Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and first published in 1887. He and his companion, Dr. Watson, have been spoofed or portrayed many times in Muppet productions, and the character Baskerville was named after the Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Most of these portrayals rely heavily on the film characterization of Holmes by Basil Rathbone, including the familiar deerstalker cap and cape.

Sherlock Hemlock from Sesame Street is a spoof of Holmes (and his dog Watson, a spoof of Dr. Watson). They even starred together in a series of segments entitled Mysterious Theater, which was a parody of Mystery!, a show that regularly featured Sherlock Holmes.

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Rowlf portrayed Holmes, with Baskerville as Watson in "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Disappearing Clues", the UK spot from episode 103 of The Muppet Show.

Kermit dressed as Holmes in a promotional photo included in Panini Trading Stickers amongst other merchandising

Baby Gonzo parodies Holmes as Inspector Gonzo, CIA (Chicken Investigation Agency) in the Muppet Babies episode "The Case of the Missing Chicken"

Baby Bunsen and Baby Beaker appeared as Sherlock Bunsen and Dr. Beaker in "The Muppet Broadcasting Company."

Kermit appears as "Kermlock Holmes" in issue #13 of Muppet Babies Comics, with Fozzie as "Dr. Fozzie".

Sherlock is the name given to Old Mother Hubbard's husband, who appears in standard Holmes garb and fancies himself a detective, in the "Mother Hubbard" installment of Mother Goose Stories.

The Two-Headed Monster pretends to be Holmes in Episode 2868 of Sesame Street.

The animated Surelick Bones on Dog City.

A whale portrayed the character on Muppets Tonight, alongside a Muppet version of Dr. Watson.

Sir Arthur Conan Rubberducque, a fictional character who received an "as told to" credit for the book Sherlock Hemlock and the Great Twiddlebug Mystery is a reference to Holmes' creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Ernie plays Holmes in a segment of Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures.

In Ernie and Bert's Flashlight Adventure, one of the adventures they go on involve them dressed in Sherlock Holmes-like outfits while searching a castle.

Tutter and Ojo don Sherlock Holmes caps and magnifying glasses in the storybook Mystery at the Big Blue House.

Sherlock Holmes appears on the cover of The Muppet Show Comic Book #7, which features the spoof, Wormwood Soames.

Muppet Sherlock Holmes is a comic adaptation of multiple Sherlock Holmes stories. In addition to the usual pairings of Holmes (Gonzo) and Watson (Fozzie), Kermit plays Lestrade and Miss Piggy portrays most of the canonical females, including Mrs. Hudson and Irene Adler.

Kermit the Frog dressed as Holmes on promotional materials for the American Dental Association's National Dental Health Month in 1985.

Cookie Monster and Elmo, in the respective roles of Holmes and Watson, parody the BBC series Sherlock in a 2014 Entertainment Weekly video.

Other mentions

• In Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet, when Danvers tells his best friend Pasquale that he needs his help, one of the comparisons he makes is calling him "the Watson to my Sherlock".

