List of Sherlock characters

The following is a list and description of the characters of Sherlock, a British television series that started airing on BBC One in July 2010. The series is a contemporary adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and was created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.

Main characters

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) describes himself initially as "a consulting detective, the only one in the world," helping out Scotland Yard when they are out of their depth with cases (usually homicides). He appears as a tall, thin man with dark, curly hair. Like the original character, Sherlock is able to deduce or abduce information from the small details.

Sherlock has a very unusual personality, and describes himself in the first episode "A Study in Pink," as a "high-functioning sociopath," a term he insists on in subsequent episodes. Others call him a "psychopath", which is a similar but different mental condition, and in "The Hounds of Baskerville," John tells Lestrade that he believes Sherlock has Asperger Syndrome. This manifests itself in very poor people skills, and extremely rude manners to everyone he deals with. He is however skilled at coercing people to help him, by mostly playing on their weaknesses. Mycroft has said Sherlock has the mind of scholar or philosopher.

Sherlock cares more about the crimes than about the victims involved. He is rude and inconsiderate towards others, including John (often leaving him behind and asking him to do menial, domestic tasks such as shopping). However, Sherlock is shown to care deeply for John as the series goes on, showing uncharacteristic emotion when his friend's life is in jeopardy or when John comes to his aid. Sherlock states the highest compliment he can give is saying that Mary deserves John as a husband. He considers only four people as his friends: John Watson, Mrs Hudson, Molly Hooper and DI Greg Lestrade, whose first name he never remembers. He also has an extremely complex relationship with his brother Mycroft, his only admitted intellectual superior. Mycroft, from the outset, is shown to care and worry deeply for him whilst at the same time sharing a mix of mutual contempt and respect. Sherlock seems to have grown more fond of his brother as the stories progress, even pleading with Mycroft to attend John and Mary's wedding; he was also shocked upon hearing his brother admit he'd be saddened by his death.

Sherlock appears largely asexual and describes himself as "married to his work". He seems oblivious to the romantic attraction that Molly has for him, but sometimes uses this to his advantage if it assists him in a case. After the introduction of Irene Adler, Sherlock seems to have some interest in Irene and comes to her rescue. She frequently flirts with and texts Sherlock in "A Scandal in Belgravia," but he seldom responds. In the following series, Sherlock briefly has a mental image of her in his Mind Palace when thinking of who would know John's middle name, but quickly retorts "Get out of my head, I'm busy." In Series 3 he is briefly in a relationship with Janine; however, this is later revealed to be a ruse to gain information on her boss.

Sherlock has considerable fighting ability, fighting off a man armed with a sword using his bare hands in "The Blind Banker." In "A Scandal in Belgravia," he disarms and incapacitates a CIA agent on two separate occasions.

He knows London's streets and alleys extremely well; in "A Study in Pink", he quickly figures out what route a cab would take and plans a route to beat it to its destination. In "The Empty Hearse", Sherlock works out which paths to take to shave time off the countdown to save John. He has strange connections, including a graffiti artist, as well as the entire network of the homeless (similar to the Baker Street Irregulars' street urchins in the original stories). In solving cases, Sherlock uses a technique known as the Method of Loci, which he calls his "mind palace," which enables him to efficiently store and retrieve information for deductions. Initially the mind palace appears as a series of assorted facts that appear on the screen when a scene is shown from Sherlock's point of view. In Series 3, the mind palace became a very elaborate construction where other characters from the series discuss Sherlock's cases with him.

Sherlock has violent mood swings when there are no cases that interest him. He is once seen stretched out on his chair and firing a gun at a smiley face spray-painted on the wall in his flat. He finds smoking impractical in present-day urban London and, therefore, mostly makes do with nicotine patches. He may apply three patches at the same time when it is a "three patch problem", implying the nicotine helps him to think. For the same reason, he plays the violin and even composes music from time to time. Sherlock also has a history of recreational drug use.

