![]() And yet, he somehow is not happy, not complete. Oh, to have a gift and wit like Sherlock. The stories tap into the most profound desires and fantasies of their audience. Sherlock is everything your writing tutor told you a great character should be. Whether solving impossible crimes or curing bizarre diseases, his genius out shines his flaws. To create a character so obnoxious yet make us love him is truly great writing. ![]() Whether played in the romanticised Victoriana of hansom cabs and fog, the high tech forensic world of modern day detection, or indeed the corridors of an American hospital, the themes remain eternal and the sheer wonder of the character spans the decades.Ī solitary, unsociable, drug-abusing, narcissistic sociopath whose remarkable gift means we forgive all that and even love him for it. I suggest the same is true of Conan Doyle’s most famous creation. I once heard it said that one thing that made Shakespeare’s writing so great was its ability to be staged in almost any time and place yet never lose its sense of self. Despite the original canon running to a mere fifty six short stories and four novels, the impact of the character continues to be felt. It is this ripeness for re-imagination that I argue makes Sherlock Holmes the greatest fictional character of all time. The truth is always in the little things, and as House will tell you, everybody lies. Above all, the laser-like observation, seeing what others miss. Even the names are connected, for goodness sake, Holmes and Watson, House and Wilson. The restless mind that shuns emotion as weakness and seeks spiritual salve in music and narcotics. The towering intellect restricted by the human shell it found itself in. Of course! It was so obvious once he had said it. It wasn’t until it was pointed out to me by someone who works in TV script development that I realised they are, in fact, the same person. For years I told everyone who asked that my favourite fictional characters were Sherlock Holmes and Dr Gregory House, the star of the eponymous US TV show. A fast-paced, witty romp through the mind of the world’s best loved highly functioning sociopath. So my initial reticence was based not on a lack of interest, but a question of where was it going to go? What was it going to show me I hadn’t already seen in the many hundreds of hours of Baker Street- based sleuthing I had already gorged upon?Ī few years, some BAFTAs, and career-making performances from its stars later and I am convinced. I love the books, the TV shows, the plays but most of all I love the character.
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