If you’ve ever been to a major Sherlock Holmes gathering (like the BSI weekend in New York City) or read any professional Sherlock Holmes fan magazine (like Sherlock Holmes Magazine), you’ll learn one crucial thing about this fandom: They embrace all versions of the beloved Baker Street mythos. As such, the Holmes fandom is sturdy and confident enough to be open to radical reinvigoration.
Fifteen years ago, on October 23, 2010, the fandom of Sherlock Holmes got the most exciting and vital reinvention of the character since Jeremy Brett’s beautiful and hilarious Holmes in 1984. That reboot was, of course, the BBC series Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (the former of which was doing double-duty at the time, running Doctor Who). And regardless of Tumblr rants or mean-spirited YouTube screeds, or even, perhaps, a general weariness one might have about seeing Benedict Cumberbatch in countless roles following this show, one immortal truth remains: Sherlock was great in 2010, it’s great in 2025, and it will be great in the year 3000.