Trying to avoid getting his face taken in pictures, Sherlock disguises it with a deerstalker. This becomes his trademark, much to his annoyance as he greatly dislikes the hat. However, he seems to have accepted it since he puts one on before greeting the press about his miraculous return in "The Empty Hearse".

Dr. John Watson

John Hamish Watson (Martin Freeman) is Sherlock's colleague and former flatmate. He is often a foil to Sherlock in both appearance and personality. Unlike Sherlock, John is short with blond hair. He is kind, caring, compassionate and 'human' compared to Sherlock's cold, calculating hard-hearted ways. He gets on better with the police and takes care of practical matters at their flat, apparently doing most of the shopping.

At the start of the series, John is recently invalided home from Afghanistan after serving with the Royal Army Medical Corps as part of Britain's role in the 2001-2014 Afghanistan war. Prior to his military period, John read medicine at King's College, London as seen on his CV. He is in possession of a pistol, with which he is highly proficient, being described as a "crack shot" by Sherlock.

At the beginning of the series, John has several medical issues: a psychosomatic limp in his right leg, a bullet wound in his left shoulder, and an "intermittent tremor" in his left hand. John's therapist notes he has "trust issues" and PTSD, but Sherlock's brother Mycroft says that far from being "haunted by the war" John actually misses the thrill of battle. Following a chase around London with Sherlock, in which he forgets his cane at a restaurant, John's limp disappears, and Mycroft observes that in a stressful situation John has no sign of a hand tremor. When asked by Sherlock, on their first case together, whether he wants to see more horrible deaths, John responds, "Oh God, yes!" In the 3rd series, it is further elaborated that John is subconsciously addicted to danger. Sherlock explains that this is why John chose to put his trust in him, a sociopath who solves dangerous cases as an alternative to getting high, and fell in love with Mary, a former secret agent and assassin.

John is shown to be loyal and courageous, with a strong sense of personal integrity. He refuses Mycroft's offer to pay him to spy on Sherlock, despite only having just met Sherlock; however, Series 3 shows John informing Mycroft of anything wrong Sherlock has done, showing he will inform others of Sherlock's actions if they are family. He is willing to use deadly force, but is only ever seen doing so when someone else's life is in immediate danger.

In the first series John gets a locum job at a nearby general practice to supplement his pension. In the second series, John is referred to as Sherlock's P.A. and is not shown working any other job. John writes about Sherlock's cases on his blog, which attracts clients to them. He also gives the cases names he deems appropriate. Much to John's constant annoyance, he is often mistaken for a gay man because of the time he spends around Sherlock. He is indicated to have had a number of short-lived relationships with women – one of whom is shown breaking up with him due to John's commitment to Sherlock, saying, that "[Sherlock] is a very lucky man." When he tells Mrs. Hudson that he is engaged, in season 3, her first question is "So, what's his name?"

The only member of John's family who has been alluded to thus far is his sister, Harriet (aka Harry), with whom he has a strained relationship due to her being a heavy drinker. During their first case together, Sherlock deduces that John had refused to accept help from Harry after being invalided out of the army, even though the fact that she gave John her old phone is an indication that she wants to stay in touch with her brother. John was not to surprised when she didn't show up to his wedding, noting a free bar would have been a bad mix with Harry around. Sherlock also guesses that John's extended family is not very close to him.

Watson's middle name is revealed to be Hamish, as originally suggested by Dorothy L. Sayers to explain discrepancies in Watson's name between several of Conan Doyle's stories .[1]

Metropolitan Police personnel

Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade

Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves) works for Scotland Yard and directly with Sherlock. He has a reluctant respect for Sherlock and often defends him from the other police officers' animosity. He is often frustrated by Sherlock's cryptic deductions and habit of withholding evidence, but believes that he is a great man (hoping that one day, he can overcome his poorer qualities, and become a "good" man).

