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12. Henry Cavill in Enola Holmes (2020) and Enola Holmes 2 (2022)
Too handsome for Holmes? That was the criticism levelled at Henry Cavill when he played the great detective opposite Sam Claflin as Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft, and Millie Bobby Brown as their non-canonical younger sister, the spirited Enola. She is, of course, the true lead of Netflix’s film series, based on Nancy Springer’s series of YA novels. With Cavill’s Holmes as a secondary character in these original mysteries, doomed to be outwitted by his plucky sibling, this take on the character was never going to satisfy purists. Still, there’s fun to be had in the series’ fast-paced, feminist spin on Victorian England.
11. Christopher Lee in Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes (1962), Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1991), and Incident at Victoria Falls (1992)
The late, great Christopher Lee never did anything by halves. No surprise, then, that playing just one character from Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories wasn’t sufficient. He also popped up as Sir Henry Baskerville opposite the Peter Cushing Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) and as brother Mycroft in Billy Wilder’s leftfield The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970). Tall, saturnine and commanding, Lee was a good physical fit for the role and well-matched by Patrick Macnee‘s bumbling Watson in his two later films as Sherlock (the trusty sidekick was initially played by Thorley Walters). Points deducted for the convoluted plots and, in the first outing, some pretty unforgivable dubbing; yep, there’s a reason the title’s in German…
10. Ian McKellen in Mr Holmes (2015)
We all know Ian McKellen can do gravitas, wisdom and wit – his attempt at the fictional detective was always going to be something different and special. Heavily made up to reflect his character’s advanced age, McKellen embodies a 93-year-old Holmes: long retired, keeping bees in the countryside, and dreading dementia’s impact on that rapier-sharp mind. Bill Condon’s film version of Jeffrey Cullin’s novel, A Slight Trick of the Mind, incorporates flashbacks to Holmes’s glory days as he struggles to recall the resolution of a mystery where, unusually, his emotions were engaged. Watson’s written record of the case only blurs the picture further. More of a meditation on old age and death – but maybe life itself is his greatest mystery, after all.
9. Peter Cushing in Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), Sherlock Holmes (1968), and The Masks of Death (1984)
Another of the big names to inhabit 221B Baker Street, Peter Cushing played Holmes in no fewer than three different versions: Hammer’s 1959 Hound of the Baskervilles; in the second series of the BBC’s 1960s adaptation of Doyle’s stories, replacing the excellent Douglas Wilmer; and, finally, as the retired detective in the 1984 TV movie, The Masks of Death. With a fine set of Watsons in each outing (André Morell, Nigel Stock and John Mills respectively), Cushing couldn’t go too far wrong…and he even got to play Doyle himself in the 1976 TV movie, The Great Houdini, opposite Paul Michael Glaser as the fabled magician of the title.
8. Ian Richardson in The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four (1983)
Examine this ranking closely enough, and a pattern emerges; certain actors seem to be drawn to play multiple characters in Holmes lore, from supporting figures in the stories to real-life inspirations for the master detective. The magnificent Ian Richardson, star of the original BBC political thriller House of Cards, is another example. Richardson gave us a witty, warm Holmes in two 1983 TV adaptations of classic Doyle stories, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four. He then went on to portray Dr Joseph Bell, the surgeon who trained a young Doyle, and whose meticulous eye for deductive detail inspired Sherlock Holmes, in the excellent BBC miniseries, Murder Rooms.
7. Robert Downey Jr in Sherlock Holmes (2009) and A Game of Shadows (2011)
Lock, stock, and two smoking, er…pipes? Guy Ritchie’s version of Doyle’s creation ruffled quite a few feathers with its kinetic energy, propulsive music and, in Robert Downey Jr.’s louchely appealing Sherlock, a fresh and memorable stamp on a familiar character. RDJ’s easy chemistry with Jude Law’s sharp-witted, elegant Watson is a big draw, along with his poignant connection with Rachel McAdams’ Irene Adler and some fine villainy from Mark Strong and Jared Harris. A belated third film – this time helmed by Dexter Fletcher – is expected later this year. Will RDJ rise further up the rankings with an older, wiser Holmes? We’re looking forward to finding out.
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