History

Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

Sherlock Holmes is the most famous detective in the world. He made his author, Arthur Conan Doyle, rich and famous. But the writer came to hate his fictional character. Through the changing world of Victorian and Edwardian Britain, Lucy Worsley explores why.

Shadows and Sleuths

52m 56s

After Sherlock’s return from the dead, Arthur Conan Doyle became an evangelist for spiritualism. His star declined after a public spat, whereas Sherlock Holmes found a life beyond his author on stage and screen.

Episodes

  • Shadows and Sleuths: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Shadows and Sleuths

    S1 E3 - 52m 56s

    After Sherlock’s return from the dead, Arthur Conan Doyle became an evangelist for spiritualism. His star declined after a public spat, whereas Sherlock Holmes found a life beyond his author on stage and screen.

  • Fact and Fiction: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Fact and Fiction

    S1 E2 - 52m 48s

    Arthur Conan Doyle killed off his most famous creation, consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, after just six years. In this episode, Lucy Worsley explores who Arthur Conan Doyle was without Sherlock, and whether he’ll was able to become the hero of his own story.

  • Doctor and Detective: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Doctor and Detective

    S1 E1 - 53m 22s

    World famous detective Sherlock Holmes brought Arthur Conan Doyle fame and fortune. So why did he choose to kill the character off, only 6 years after he first appeared in print? In the first episode of a 3-part series, Lucy Worsley delves into this curious case.

Extras + Features

  • Janice Allan: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Janice Allan

    S1 E3 - 3m 35s

    There's a lot of weirdness in the later Sherlock Holmes stories – the Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. There are vampires, even a bit of science fiction. To Sherlock Holmes fans who liked Holmes’s rationality, this must have seemed like a really strange new departure? Lucy explores the story ‘The Creeping Man’ with Professor Janice Allan.

  • The Gun: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Gun

    S1 E3 - 3m 12s

    So how did the first story in the new collection – 1903’s The Empty House – measure up? It weaves together Sherlock’s return, with a classic murder mystery. Lucy re-stages the crime with Jonathan Ferguson, the keeper of firearms at the Royal Armouries. Does Arthur’s science stand up to scrutiny?

  • The War: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The War

    S1 E3 - 3m 34s

    Dressed in military attire, Arthur heads to the front line during the first world war. Much to Arthur's disappointment, he was visiting as the author of Sherlock Holmes, not as a soldier fighting for his country. After meeting and greeting the troops at the trenches, Arthur turns his attention to devising a new Sherlock Holmes story – a spy novel set just before the war titled "His Last Bow."

  • Waterfall: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Waterfall

    S1 E3 - 3m 27s

    Sherlock Holmes is back from the dead! After mounting pressure from fans across the world, Arthur Conan Doyle finally revives the great, fictional detective in a new story published in The Strand Magazine. Visiting the Reichenbach Falls, the site of Sherlock's "death," Lucy Worsley explains how Holmes survived his brawl with Professor Moriarty.

  • The Bodybuilder: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Bodybuilder

    S1 E2 - 3m 13s

    If Sherlock Holmes had been about brains, this was about brawn. Arthur
    became the judge of Britain’s very first body building competition at the Albert Hall. Can you image 80 men standing on pedestals, wearing leopard skin? But what was the aim of it?

  • War is Coming: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    War is Coming

    S1 E2 - 3m 7s

    With the Boer War looming, Arthur vows to leave Sherlock behind for good and applies to the war office to fight for his country instead. Both Doyle and Holmes' futures are uncertain, but is this Arthur's chance to finally become the hero of his own story?

  • George Edalji: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    George Edalji

    S1 E2 - 2m

    The public had wanted Arthur to channel his inner Sherlock for years. In 1908, he received another letter from a fan, who’d read The Hound of the Baskervilles while in prison. His name was George Edalji. George believed he’d been wrongly accused of a crime and thought Arthur Conan Doyle was the man to help.

  • Hound of the Baskervilles: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Hound of the Baskervilles

    S1 E2 - 2m 55s

    Arthur thought he had the makings of a great ghost story. There was this phantom hound, and there was the spooky setting of Dartmoor. It is of course Hound of the Baskervilles. At the heart of this gothic tale there was a mystery to be solved, and one man would be perfect for the job. But Arthur had spent the last 8 years trying to make a name for himself away from Sherlock Holmes.

  • Sue Black: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Sue Black

    S1 E1 - 2m 50s

    Sherlock Holmes solved some of his most challenging cases through his careful observation and masterful skills of deduction. However, would this fictional detective's methods hold up in the non-fictional world? Lucy Worsley and Professor Sue Black discuss how some aspects of Sherlock's investigative tactics are still being used to solve crimes today.