In "The Reichenbach Fall," Lestrade agrees to bring Sherlock in for questioning and it becomes apparent that Lestrade's superiors were not aware of Sherlock's involvement in cases. Unlike Donovan and Anderson, Lestrade had complete faith that Sherlock was innocent of any wrongdoing, proving just how much he trusted him. In "A Study in Pink," he mentions that he is in an on-again-off-again relationship with his ex-wife. In "A Scandal in Belgravia," Lestrade says he and his wife have settled their problems, but Sherlock flatly informs him that she is (as of Christmas that year) sleeping with a P.E. teacher. In "The Sign of Three", Lestrade's faith in Sherlock is shown to have escalated to comical levels, and he drops all pressing matters to comply with his requests (which proves to be embarrassing when Sherlock's request for help was revealed to be motivated by nothing more than a desire for assistance in writing his best man speech for John's wedding).

Although Lestrade is ranked as 'DI,' i.e. 'Detective Inspector,' he is referred to in scenes as just 'Inspector,' possibly as Lestrade in the original novels was ranked as Inspector (the rank of 'DI' not having been created at that time.)

Sergeant Sally Donovan

Sergeant Donovan (Vinette Robinson) is often seen working with DI Lestrade on cases. Donovan resents Sherlock's presence at crime scenes, calling him a "freak", and warns Watson that Sherlock is a psychopath who will one day get bored of catching killers and become one himself.

In "A Study in Pink," she is having an affair with Anderson and in The Reichenbach Fall she is the first police officer to fall for Moriarty's deception and believe that Sherlock may be behind the recent theft and kidnapping. Her image and Anderson's appeared in a montage during The Empty Hearse, when a news reporter asked why the police let the accusations against Sherlock go so far. In "The Sign of Three", she's shown to be very supportive of Lestrade when it comes to difficult cases Sherlock isn't involved in. She seems to hold a better opinion of Sherlock now, as she didn't try hard to stop Lestrade from responding to a message from him.

In the pilot episode she was played by Zawe Ashton and portrayed as a uniformed officer, rather than a detective.

Philip Anderson

Philip Anderson (Jonathan Aris) is originally a member of the Metropolitan Police's Forensic Services. From the series opening, it is clear that Anderson and Sherlock have history of mutual dislike with Sherlock repeatedly humiliating Anderson and Anderson refusing to assist him at crime scenes.

In "A Study in Pink," Sherlock reveals, to both their embarrassment, Anderson and Sgt. Donovan's affair. He later deduces Anderson's wife has left him. In "The Reichenbach Fall," Anderson is the second person at The Yard to be deceived by Moriarty into thinking Sherlock may be involved in the recent theft and kidnapping.

He appears in the mini-episode "Many Happy Returns" where it is revealed that he has lost his job with the police and is trying to convince Lestrade that Sherlock is not only alive but also is still solving mysteries across the globe.

His first name is not mentioned until the opening episode of series 3, "The Empty Hearse". In the third season, he has become one of Sherlock's most avid fans, the founder of "The Empty Hearse", a club which believes Sherlock to have faked his death during the events of "The Reichenbach Fall", and a rather avid conspiracy theorist regarding his fall. Sherlock deduces that this is due to his guilt at having been eager to believe Moriarty's manipulations and having been a prime instrument in Sherlock's "death." By the end of "The Empty Hearse", Sherlock tells Anderson a possible explanation of how he escaped death (it is never revealed if it was false or not). Anderson is initially disappointed with the explanation, and as Sherlock leaves, he tries to prove it's fake, collapsing into hysterical laughter.

In "His Last Vow", Anderson is called upon by Mycroft and John to inspect Sherlock's flat for drugs. After Sherlock reveals that he's going against Magnussen, Anderson is threatened by Mycroft into never speaking of what he heard. Mary alter questions him along with others that know Sherlock to find out where he is.

Villains

Jim Moriarty

James 'Jim' Moriarty (Andrew Scott) is the only "consulting criminal" in the world, a counterpoint to Sherlock's similarly unrivalled "consulting detective" and the primary antagonist of Series 1 & 2. He is also responsible for the criminals and crimes in all three episodes of the first series, acting as a sponsor, an informant, or a mastermind. His interest in Sherlock borders on obsession, though he does not hesitate trying to kill him when he loses interest. Like Sherlock, he appears to be motivated by boredom rather than money or power.

