9 Years After BBC's Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes Begins A New Era

There have been countless Sherlock Holmes TV shows, each offering a different interpretation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective. From faithful Victorian retellings to modern reimaginings, literature’s most iconic detective is never absent from the small screen for long. However, few adaptations hold a candle to Sherlock. The BBC series combined razor-sharp writing and unforgettable performances to create what remains the definitive Sherlock Holmes television experience.

When Sherlock concluded in 2017, it left behind a difficult void to fill. Plenty of Sherlock Holmes adaptations arrived in the years that followed, but none captured the same magic. Whether they were faithful to Conan Doyle’s original stories or complete reinventions of the source material, every successor found itself wanting when measured against Sherlock. 9 years later, however, that finally appears to have changed thanks to Young Sherlock.

Co-developed by Guy Ritchie, Prime Video’s Young Sherlock follows an inexperienced Sherlock Holmes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) during his years at Oxford. Season 1 has already earned an impressive 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, quickly attracting enough acclaim to secure a season 2 renewal. Although still in its infancy with plenty left to prove, Young Sherlock already feels like the Sherlock Holmes TV show that’s, at long last, worthy of Sherlock‘s remarkable legacy.

BBC’s Sherlock Finally Has A Spiritual Successor

It’s inarguable that Sherlock raised the bar when it comes to Sherlock Holmes adaptations, and did so to levels subsequent series struggle to reach. However, Young Sherlock has, so far at least, managed it. What makes this all the more impressive is that, like Sherlock’s modernization of the source material, it completely reinvents the Sherlock Holmes premise. Presenting Sherlock before he becomes the legendary investigator is a unique spin on the Holmes mythos, and one that Young Sherlock has harnessed to establish itself as the best adaptation since the hit BBC show.

Hero Fiennes Tiffin’s Holmes is brilliant from the beginning, but Young Sherlock wisely avoids portraying him as the fully formed genius audiences already know. His deductive abilities are impressive, but not yet fully refined. He’s also impulsive, and still discovering the stoic genius that later defines him. That immediate potential and need for character growth gives the show’s mysteries additional weight, since every investigation contributes to his evolution.

That approach immediately recalls what made Benedict Cumberbatch’s Holmes in Sherlock so compelling. Although the BBC series introduced him as an already accomplished detective, he also had many flaws to overcome. Over four seasons, Sherlock in Sherlock developed emotionally while maintaining the arrogance and eccentricity that made him steal every scene. Young Sherlock has aimed for a similar balance, focusing as much on the personal journey of Fiennes Tiffin’s Holmes as the mysteries he solves.

Just like Sherlock before it, Young Sherlock understands that Sherlock Holmes himself should remain endlessly fascinating. Rather than relying purely on famous cases, it builds its identity around exploring the man behind the legend. That perspective gives Young Sherlock a purpose beyond simply adapting another Conan Doyle story, making it feel like a true successor to Sherlock at long last.

Young Sherlock Reveals An Inarguable Truth About Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock, Moriarty, and Cordelia Holmes in Young Sherlock

As impressive as Young Sherlock’s debut season is, it still needs more time to prove beyond doubt that it’s reached the heights of Sherlock. It still has to demonstrate that it can maintain its quality over multiple seasons while expanding both its characters and overarching narrative. Fortunately, Prime Video’s renewal of Young Sherlock for season 2 means it has a chance to. What’s more, its success also proves a much broader truth about Sherlock Holmes as a character.

More than 130 years after Arthur Conan Doyle first introduced him, Sherlock Holmes continues to inspire new adaptations. In fact, he is recognized as the most adapted literary character of all time by the Guinness Book of World Records, and Young Sherlock demonstrates exactly why. Few fictional characters translate to screens so naturally and with such flexibility. Sherlock Holmes offers self-contained mysteries that fit episodic storytelling while also supporting larger character arcs. Every investigation allows audiences to enjoy satisfying detective stories, yet each adaptation can also reinterpret Holmes himself in dramatically different ways.

Other adaptations released around the time of Sherlock’s 2010-2017 run, or in the years since, perfectly illustrate that versatility. While the BBC series modernized Holmes for 21st-century London, CBS’s Elementary offered an entirely different contemporary interpretation by transporting the British detective to New York. Then there was 2021’s The Irregulars, which followed a group of 19th-century London street urchins who work for Holmes and Watson.

As the latest successful adaptation, Young Sherlock proves that, in all likelihood, there will likely be new Sherlock Holmes TV shows from now until the end of time. Fresh series continue arriving because every generation finds another angle worth exploring. Still, while many adaptations come and go, only a select few become truly essential viewing. Sherlock remains the modern benchmark, but after 9 years of searching for a worthy successor, Young Sherlock finally feels like a series that could one day earn a place alongside it.