The BBC’s Sherlock adapted and mixed the biggest stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, but it forgot about one of Sherlock Holmes’ novels. The Great Detective is one of the most popular and beloved characters in literature, and as such, he and his cases have been adapted to other media for over a century, with some of them making interesting changes to the characters and their stories. Among the most recent and successful adaptations of Sherlock Holmes is the BBC’s TV series Sherlock, created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, and starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the famous detective and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson.
Sherlock brought the Great Detective to modern-day London, adapting Sherlock’s deduction abilities and investigative methods to modern technology, as well as mixing and adapting some of his most popular cases. Sherlock made sure to include various references and Easter eggs to his classic cases, and it adapted all of his novels... except one. The series completely forgot about one of Sherlock Holmes’ novels, which could have been beneficial to the story of Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott) and his dynamic with Cumberbatch’s Sherlock.
Sherlock Adapted All Holmes Novels - Except One
Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 56 stories and four novels about Sherlock Holmes and his adventures, and all the novels were adapted to the BBC’s series, except one. Sherlock’s very first episode, “A Study in Pink”, is based on Conan Doyle’s first Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet; season 2’s second episode, “The Hound of Baskervilles”, is based on the novel The Hound of the Baskervilles, and season 3’s second episode was “The Sign of Three”, based on Conan Doyle’s second Holmes novel, The Sign of the Four. The episodes of Sherlock season 4 were based on different short stories, and so the series completely forgot about adapting the remaining Holmes novel: The Valley of Fear.
The Valley of Fear is the final Sherlock Holmes novel, and it was first published in the Strand Magazine between 1914 and 1915, and the first book edition was published in early 1915. The Valley Fear follows Sherlock and Watson as they investigate the murder of a man named Douglas after receiving a cipher message from Fred Porlock, a pseudonymous agent of Moriarty. Douglas turns out to be alive, but had spotted an enemy of his and expected to be attacked, so he grabbed the gun and, in the struggle, he shot his enemy in the face. With the help of a man named Cecil Barker, Douglas dressed the corpse in his own clothes to confuse his enemies, and revealed that he was a detective in Chicago, and he was being chased by criminals who wanted him dead. Holmes urged Douglas to leave England, and he did, but the detective learned shortly after that Douglas was lost overboard on the ship to Africa, and believed Moriarty was responsible.
It's Too Late For Sherlock To Adapt Valley Of Fear (Even If S5 Happens)
If Sherlock season 5 happened, it would be too late to adapt The Valley of Fear. The final episode of the series had one subtle and irrelevant reference to The Valley of Fear, but given the story’s link to Moriarty, it would have fitted best in the first two seasons of Sherlock, when Moriarty was still around, alive and playing with Sherlock’s mind. Surely, if a fifth season happened, the writers could make changes to the story of The Valley of Fear to fit the narrative, but it would be missing what made the novel’s story interesting. It’s unknown why Sherlock ignored The Valley of Fear, but it missed out on a great story.