He is also an excellent actor, frequently shown to have convinced others that he is someone else – indeed his first appearance occurs as a gay man whom Molly is seeing, and Sherlock does not realise his identity at the time. In "The Great Game", Moriarty forces Sherlock to solve mysteries within a time limit, taking hostages to ensure that Sherlock is sufficiently motivated.

In the second series, he continues in his role as consulting criminal, giving Irene Adler advice on how to manipulate "The Holmes Boys", having given them both nicknames. It is mentioned that he asked for nothing in return, becoming involved just to cause trouble. He is seen briefly at the end of "The Hounds of Baskerville" apparently having been captured and in the process of being released by Mycroft.

Moriarty features extensively in "The Reichenbach Fall", simultaneously breaking into the Tower of London, HMP Pentonville and the Bank of England, being tried but acquitted after intimidating the Jury, and then setting about to destroy Sherlock's reputation and ultimately force him into 'suicide'. When Sherlock realises there is a way out as long as Moriarty is alive, Moriarty shoots himself in the head in order to force Sherlock into committing suicide, but just before he does he makes one last call to John as his 'note'.

After two years of John grieving Sherlock finally reveals that he had planned the confrontation. Having faked his death, he spent two years dismantling Moriarty's network before resurfacing in London when he is summoned back by Mycroft.

In the closing moments of the third season finale, "His Last Vow", Moriarty's face appears on televisions across Britain repeating the statement "Did you miss me?". Sherlock, who had just been sent on an intelligence mission that was guaranteed to end in his death, was immediately recalled to face his nemesis' schemes once more.

Jeff Hope

Jeff Hope (Phil Davis) is a taxi driver, and the elusive murderer in "A Study in Pink". A charismatic and intelligent cockney, Hope is responsible for a series of unusual deaths in the weeks leading up to the events of the episode. Using his black cab as a means of hiding in plain sight and travelling throughout the city undetected, Hope kidnaps his victims when they get into his taxi, takes them to a secluded place, and presents them with a puzzle - they must select one of two bottles containing identical pills, one harmless and the other poison, and consume the pills in that bottle, while he consumes the other one, and threatens to simply shoot them with a gun if they take neither. He insists, therefore, that he never killed them, merely that he 'talked' to them and they 'killed themselves.'

After finally managing to gain access to one of his victims' e-mails and tracing her phone, John and Sherlock discover that the signal is right where their apartment is. Realising before anyone else that the person with the phone is the taxi driver waiting outside his door, Sherlock goes and meets Hope, who offers to explain everything to him, on condition that he goes with him. Sherlock gets into his cab, and drives him to a nearby college. Inside, he presents Sherlock with the same puzzle that he gave his previous victims. Sherlock deduces that Hope is dying from a brain aneurysm, and he admits that he has a 'sponsor,' who pays money for Hope's children for every person that he kills (or 'outlives'), since he did not make a lot of money as a taxi driver. After thinking about the puzzle, Sherlock eventually decides to take the gun, having worked out that it was just a novelty cigarette lighter. As he makes to leave, Hope persuades him to carry on and solve the puzzle of his own free will, and Sherlock eventually picks up one of the bottles. Before he can take the pill inside, Hope is hit by a bullet, which John had fired from the window of the building opposite. Before he dies, Sherlock forces him to divulge the name of his sponsor - Moriarty.