Connections

• Alexander Allerson played a train conductor in "The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb" (1965, German radio translation of BBC series)
• Alan Arkin played Sigmund Freud in The Seven Per-Cent Solution (1976 film)
• Roger Ashton-Griffiths played Lestrade in Young Sherlock Holmes (1985 film)
• John Baddeley played Billy the page boy in the Sherlock Holmes Returns episode "The Mazarin Stone" (1962, radio), John Scott Eccles in the Sherlock Holmes Again episode "Wisteria Lodge" (1966, radio), the postmaster in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988, radio), and in three His Last Bow episodes as Hugo Oberstein in "The Bruce-Partington Plans," Staples in "The Dying Detective," and Monsieur Moser in "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax" (all 1994, radio)
• Sean Barrett played Woodley in the Sherlock Holmes episode "The Solitary Cyclist" (1978, radio) and Mr. Pinner in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes episode "The Stockbroker's Clerk " (1993)
• Leo Bardischewski played Duncan Ross in "The Red-Headed League", Joseph Harrison in "The Naval Treaty" and Count Negretto Silvius in "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" (1965-1966, German radio translation of BBC series)
• David Buck played Dr. Watson on Sherlock Holmes (1978, radio)
• Richard Butler played Harold Baker in the Sherlock Holmes episode "The Blue Carbuncle" (1968, TV)
• Michael Caine played a fake Sherlock Holmes (Reginald Kinkaid) in the spoof Without a Clue (1988 film)
• Sarah Crowden played Mrs. Hudson in Mr. Holmes (2015 film)
• Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sherlock Holmes on Sherlock (2010-, TV)
• Robert Downey, Jr. played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes (2009 film) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011 film)
• Peter Elliott played the great ape in The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes episode "The Creeping Man" (1991, TV)
• David Forman supplied ape movement in The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes episode "The Creeping Man" (1991, TV)
• Edward Fox played Dr. Watson in Dr. Watson and the Darkwater Hall Mystery (1974 TV movie) and Alistair Ross in The Crucifer of Blood (1991 TV movie)
• James Fox played Sherlock Holmes in The Beekeeper's Apprentice (2000, radio) and Sir Thomas Rotheram in in Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)
• Martin Freeman plays John Watson on Sherlock (2010-)
• Matt Frewer played Sherlock Holmes in the TV movies The Hound of the Baskervilles (2000), The Sign of Four and The Royal Scandal (2001), and The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire (2002)
• Stephen Fry played Mycroft Holmes in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011 film)
• Mark Gatiss plays Mycroft Holmes on Sherlock (2010-, TV)
• John Gielgud played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes (1954, radio) and Lord Salisbury in Murder by Decree (1979 film)
• Heini Göbel played Sergeant Coventry in "The Problem of Thor Bridge" (1963, German radio translation of BBC series)
• Rupert Graves plays Lestrade on Sherlock (2010-, TV)
• Björn Gustafson played Jack Stapleton in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1971, Swedish radio)
• Joel Grey played Lowenstein in in The Seven Per-Cent Solution (1976 film)
• Robert Hardy played Charles Augustus Milverton in The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes episode "The Master Blackmailer" (1992, TV)
• David Healy played Dr. Watson in The Sign of Four (1983 TV movie)
• Arthur Hewlett played Josiah Brown in the Sherlock Holmes episode "The Six Napoleons" (1965, TV)
• Russell Horton played Arthur Holder in "The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet" on CBS Radio Mystery Theater (1977, radio)
• Derek Jacobi played Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles (2017 record)
• Michael Kilgarriff played Inspector MacKinnon in "The Retired Colored Man" on Sherlock Holmes Returns (1964, radio), Major Sholto in The Sign of the Four (1989, radio) Sgt. Harris in "The Musgrave Ritual" on The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1992, radio)
• Ben Kingsley played Dr. Watson in the spoof Without a Clue (1988 film)
• Rosalind Knight played the Countess of Morcar in "The Blue Carbuncle" on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984, TV) and Grace in the Sherlock episode "The Hounds of Baskerville" (2012, TV)
• Gottfried Kramer played Jack Stapleton in The Hound of the Baskervilles and Col. Valentine Walter in "The Bruce Partington Plans" (1983, German audio)
• Frank Langella played Sherlock Holmes in the Sherlock Holmes stage play (Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1977/1981, the latter televised on HBO) and in Sherlock's Last Case (Broadway, 1987)
• Jude Law played Dr. John Watson in in Sherlock Holmes (2009 film) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011 film)
• Alf Marholm played Colonel Valentine in the German Sherlock Holmes episode "The Bruce Partington Plans" (TV, 1968) and Athelney Jones in The Sign of Four (1996, German radio)
• James Mason played Dr. Watson in Murder by Decree (1979 film)
• Ian McKellen played Sherlock Holmes in Mr. Holmes (2015 film)
• Frank Middlemass played Peterson in the Sherlock Holmes episode "The Blue Carbuncle" (1968, TV), Henry Baker in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes episode "The Blue Carbuncle" (1984, TV), and Dr. Froelich in Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1991 TV movie)
• Patrick Monckton played Laszlo Karparti in Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1991 TV movie)
• Robert Morley played Mycroft Holmes in A Study in Terror (1965 film) and Dr. Watson in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "My Dear Watson" (1989, TV)
• Bruno W. Pantel played an auctioneer in Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962 film)
• Gerard Parkes played Dr. Watson in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1968, CBC radio)
• Patricia Parris voiced Mrs. Hudson and all female roles on the Sherlock Holmes/Sherlock Hound anime series (1985)
• Trevor Peacock played Sidney Prince in Sherlock Holmes (Broadway, 1974)
• Edward Petherbridge played Captain Neville St. Claire in The Crucifer of Blood (West End, 1979), Sherlock Holmes in The Cases of Sherlock Holmes (1991-1993, NPR radio), and Culverton Smith in "The Dying Detective" episode of His Last Bow (1996, radio)
• Gösta Prüzelius played Dr. Watson in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1971, Swedish radio)
• Walter Reichelt played Jabez Wilson in "The Red-Headed League" (1980, German audio)
• Christian Rode played Sherlock Holmes in German audio adaptations (2004-2018) and Inspector Jones in different Holmes audio adaptations of "The Master Blackmailer" and "The Sign of Four" (2004)
• Clive Revill played Rogozhin in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970 film) and Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes (Broadway, replacement Feb.-November 1975)
• Nicholas Selby played a hotel clerk in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1958, radio) and James Larrabee Sherlock Holmes (Broadway, 1974)
• John Sessions played Mycroft Holmes in Mr. Holmes (2015 film)
• Kiran Shah played Tonga in The Sign of Four (1987 TV movie) and The Crucifer of Blood (1991 TV movie)
• Cyril Shaps played Emperor Franz Joseph in Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1991 TV movie)
• Donald Sinden played Sir Charles Baskerville in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1998, radio)
• Manfred Steffen played Dr. Watson in three German radio plays (NWDR, 1947), Sir Basil Musgrave in "The Musgrave Ritual" and the foreign minister in "The Naval Treaty" (1983, German audio)
• Robert Stephens played Sherlock Holmes in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970 film) and as a replacement in Sherlock Holmes (Broadway, 1975-1976)
• Nick Tate played James McCarthy in the Sherlock Holmes episode "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" (1968, TV)
• Joachim Tennstedt plays Sherlock Holmes in German audio adaptations (2004-)
• Russell Tovey played Henry Knight in "The Hounds of Baskerville" episode of Sherlock (2012, TV)
• Badi Uzzaman played Kartar Singh in "The Sign of Four" (1987, TV)
• Andreas von der Meden played Percy Armitage in "The Speckled Band" (2009, German audio)
• Mogens von Gadow played Dr. Watson in three German audio cassettes (1980)
• Christopher Walken played one of the killers in the musical Baker Street (Broadway, 1965)
• Fritz Weaver played Sherlock Holmes in the musical Baker Street (Broadway, 1965)
• Douglas Welbat played Sir Henry Baskerville in The Hound of the Baskervilles and James Wilder in "The Adventure of the Priory School" (1983, German audio)
• Orson Welles played the title role in "Sherlock Holmes" on The Mercury Theater of the Air (1938, radio) and Professor Moriarty in "The Final Problem" on Sherlock Holmes (1954, radio)
• Paxton Whitehead played Sherlock Holmes in the Broadway play Crucifer of Blood (Broadway, 1978)
• John Wood played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes (Broadway, 1974-1975)