time to be a fan
BBC, Warner Brothers, CBS, etc

3. The Holmes Audience is Global………
• The first debate had fans from 23 countries
• Over 10 million page impressions
• The 2nd Great Debate is live from London
– Dozens of Sherlock Holmes experts in person
– More experts and fans live from around the world
Hosted by MX Publishing, the world’s #1 Sherlock Holmes publishers

4. The Cause…..
Save Undershaw
www.saveundershaw.com
The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate 2 has a goal to help Save
Undershaw reach 10,000 fans on Facebook. Do your bit and 'like'
their page. This is the most important piece of Sherlock Holmes
heritage in the world – let’s preserve it for future generations.

5. Team 1 – BBC Sherlock
Team Captain – The Baker Street Babes (Kristina and Ardy) [Podcast]
Team Members
Sherlockology (Jules and Emma) [fan site]
Roger Johnson [Sherlock Holmes Society of London]
Charlotte Walters [author, Barefoot on Baker Street]
Dan Andriacco [author, No Police Like Holmes, Holmes Sweet Holmes, Baker Street Beat]
Kate Workman [author, Rendezvous at The Populaire, I Will find The Answer]
Tracy Revels [author, Shadowfall, Shadowblood]

6. Team 2 – Warner Brothers
Team Captain – I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere (Burt Wolder) [Podcast]
Team Members
Gerry O’Hara (film director/author, Sherlock Holmes and The Affair in Transylvania)
Better Holmes and Gardens (Jamie Mahoney) (blog)
Kieran McMullen (author, Watson’s Afghan Adventure, Sherlock Holmes and the Irish Rebels)
Gerry Kelly (author, The Outstanding Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes)
Tim Symonds (author, Sherlock Holmes and The Dead Boer at Scotney Castle)
Matthew Elliott (Riff Trax, author Sherlock Holmes On The Air)
Fred Thursfield (author, Sherlock Holmes and The Discarded Cigarette)

7. Team 3 – The Traditionalists
Team Captain - Nick Briggs Big Finish, 'Voice of The Daleks'.
Team Members
Martin Montague (Big Finish, Writer/Producer/Presenter.)
David Ruffle (author, Sherlock Holmes and The Lyme Regis Horror, Lyme Regis Legacy, Sherlock
Holmes - Tales From The Strangers Room)
Phil Growick (author, The Secret Journal of Dr Watson)
Vida Starcevic (Historian)
Paul R Spring (Historian, author Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle and Devon)
Alistair Duncan (Historian, author, Eliminate The Impossible, Close To Holmes, The Norwood
Author, An Entirely New Country)
Marino Alvarez (Historian, author A Professor Reflects on Sherlock Holmes)

8. The Fans
Morgan Britt USA
Yui Manabe Japan
Helene Colin France
Wie Ping Young Singapore
Mike Hogan Thailand
Claire Ellull Malta
Chloe Smith UK
Courtney Brown Ohio
Pauline Ricablanca Canada
Carlina de la Cova USA

9. The Debate Format
Part 1 – BBC Sherlock vs Warner Bros Sherlock
‘Which adaptation is contributing more to the Sherlock Holmes legacy?’
2 x 10 minute presentations
40 minutes open debate
Pre-Debate Fan Voting
Part 2 – The Future
‘The challenges facing all the adaptations in 2012’
Short introduction from ‘The Traditionalists’
Open debate until we run out of time…….

10. BBC vs WB – the final confrontation
*A big thank you to all the fans that entered the poster competition

12. Team 1 - Summary
• The 21st Century’s Sherlock Holmes
• Sherlock Series 2
– A Scandal In Belgravia
– The Hounds of Baskerville
– The Reichenbach Fall
• Sherlock: Love, Fear, & Death
• BBC Sherlock’s Popularity
• #BELIEVEINSHERLOCK
• Series 3

13. BBC Sherlock: The 21st Century’s Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock is the ultimate proof that as long as
you treat classic characters with complete and
total respect, it doesn’t matter where you
place them in time. They will endure. So really,
what better way to contribute to Holmes in
the 21st century than an adaptation set in the
present day that thus focuses on the
characters, rather than the era in which it is
set?
What BBC Sherlock does is prove Sherlock
Holmes is a character that translates to an
audience no matter what time period he is
presented in. Anyone who watched BBC
Sherlock knows, even though it's set in 21st century London, it's still Sherlock Holmes. The man
who sees things no one else can. It's the stories ACD wrote over a hundred years ago that people
are enjoying. It doesn't matter where it's set.