General Shan

General Shan (Sarah Lam) is the leader of a Chinese smuggling ring known as the Black Lotus Tong and is the main antagonist of "The Blind Banker". As a cover for the Black Lotus Tong, she operates the Yellow Dragon Circus acting as a presenter and opera singer. She attempts to retrieve a priceless artifact called The Empress Pin after it is stolen by one of her smugglers, Eddie Van Coon. She acts primarily through her assassin, Zhi Zhu, who kills both Van Coon and another smuggler named Brian Lukis. Shan mistakes John Watson for Sherlock and threatens to kill his girlfriend, Sarah Sawyer, if he doesn't tell her the location of the pin; she had been spying and misunderstood John's yelling at Sherlock to let him in a crime scene as bragging. Knowing of Sherlock's reputation for being a great crime solver, she mistakenly believed that the pin would have been fpund. John and Sarah are rescued by Sherlock who fights off their Chinese captors, but Shan is able to make her escape in the chaos. However at the end of the episode, Moriarty, the man responsible for granting the Black Lotus entry into Great Britain, punishes Shan's failure with death.

Dr. Robert Frankland

Dr. Robert Frankland (Clive Mantle) is a research scientist at the Baskerville Military Base near Dartmoor and is the main antagonist of "The Hounds of Baskerville". He is first seen walking around when Sherlock and John enter the base using Mycroft's government security card. When they are identified as not being who they said they were, Frankland pretends to be an old friend of Sherlock, who he pretends is still Mycroft, and persuades the staff that there must be an IT error. This leads the pair to believe he is a person who can be trusted.

It is later revealed that Frankland had been the one terrorizing Henry Knight, Sherlock's client who was suffering from horrifying hallucinations, for fear that Knight would remember his father was not killed by a giant hound, but a young Frankland in a gas-mask. The scientist held onto the belief that Project H.O.U.N.D, an aerosol disperser for chemical warfare used to induce fear and stimulus in the enemy, could be revived and restored, and killed Knight's father, a long-time opponent of the work at Baskerville, when he discovered threatened to expose Frankland's efforts. With his life's work in ruins, Frankland is blown up by a landmine while trying to escape capture.

Jonathan Small

Jonathan Small (Jalaal Hartley), also referred to as The Mayfly Man, is the elusive murderer in "The Sign of Three". Sherlock said Small is "most likely a monomaniac". Small blamed Major Sholto, John Watson's former military commander, for his own brother's death in Afghanistan. Small's brother died whilst under Sholto's command. Jonathan posed as the photographer for Mary Morstan and John Watson's wedding in order to gain access to the means to kill Sholto. Small was able to learn of Sholto's whereabouts by courting women who had worked for Sholto in various capacities and who were bound by confidentiality. Sholto would have died if he had taken off his tight belt where Small had lodged a long and thin blade while he was positioning Sholto for a photograph. Small had previously tested this murder technique on Private Bainbridge, a royal guardsman who had contacted Holmes when he believed he had a stalker who was later revealed to be Small. The pair investigated, trying to speak to Bainbridge, but soon discovered him apparently dead, stabbed in a locked shower. While investigating the body, Watson saw that he was actually still alive and saved his life. After Sherlock prevents Sholto from removing his belt, he sends the authorities to apprehend Small as he tries to make his escape.

Charles Augustus Magnussen

Charles Augustus Magnussen (Lars Mikkelsen) is the primary antagonist of Series 3, shown briefly in "The Empty Hearse", mentioned in "The Sign of Three", and appearing prominently in "His Last Vow". A very powerful businessman who controls a media empire, he also holds information on everyone of prominence in the Western world, and beyond that, allowing him to use such information for blackmail purposes in order to achieve his goals. Like Sherlock, he uses the mind palace technique to store the information in his head, keeping no hard copies or physical evidence with him. Magnussen is based on the original character of Charles Augustus Milverton, the titular character of the short story "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton". In "The Sign of Three", he sends a telegram to the Watsons' wedding, signing it "CAM", which are his initials. In His Last Vow, Magnussen reveals he has gathered blackmail information on Mary Watson to control Sherlock through John Watson, hoping to gain power over Mycroft, and by extension, the entire British Government. Seeing that there was no way to outsmart or arrest Magnussen, Sherlock shot him in the head to free everyone from his power.

Other characters

Mrs. Hudson

Martha Louise Hudson (née Sissons), (Una Stubbs), is the landlady of 221B Baker Street. Sherlock won his way into her good graces after ensuring her husband, who ran a drug cartel, was executed for a double murder in Florida.