  • Richard Pooley: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Richard Pooley

    S1 E1 - 2m 47s

    Arthur's head and heart are in conflict with one another. On one hand, Arthur believes Sherlock is preventing him from being taken seriously as a writer, but – on the other – the detective has made Arthur rich beyond his wildest dreams. Lucy, alongside Arthur's step great-grandson, Richard Pooley, inspect the letters the author wrote to his Mam in hopes of revealing more about his inner turmoil.

  • Killing Sherlock: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Killing Sherlock

    S1 E1 - 2m 47s

    How do you kill the world's most famous detective? Lucy Worsley visits the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland, the site where Arthur Conan Doyle finally decided to have his fictional sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, killed following a dramatic confrontation with prolific criminal, Professor Moriarty.

  • Preview: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Preview

    S1 - 30s

    Sherlock Holmes is the most famous detective in the world. He made his author, Arthur Conan Doyle, rich and famous. But the writer came to hate his fictional character. Through the changing world of Victorian and Edwardian Britain, Lucy Worsley explores why.

Schedule

  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Doctor and Detective

    Sunday
    Dec 29

    1 Hour

    The origins of Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's early life as a medical student in Edinburgh, and the author's growing disenchantment with his detective.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Doctor and Detective

    Friday
    Jan 3

    1 Hour

    The origins of Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's early life as a medical student in Edinburgh, and the author's growing disenchantment with his detective.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Fact and Fiction

    Friday
    Jan 3

    1 Hour

    Doyle's desire to distance himself from his own creation, Sherlock Holmes, after the character's apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls; how far Doyle went to make himself the hero of his own story.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Shadows and Sleuths

    Friday
    Jan 3

    1 Hour

    How Sherlock found a life beyond his author on the stage and screen.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Doctor and Detective

    Saturday
    Jan 4

    1 Hour

    The origins of Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's early life as a medical student in Edinburgh, and the author's growing disenchantment with his detective.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Fact and Fiction

    Saturday
    Jan 4

    1 Hour

    Doyle's desire to distance himself from his own creation, Sherlock Holmes, after the character's apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls; how far Doyle went to make himself the hero of his own story.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Shadows and Sleuths

    Saturday
    Jan 4

    1 Hour

    How Sherlock found a life beyond his author on the stage and screen.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Doctor and Detective

    Saturday
    Jan 4

    1 Hour

    The origins of Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's early life as a medical student in Edinburgh, and the author's growing disenchantment with his detective.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Fact and Fiction

    Saturday
    Jan 4

    1 Hour

    Doyle's desire to distance himself from his own creation, Sherlock Holmes, after the character's apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls; how far Doyle went to make himself the hero of his own story.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Shadows and Sleuths

    Saturday
    Jan 4

    1 Hour

    How Sherlock found a life beyond his author on the stage and screen.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Doctor and Detective

    Saturday
    Jan 4

    1 Hour

    The origins of Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's early life as a medical student in Edinburgh, and the author's growing disenchantment with his detective.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Fact and Fiction

    Saturday
    Jan 4

    1 Hour

    Doyle's desire to distance himself from his own creation, Sherlock Holmes, after the character's apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls; how far Doyle went to make himself the hero of his own story.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Shadows and Sleuths

    Saturday
    Jan 4

    1 Hour

    How Sherlock found a life beyond his author on the stage and screen.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Sunday
    Jan 5

    1 Hour

    British historian Lucy Worsley delves into the complex love-hate relationship between Sherlock Holmes and the man who created him, Arthur Conan Doyle.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Doctor and Detective

    Tuesday
    Jan 7

    1 Hour

    The origins of Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's early life as a medical student in Edinburgh, and the author's growing disenchantment with his detective.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Doctor and Detective

    Tuesday
    Jan 7

    1 Hour

    The origins of Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's early life as a medical student in Edinburgh, and the author's growing disenchantment with his detective.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Fact and Fiction

    Wednesday
    Jan 8

    1 Hour

    Doyle's desire to distance himself from his own creation, Sherlock Holmes, after the character's apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls; how far Doyle went to make himself the hero of his own story.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Fact and Fiction

    Wednesday
    Jan 8

    1 Hour

    Doyle's desire to distance himself from his own creation, Sherlock Holmes, after the character's apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls; how far Doyle went to make himself the hero of his own story.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Shadows and Sleuths

    Thursday
    Jan 9

    1 Hour

    How Sherlock found a life beyond his author on the stage and screen.
  • Image
    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle: TVSS: Iconic

    Lucy Worsley's Holmes vs. Doyle

    Shadows and Sleuths

    Thursday
    Jan 9

    1 Hour

    How Sherlock found a life beyond his author on the stage and screen.

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