14. Sherlock Series 2
How The Bee Gees Saved London
Ah!
Ah!
Ah!
Ah!

15. The Woman

16. The Hound

17. The Fall

18. A Scandal In Belgravia
For the first time we see the clients
coming to Baker Street, seeking the aid
of Sherlock Holmes. We also get "The
Geek Interpreter" and "The Speckled
Blonde," which are obvious nods to The
Greek Interpreter and The Speckled Band.
"He disappeared into his bedroom, and returned in a
few minutes in the character of an amiable and
simple-minded Nonconformist clergyman. … It was
not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His
expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to
carry with every fresh part that he assumed. The
stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute
reasoner, when he became a specialist in crime."
- A Scandal In Bohemia

19. The Woman
"To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the
woman. I have seldom heard him
mention her under any other name. In
his eyes she eclipses and
predominates the whole of her sex."
- A Scandal In Bohemia
"It was not that he felt any emotion
akin to love for Irene Adler. ... And
yet there was but one woman to
him, and that woman was the late
Irene Adler, of dubious and
questionable memory. "
- A Scandal In Bohemia

20. The Woman
"And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and
how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a woman's wit."
Regardless of the controversy over the episode's ending, Irene plays both Holmeses for
fools and nearly brings down the British Government. Sherlock's arrogance ultimately
leads to his own demise.

21. The Hounds of Baskerville
"If you value your lives, keep away from the moor" is a reference to a note Holmes and
Watson get in HOUN. It reads "As you value your life or your reason, keep away from the
moor."
The Great Grimpen Mine Field: In HOUN, the place of danger is the Grimpen Mire. The
villain tries to flee across the moor and ends up sinking and dying there—at least, that’s
what’s implied.

22. The Hounds of Baskerville
"When you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains,
however improbable, must be the
truth."
- Probably Holmes’ most famous Canon
quote. It appears in a couple of stories,
though not always in the exact same
wording.
"It may be that you are not yourself
luminous, but you are a conductor of
light. Some people without possessing
genius have a remarkable power of
stimulating it. I confess, my dear fellow,
that I am very much in your debt."
- The Hound of the Baskervilles

23. The Hounds of Baskerville
The Devil’s Foot is all about a poisonous
plant extract that "stimulates those brain
centres which control the emotion of
fear", exactly like the drug that H.O.U.N.D.
created in The Hounds of Baskerville.
"…we had no means of foreseeing the
terrible and paralyzing spectacle which the
beast presented, nor could we predict the
fog which enabled him to burst upon us at
such short notice."
- The Hound of the Baskervilles
Further references can be found in Ardy’s phenomenal Annotated "The Hounds of Baskerville" found [HERE]

24. The Reichenbach Fall
"He is the organiser of half that is evil and nearly
all that goes undetected in this great city. He is a
genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has
a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a
spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a
thousand radiations, and he knows well every
quiver of each of them."
- The Final Problem
"I was sitting in my room thinking the
matter over when the door opened and
Professor Moriarty stood before me."
"If you are clever enough to bring
destruction upon me, rest assured I shall
do as much to you."
- The Final Problem

25. The Reichenbach Fall
While we do get the physical fall
associated with The Final Problem
(despite the fact Holmes didn’t
actually go over), the “fall” in
Sherlock’s case is the fall of his
reputation, destroying his credibility
and straining his relationships.
As in the canon, Moriarty dies while
Holmes survives. Instead of a
physical struggle to the death,
however, this time it was a mental
one.

26. The Reichenbach Fall
"Believe me to be, my dear fellow,
very sincerely yours…"
- The Final Problem
"…him whom I shall ever regard
as the best and wisest man I
have ever known."
- The Final Problem

27. Sherlock: Love, Fear, & Death
Series 2 sees Sherlock coming to terms
with the emotional repercussions of his
actions. Moriarty threatened to “burn
the heart out of” Sherlock. He ends up
doing exactly that in FALL, but not
before Sherlock learns that he has a
heart to burn.

28. BBC Sherlock’s Popularity
• Viewing Figures: UK (iPlayer + repeat viewings NOT included)
– A Scandal in Belgravia: 8.8 million iPlayer figures won’t be ready for a few more
– The Hounds of Baskerville: 8.2 million months. Projected figures will be around the 10
million mark. A Scandal In Belgravia broke
– The Reichenbach Fall: 7.9 million
iPlayer records after it first aired, and The
Series 2 is currently airing worldwide and Reichenbach Fall has the RECORD for most
repeat viewings on iPlayer.
will continue to do so for the next year.
• Fan Community
– Sherlockbbc Community on livejournal: 8503 members (from 6,606)
– Sherlock category on fanfiction.net: 11,998 stories (from 5,714)
– Sherlock Facebook Pages: 347,656 collective members (from 247,422)
– Sherlock fans on tumblr: Estimated between 8,000 and 13,000
– Sherlockology web traffic: Over 1 million website hits
– Baker Street Babes podOmatic web traffic: Over 128,000 hits