Although she repeatedly insists that she is not their housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson fusses over Sherlock as if she were, and he takes it for granted that she will provide dinner for him. She is often horrified to see Sherlock keep human body parts in his kitchen appliances (refrigerator, microwave) for experimentation. In "A Study In Pink", upon first meeting John, Mrs. Hudson thought he was Sherlock's romantic partner. Despite his impatience at her concern for him, Sherlock has shown to have a great deal of affection for Mrs. Hudson; for example while he often tells her to shut up when he considers her input an annoyance, he is quick to reprimand his brother Mycroft for attempting to do the same. In "A Scandal in Belgravia", Sherlock pushed a CIA agent out of a second-story window to punish him for torturing Mrs. Hudson; later in the same episode when John suggests Mrs. Hudson leave Baker Street for her own safety, Sherlock appears appalled at the notion and informs John 'England would fall' should such a thing happen.

It is revealed in "His Last Vow" (along with her full name) that she is a "semi-reformed alcoholic", a former "exotic dancer", and that her weakness is marijuana. Sherlock later makes a jab at her past, when explaining the secrets held by the people John knew.

Mycroft Holmes

Mycroft Holmes (played by the show's executive producer, co-creator, and writer Mark Gatiss) is first introduced when he abducts John and offers to pay him to spy on Sherlock out of brotherly concern. He is Sherlock's older brother and engages in sibling rivalry with Sherlock. Mycroft is frequently mocked by Sherlock for "putting on weight". He occupies a "minor position in the British government"; however, as with many Holmes-based works, it is heavily hinted that he has a much bigger role than he claims - on one occasion, Sherlock sarcastically remarks that Mycroft is the British government "when he's not too busy being the British Secret Services or the CIA on a freelance basis." He is driven around in a private car with his personal assistant who goes by the name of "Anthea". Mycroft, as in the Doyle books, is also very skilled at deduction, even correcting Sherlock on occasion, as well as lacking enthusiasm for "legwork." His intellect is borderline superhuman, allowing him to learn Serbian in a couple hours. As such, even Sherlock admits that Mycroft is smarter than he is.

Despite not paying John like he originally intended, Mycroft is kept informed of anything his brother does that may be illegal, as seen in "His Last Vow", where John informs him Sherlock had seemingly relapsed back into his old drug habits. Though concerned, Mycroft jokes it would be safer for Sherlock to cross-dress like their uncle. Mycroft knows his brother well, saying Sherlock considers himself a dragon-slayer; the villains Sherlock catches are the equivalent of dragons.

In Mycroft's opinion, Sherlock has "the mind of philosopher or scientist, yet he elects to be a detective". However, he considers this an improvement, since as a child, Sherlock initially wanted to be a pirate; proven true as Sherlock named his childhood dog, which had to be put down, Redbeard. Charles Augustus Magnussen in "His Last Vow" reveals Mycroft to be in the Secret Intelligence Service. The cigarette addiction is something Mycroft shares with Sherlock; Sherlock also states that Mycroft has OCD, and can opnly handle low tar and thus smokes like a beginner.

Molly Hooper

Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey) is a 31-year-old pathologist working in the morgue at St Bartholomew's Hospital with an apparent crush on Sherlock. Due to her work position and crush on him, Sherlock frequently exploits her to let him examine victims' bodies. She was in a relationship with an Information technology employee named Jim, who was later revealed to be Moriarty. Molly maintained a blog, which she abandoned after discovering the truth about Jim. She has a cat named Toby. Sherlock only finds out how deeply infatuated she is with him during "A Scandal in Belgravia," when he vehemently deduces that the Christmas present at the top of her bag is better wrapped than the others, and must be for someone she loves, and then discovers it's for him; she received a very uncharacteristic kiss on the cheek and apology for this. In "The Reichenbach Fall," Sherlock turns to her to help him fake his death.

