Sherlock Holmes: Every movie & show in order (and how to watch)

Hardly any fictional character has crashed into pop culture the way Sherlock Holmes has. He is everywhere. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created him back in the 1800s, and somehow, Holmes still refuses to go out of style. We’re talking books, movies, TV, memes, podcasts—whatever’s hot, Sherlock Holmes has probably shown up in it, usually dragging poor Watson along for the ride.

The Guinness people even crowned him the most-filmed human character ever. Over 250 actors have put on the famous deerstalker hat.

What’s remarkable is how this character continually adapts to fit the times. One decade it’s London fog and horse-drawn cabs, next thing you know, he’s solving cybercrimes in a modern city, hacking into phones with Watson.

Sherlock Holmes can be old-school, punk, steampunk, or just a boor with great cheekbones. He’s survived silent films, black-and-white melodrama, trippy ‘70s flicks, and now prestige TV with all the moody lighting.

There’s so much Holmes out there that it’s a little overwhelming. Basil Rathbone’s classic detective swagger, Robert Downey Jr. punching bad guys in slow-mo, Gender-bent Holmes, anime Holmes, teen Sherlock at boarding school—if you can dream it, someone’s filmed it.

Let's just dive into the big ones, walking through the maze of movies and shows, plus where you can actually watch them right now.

---

The birth of Sherlock Holmes on screen

Early silent films (1900–1920s)

Sherlock Holmes started showing up in movies way back in the silent film days. The earliest known film was the one-reel short Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900). The movies themselves were super basic, but they did one big thing: locked in all that classic Holmes stuff—the pipe, the cape, that goofy deerstalker hat.

A lot of those old films are gone now, but the fact that they even existed just proves filmmakers were obsessed with Holmes from the jump.

John Barrymore’s Sherlock Holmes (1922)

The 1922 flick with John Barrymore was a game-changer. A silent film, sure, but it shoved Sherlock Holmes right into the Hollywood spotlight. Suddenly, Holmes wasn’t just some man in a deerstalker—he was front and center, a legit leading man. That movie basically threw down the challenge for every adaptation that came after.

The Basil Rathbone Era (1939–1946)

Basil Rathbone is Sherlock Holmes for many people. He made 14 movies as the master detective from ’39 to ’46. At first, the stories were all foggy Victorian London and gas lamps, but then Holmes is chasing Nazis and dealing with WWII.

Then there’s Nigel Bruce as Watson. Sure, some people grumble that he’s just comic relief, but he’s unforgettable in his own bumbling way.

There's a whole lineup of movies, including:

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)

The House of Fear (1945)

Dressed to Kill (1946)

You can find these movies all over the internet—YouTube’s littered with them since nobody owns the rights anymore. Rathbone invented the “genius detective” vibe. The way he talked and those brainiac moves are the blueprints.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Granada TV, 1984–1994)

In the 80s and 90s, Granada’s Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett did Sherlock the way for once. Brett didn’t just play Holmes; he straight-up *became* him—moody, brilliant, a little weird, totally magnetic.

They made 41 episodes and barely left any of the original Conan Doyle stories untouched. David Burke and later Edward Hardwicke played Watson. Both ditched the old bumbling sidekick thing and gave us a Watson who actually seemed sharp.

If you poke around academic articles or chat with hardcore Holmes nerds, this version always gets name-dropped as the gold standard. Brett's Holmes is pretty much the closest you’ll get to what Doyle dreamed up.

---

Sherlock Holmes for a new generation

The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Disney took Sherlock Holmes, shrunk him down, slapped some whiskers on, and now he’s Basil of Baker Street, solving mysteries with a tail. The movie’s got this vibe where it pokes fun at Sherlock tropes but also totally respects the legend. Shows you can dress Holmes up however you want, and the guy still works. Kids, adults, whatever—he fits right in.

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)

Barry Levinson’s take on Holmes and Watson got this weirdly charming cult following, probably because it refuses to take itself too seriously. Anyway, if you’re curious, it’s available on Prime Video and a couple of other streaming spots. Perfect for a late-night nostalgia trip or if you’re just bored with the usual detective stuff.

Parodic and meta-adaptations

Gene Wilder’s The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother (1975) is wild. It—and a bunch of other goofy spins on Holmes—just proves how much that detective guy is everywhere. Sherlock’s a blank slate for comedians to poke fun at or flip. His legacy is so big, that people can’t resist remixing him.