29. BBC Sherlock’s Popularity: The Canon
"The first series of Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s
modern-day reworking, starring Benedict Cumberbatch
as the great detective, aired in 2010. That year, sales of
Sherlock Holmes books increased by 53 per cent – from
around 57,000 copies to 88,000 – compared with 2009.
2011 saw a further increase as fans looked ahead to the
second series…" – Radio Times [x]
"This increased interest in Holmes and Watson has led
to more people discovering the detective's origins it
seems, with sales of Arthur Conan Doyle original
Sherlock novels written at the turn of the 20th century
doubling. Melanie Harris of Waterstone, said: 'The
BBC's stunning adaptation has succeeded in making
Holmes relevant to a new generation of readers.'"
- Metro [x]

30. #BELIEVEINSHERLOCK
"So… I guess you all have
heard/read/seen the news. It’s been
pretty hard to miss it - the death of
Sherlock Holmes. I’m gutted but I’m
doing my best to keep it together. I
don’t know about you guys, but I
refuse to believe it. That he was a
fraud. He just can’t have been, can’t
have! I saw him at a crime scene once,
I had followed the sound of sirens in
hope it’d be one of his cases, and there
is NO WAY he was a fake. You can’t London
make that sort of shit up, he was too
The Believe In Sherlock movement has spread world wide, popping
good! He was an inspiration for all of
us to be more observant in our every up in schools, places of work, and along the streets of cities and
day lives, and I won’t accept the so towns. The campaign has gone completely viral and has been
called truth about Sherlock that is all reported on numerous blogging sites and now even The Radio
over the media. I know you feel like I Times. Fans are finding one another through the movement as well,
do, and now it’s our turn to show that
we haven’t lost faith in him. Sherlock going to tumblr to try and find original posters of the fliers and
might be gone, but I won’t sit silent!" artwork. It’s bringing the Sherlock community together, promoting
- Original #BELIEVEINSHERLOCK the show, and including the fans into the universe of BBC Sherlock.
post by earlfoolish And it’s all fan made.

31. New York City Melbourne
USA Australia
Malta
Hong Kong

33. See you for Series 3…
"My dear Watson," said the well-
remembered voice, "I owe you a
thousand apologies. I had no idea
that you would be so affected."
- The Empty House

34. Many thanks to The Baker Street Babes (Kristina, Ardy, Maria, Kafers), Sherlockology (Emma, Jules, & David), Dan
Andriacco, Charlotte Walters, Roger Johnson, Tracy Revels, and Kate Workman for their amazing help and arguments.
- Sherlock screen caps from http://sc.aithine.org/sherlock

36. The Warner Series: Extraordinary, Global
Contributions to Sherlock Holmes
• Films designed for a 21st century, global audience
• Collectively grossed more than $1 billion USD
• “Holmes-o-Vision” shows Holmes’ thought processes as flashes of vision and
insight – unique creative accomplishment
• Victorian London is a major character in the Canon and the films
• Jude Law brings extraordinary depth to Watson, the friendship and the films
• Made with reverent attention to the Canon
• The connection among movies, awareness & popularity is well documented
• Introduced Holmes to the largest global audience: more than 100 million
people worldwide have seen these films

37. Holmes-o-Vision: That’s Entertainment!
Worthy adversaries – Holmes’ powers shown…
As they did in "Sherlock Holmes," Rousselot and Guy
Ritchie utilized a high-speed digital camera called the
Phantom, which enabled the director to change the
pace of the action in varying ways. Ritchie used the
Phantom to create what was dubbed "Holmes-o-
vision," revealing Holmes' split-second mental
calculations of what are about to be physical
altercations.
Nevertheless, Ritchie clarifies, "I never want to repeat
myself, so there's a variation to the Holmes-o-vision in
this film. This time things don't necessarily play out
exactly as Holmes envisions them, so he has to adjust
his thinking.”
The director adds that they put a twist on the
technique in the climactic confrontation between the
film's central protagonist and antagonist, mirroring
Holmes' strategy with Moriarty's counterstrategy.
Ritchie comments, "It gave us the perfect opportunity
to convey that both Holmes and Moriarty are operating
on the same intellectual plane. But he's still a very
physical Sherlock Holmes."