In "The Empty Hearse", while Watson is recovering from the hurt and shock of discovering Sherlock is still alive, she accompanies Holmes on some casework. She is engaged to Tom (Ed Birch), who looks and dresses quite a bit like Sherlock; by "His Last Vow" the engagement has been broken off - Sherlock observes she is not wearing her ring. In "The Sign of Three", Molly showed she still cared about Sherlock by worrying about him giving a best man speech; she also stabbed Tom with a plastic fork when he insulted Sherlock (who was rambling to figure out the Mayfly Man's target).

Molly was originally intended to be a one-off character to introduce Sherlock, but Brealey impressed Moffat and Gatiss and they "couldn't resist bringing her back."[2]

Mary Morstan

Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington) is a former assassin and a part-time nurse in John's practice whom he met following the apparent death of Sherlock. She surprises Sherlock with her knowledge and insight into his character. She marries Watson, with Sherlock as best man.

In "The Empty Hearse", Mary is upset with Sherlock when they meet, since John had been through a great deal of emotional pain; however, she quickly warmed up to him, and saw Sherlock was flawed when it came to understanding human emotions. Knowing the great friendship John shared with Sherlock, Mary then made it her job to try getting John to forgive Sherlock. In "The Sign of Three", it is revealed that Mary is an orphan. She had another boyfriend prior to John, but is now good friends with him (from her perspective); unknown to Mary, her ex retained an unhealthy attraction to her, forcing Sherlock to intimidate him. She seems to know how to get what she wants from both John and Sherlock. It is later revealed in "His Last Vow" that she is in fact a former CIA agent, who went freelance and eventually on the run, and might not be English. She stole the identity of a stillborn baby five years before marrying John. Despite this, she genuinely loves him and says she only sought to escape her previous life; she was prepared to shoot both Sherlock and Charles Magnussen to ensure John never learnt the truth. At the end of the third series, Mary is pregnant with a daughter.

Bill Wiggins

Bill Wiggins (Tom Brooke), also known as The Wig and Wiggy, is a former guard for an abandoned building used as a drugs den. First appearing in "His Last Vow", he befriends Sherlock, who was using the alias Shezza. Having a sprained arm treated, Bill surprises everyone by accurately deducing that John showers at work and keeps fresh clothes in a backpack, since he rides a bike; John needed to leave Mary with the car, due to her pregnancy. Sherlock was greatly impressed, making Bill his apprentice. He assists Sherlock by giving Mary a phone to talk with Sherlock, and by using his chemistry skills to make a harmless knock-out drug for everyone but John and Sherlock during a Christmas party at the Holmes' home. Bill has enough skill to make Mary's dosage completely harmless to her unborn daughter. To assure John of everyone's safety, Sherlock joked that Bill would "monitor their recovery, which is more or less his day job."

Sarah Sawyer

Sarah Sawyer (Zoe Telford) is John's supervisor at the surgery where he works. Sarah and John were engaged in a romantic relationship. She is a very competent doctor, taking over for John when he falls asleep in his office. She is able to fight in self-defence during a fight with a mob of Chinese gangsters. In "The Great Game," John seemed close to sharing her bed with her the next time he stayed the night at her place. John and Sarah break up after their trip to New Zealand, as written in John's blog.[3]

Irene Adler

Irene Adler (Lara Pulver) is featured in "A Scandal in Belgravia" as a professional dominatrix, more commonly referred to as "The Woman," who provides "recreational scolding" for anyone willing to pay for it. She takes pictures of her clients during her job as "protection" to make sure her clients don't do anything unfavourable to her. Irene is brilliant enough to impress Sherlock, and managed to deceive him; however, she also ends up falling in love with him, which proves to be her downfall. She sends Sherlock a series of flirtatious texts, repeatedly requesting to "have dinner" with him.