---

The modern blockbusters

Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

Guy Ritchie blew the dust off Sherlock Holmes and gave him a serious upgrade. Robert Downey Jr. runs wild with Holmes, turning him into this genius oddball who’s just as likely to throw a punch as solve a riddle. And Jude Law, finally, someone lets Watson be more than a glorified notetaker.

The movies go a bit heavy on the action and that whole gritty, steampunk thing, but they’re just fun to watch. Purists might grumble that it’s not exactly Conan Doyle, but these films brought Holmes back into the spotlight.

And if you missed them in theaters, they’re available on Netflix and Prime Video, so you can binge ‘em whenever.

BBC’s Sherlock (2010–2017)

When people talk about Holmes in the 21st century, almost everyone is thinking about the BBC’s Sherlock. The one with Benedict Cumberbatch being all intense and Martin Freeman doing the world’s most put-upon Watson.

Moffat and Gatiss took the whole foggy Victorian London vibe and tossed it out the window. Instead, you get Sherlock texting at lightning speed, using GPS, and acting like a high-functioning sociopath in present-day London.

Each episode jams the best bits of Doyle’s stories into these twisty plots. It’s clever, and stylish, and most importantly, it made detective fiction cool again.

It somehow manages to stay true to Holmes’s core—sharp, weird, brilliant—while also being nothing like the original stories. It’s all the old puzzles, just with a shiny new operating system. You can find it everywhere—Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu.

CBS’s Elementary (2012–2019)

Elementary puts Sherlock Holmes (played by Jonny Lee Miller) into New York City and flips the script by having Lucy Liu play Joan Watson. She’s not just tagging along either—she used to be a surgeon, now she’s his sober companion.

The show dives deep into Holmes’ battle with addiction and the way his weird, intense friendship with Watson changes over time. If you wanna binge all seven seasons, they are all parked on Hulu and Amazon Prime.

Now, both Sherlock and Elementary critics ate them up. People loved how they didn’t just dust off the old stories, but gave the characters some real edge and made the whole thing feel pretty now.

---

Expanding the Holmes universe

Enola Holmes (2020, 2022)

Netflix’s Enola Holmes movies are a riot. You’ve got Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill look way more swoon-worthy than usual. The flicks aren’t just your standard whodunits, either. They toss in a bunch of girl power, loads of running around London, and that magic of growing up.

It feels like Sherlock got rebooted for Gen Z, and it works. Plus, if you ever wanted to see the Holmes family get a little more complicated, here you go.

Sherlock & Daughter (2025)

Sherlock & Daughter is the latest addition to the Holmes universe. David Thewlis is playing Holmes, and Blu Hunt steps in as Emelia Rojas, who rolls up claiming Sherlock’s her dad.

The show is set in 1896 London, dark alleyways, secret societies—the Red Thread gang is stirring up trouble, and our new detective duo is right in the thick of it. The show’s been a notable streaming success.

This whole thing is proof that people aren’t done with Holmes yet. Everyone wants a piece of that classic detective magic, but with some new flavor.

---

How to watch in franchise/series order

Basil Rathbone Film Series (1939–1946)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942)

Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)

The Spider Woman (1944)

The Scarlet Claw (1944)

The Pearl of Death (1944)

The House of Fear (1945)

The Woman in Green (1945)

Pursuit to Algiers (1945)

Terror by Night (1946)

Dressed to Kill (1946)

Granada Television Series

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984–1985, 13 episodes)

The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986–1988, 11 episodes + 2 specials)

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1991–1993, 9 episodes)

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1994, 6 episodes)

Guy Ritchie/Robert Downey Jr. Films

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

BBC Sherlock (2010–2017)

Series 1 (2010): A Study in Pink, The Blind Banker, The Great Game

Series 2 (2012): A Scandal in Belgravia, The Hounds of Baskerville, The Reichenbach Fall

Series 3 (2014): The Empty Hearse, The Sign of Three, His Last Vow

Special (2016): The Abominable Bride

Series 4 (2017): The Six Thatchers, The Lying Detective, The Final Problem

Elementary (2012–2019)

Watch all 7 seasons in broadcast order for the full story arc.

Enola Holmes films

Enola Holmes (2020)

Enola Holmes 2 (2022)

Sherlock & Daughter (2025–)

Watch as episodes are released on Max, Amazon Channels, or The CW.

Other notable adaptations

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)

Murder by Decree (1979)

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)

The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Without a Clue (1988)

Mr. Holmes (2015)