38. “Canonicity”
Informed by the fabric of Conan Doyle…

39. Canonicity
People we know well, in a re-imagined 19th century London….

40. Masterful

41. Master of Disguise

42. Rebooting the Characters
Each generation rediscovers Holmes and Watson, and makes them their own…

43. Ultimate Moriarty

44. Watson Supreme

45. The Game of Shadows
A game of chess, chance and destiny – tarot, chess
board, the black and white squares of the dance floor …

46. For more than 100 years, films have boosted
awareness and discussion of Sherlock Holmes
Death of ‘39 Rathbone Hammer 7% Jeremy Brett
Conan Doyle Hound 1942-1946 Hound (‘59) Solution 1984 - 1994

47. The Warner Series: Extraordinary, Global
Contributions to Sherlock Holmes
• Films designed for a 21st century, global audience
• Collectively grossed more than $1 billion USD
• “Holmes-o-Vision” shows Holmes’ thought processes as flashes of vision and
insight – unique creative accomplishment
• Victorian London is a major character in the Canon and the films
• Jude Law brings extraordinary depth to Watson, the friendship and the films
• Made with reverent attention to the Canon
• The connection among movies, awareness & popularity is well documented
• Introduced Holmes to the largest global audience: more than 100 million
people worldwide have seen these films

48. Discussion
Which adaptation is
contributing most to the
Sherlock Holmes Legacy?

49. Pre-Debate Voting
GSHD2 Facebook
Warner Bros Sherlock 40
BBC Sherlock 820
Radio Times
CBS Sherlock 30
Warner Bros Sherlock 80
BBC Sherlock 2,170
*End of day 17th March

50. The Future – More Holmes
And then there were three (actually, 4, 5, 6,……..)
But what challenges face the adaptations in 2012?

51. BBC Sherlock
• A bar set very, very high
– Great response to series 1 and 2
– Tough challenge to handle the ‘Empty House’
• Are we worried?
– Not with Gatiss and Moffat at the helm
“Stephen and Mark have provided bewilderingly complex adaptations, because,
arguably, our world is now far more bewilderingly complex than the world that
Holmes originally inhabited” Paul Spiring
– The downside is we will have to wait for quality………

52. Warner Brothers Sherlock
• Marketing of ‘Bigger
Better Funnier’ for Game
of Shadows unfortunate
– what’s next ‘Even Bigger
Better and Funnier…….’ ?

53. Warner Brothers Sherlock
• Game of Shadows played two
new ‘Aces’ – Mycroft and
Moriarty – can’t do that again
• With limited cards left in the
deck, what hand will Guy Ritchie
play in the next film?

54. The Challenges For CBS
• History shows us that at any one point, only
one Holmes dominates in one medium
• RDJ has the big screen sewn up, Cumberbatch
the small screen
“The biggest challenge for anyone wanting to adapt Holmes for the screen
right now is patience. You are not going to unseat RDJ in the cinema or
Cumberbatch in our homes (excuse the pun). Until one of these hangs up the
deerstalker there simply isn’t, in my opinion, a vacancy.” Alistair Duncan

55. Displacement = Complexity
“Displacing Holmes contextually, sort of robs him of his original
‘remarkable-ness’, if you like. Which is why, I guess, Stephen and
Mark have really had to crank up the ‘odd-ball’ nature of
Sherlock in their brilliant series.” Vida Starcevic
Guy Ritchie minimises displacement and Victorian England
endures. BBC Sherlock pull it off through meticulousness. CBS
will have a tough time doing it in their timescales….

56. The ‘other’ Challenge for CBS
US Legacy – to say that previous US attempts at Holmes were bad, is being
very generous…… CBS faces being condemned before the crime is commited

57. Big Finish Case Study
First, a confession……….
“I’m not an expert. I’m an actor, a writer and a
producer who’s had a passion for Holmes since
I was a child... but a passion that came about
because of Basil Rathbone... Peter Cushing...
Christopher Plummer... Robert Stephens and
yes, even Stewart Granger!”

58. Going Back To The Canon
In the case of the first releases of our second series - my dramatizations of The Final
Problem and The Empty House hardly qualify as adaptations at all. They are very
nearly just the original text with the ‘said he’s’ removed. The main adapting involved
breaking the text up into new paragraphs, to emphasize changes of thought for the
actors, and audio stage directions which gave hints at the emotional content –
especially of Watson’s decision finally to break the silence and speak out about
Moriarty.

59. Cutting, without cutting
Hound of the Baskervilles needed more work, but
only because it was over 60,000 words long and we
knew our script had to be 20-odd thousand words to
happily fit onto two CDs of drama. As much as we
possibly could, we left Conan Doyle untouched.
I found that when you go back to the original
texts, you think, why have people ever felt the need
to mess about with this? Probably because Watson’s
narration is removed for the sake of dramatic
variety... but on audio, your audience welcomes
narration and you can keep Watson’s narration if not
entirely, then almost entirely in tact!

60. Discussion
What challenges face the adaptations in 2012?
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