Having taken a picture of the information for "Bond Air", she was targeted by Americans, who were working with the British government to trick terrorists into thinking that their bomb would blow up a plane and take the lives of hundreds. She was also sought out by Mycroft for incriminating photos of herself and one of her clients. She contacted Moriarty about the Bond Air plan, being given advice on how to use it to her advantage. She successfully duped Sherlock into revealing what Bond Air was about, texting the answer to Moriarty, who informed the terrorists.

Facing off with both the "Holmes Boys", the Ice Man (Mycroft) and the Virgin (Sherlock), Irene attempted to get a list of demands fulfilled; however, Sherlock figured out the password to her phone – "I am SHER-Locked." With her protection gone, Irene was left to the mercy of any who were after her. Though it was reported she was beheaded by extremists in Karachi some time later, Sherlock had actually helped her fake her death.

She makes a return in "The Signs of Three", as a mental image when Sherlock thinks of those who know John's middle name; he tells the image "Not now, I'm busy."

In "His Last Vow", Charles Augustus Magnussen is "reading" Sherlock's list of pressure points (weaknesses), the list on the screen scrolls on for some time (and Magnussen mocks Sherlock by saying that he has "rather a lot"). However, there are actually only six pressure points listed, and to achieve the effect of there being many of them, they get repeated several times. They are: Irene Adler (See File); Jim Moriarty (See File); Redbeard (See File); Hounds of the Baskerville; Opium; and John Watson. She was later mentioned by Jim Moriarty in Sherlock's mind palace that - "... Mummy and Daddy will cry ... and The Woman will cry," on a sequence where Sherlock dies in the same room where Moriarty's chained.

Sebastian Wilkes

Sebastian Wilkes (Bertie Carvel) is an old acquaintance from university who hires Sherlock to solve his bank's security problem when the bank is broken into. Like most of anyone else who knows Sherlock, he was annoyed by Sherlock's deductive skills; like everyone else, he considered it to be a trick. He says that Sherlock could tell if anyone had been shagging the previous night when they came down for breakfast.

Kitty Riley

Kitty Riley (Katherine Parkinson) is the up-and-coming journalist who wrote the piece on Sherlock being a fake. She was tricked into a relationship with Jim Moriarty, who gave her all the information she needed on Sherlock to write said article.

Anthea

Anthea (Lisa McAllister) is an assistant to Mycroft Holmes, who appears in A Study in Pink, and The Empty Hearse. She picks the name at random when John asks what he should call her.

Janine

Janine (Yasmine Akram) is Mary Morstan's bridesmaid in the The Sign of Three. She is the secretary of Magnussen, the villain of His Last Vow, in which it is revealed that both Mary and Sherlock independently befriended her in order to get access to him. Sherlock went so far as to enter a relationship with her. He had kept her at arms length the entire time, not wanting her to be involved too much; he even pretended that he worked night shifts, so he couldn't engage in any sexual encounters with her. During their final encounter, Janine admits that she has made a lot of money since then by going on talk shows about her relationship with the famous detective and bought herself a nice cottage. Sherlock and Janine agree that this makes them even, and she leaves amicably, although she insists that he should not have lied to her. Most of the stories that she shows are made up to sell better.

Lady Elizabeth Smallwood

Lady Elizabeth Smallwood (Lindsay Duncan) is a senior British government official who was chairing an inquiry into press standards and specifically the level of influence that newspaper baron Charles Augustus Magnussen had over the Western world. As a result of her pursuit of Magnussen, she found herself blackmailed by him with explicit, romantic letters that her husband had sent to a girl who he was unaware was underage, in the 1970s.

Rather than submit to the blackmail, she employed Sherlock Holmes to bargain with Magnussen. It was also later shown that she held a position of prominence in the British security establishment, and that the blackmail had driven her husband to suicide.

External links

References

  1. ↑ Dorothy L. Sayers, "Dr. Watson's Christian Name", in Unpopular Opinions (London: Victor Gollancz, 1946), 148–151.
  2. ↑ Wells, Matt (21 May 2012). "Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall - live chat with the co-creators". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "The blog of Dr. John. H. Watson". johnwatsonblog.co.uk. 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2013.