List of Sherlock characters

Sherlock title card

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.

Cast Table

Character	Portrayed by	Series
		Series 1	Series 2	Series 3	The Abominable Bride
Main
Sherlock Holmes	Benedict Cumberbatch	Main
John Watson	Martin Freeman	Main
Greg Lestrade	Rupert Graves	Main
Mrs Hudson	Una Stubbs	Main
Mycroft Holmes	Mark Gatiss	Recurring	Main
Molly Hooper	Louise Brealey	Recurring	Main
Jim Moriarty	Andrew Scott	Guest	Main	Recurring	Guest
Mary Morstan	Amanda Abbington			Main
Recurring
Philip Anderson	Jonathan Aris	Guest		Recurring
Sally Donovan	Vinette Robinson	Recurring	Guest
Sarah Sawyer	Zoe Telford	Recurring
Irene Adler	Lara Pulver		Guest
Charles Augustus Magnussen	Lars Mikkelsen			Recurring
Janine Hawkins	Yasmine Akram			Recurring	Guest
Mr Holmes	Timothy Carlton			Recurring
Mrs Holmes	Wanda Ventham			Recurring

Main characters

Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes

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 highly intelligent and 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", 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 the extremely rude manners Sherlock shows toward everyone he deals with. At times, he also seems to exhibit sensory sensitivities, associated with autism spectrum disorders, and occasionally exhibits "stimming" behaviors (pacing, hopping, spinning, rocking, making origami from serviettes, flapping a hand) when excited, upset, stressed, concentrating deeply, or overwhelmed.^[1] On two occasions in the episode The Hounds of Baskerville, he also appears to suffer from episodes of sensory overload and has minor meltdowns, and fidgeting with his hand after such an episode appears to soothe him. Also a characteristic of autism, Sherlock can be shown to have a very literal understanding of what is said to him—once, when after Sherlock tells John that he wants to go out that evening, John tells him that can't because he is going on a date, describing it as "two people who like each other (going) out and (having) fun," Sherlock replies that "That's what (he) was suggesting." In the first episode, "A Study in Pink," when he is offered coffee by Molly Hooper, whose intent is to ask him out for a cup, possibly on another day, he gratefully accepts and tells her how he likes his coffee fixed and where he would like to take it, assuming that she is simply offering to bring him a cup right then. Nonverbal communication also does not seem to come naturally to him; in The Reichenbach Fall, John complains that Sherlock is making "the Face," and has to further explain what he means. Sherlock also appears not to understand sarcasm. In The Hounds of Baskerville, when Dr. Frankland chooses to use a joke in order to refuse to tell them what his job is, saying, "I would love to tell you– but then, of course, I’d have to kill you!" Sherlock coldly replies, "That would be tremendously ambitious of you." Later on in the episode, after Sherlock remarks that Dr. Stapleton may be conducting genetic experiments on something "more deadly than a rabbit," and John, trying to make a joke, replies that "To be fair, that is quite a wide field," Sherlock simply stares at him, either in confusion at the pointless obviousness of the statement or in disdain for John's pitiful joke. He is also disdainful of the "typical" affectionate relationships he sees other people sharing, disdaining what he snidely refers to as "sentiment" and declaring that "sentiment is a chemical defect found on the losing side." He seems to admit that he does not understand sentiment and does not wish to, but, as seen below, he is shown to care deeply about his closest friends. When it will be useful for a case, however, Sherlock is skilled at feigning emotion and has successfully tricked strangers into helping him or providing information. Despite his social challenges, Sherlock is skilled at coercing people to help him, mostly by playing on their weaknesses. Mycroft has said Sherlock has the mind of a scholar or philosopher.

Furthermore, Sherlock does not seem to grasp the deep impact his actions have on those who care deeply about him. Though Sherlock's fake suicide at the end of The Reichenbach Fall was conducted in order to protect Sherlock's only friends, including John; when, two years later, Sherlock is ready to return to London and reunite with John, he seems to have no idea of the pain and grief John has suffered as the result of his "death." When Sherlock reveals himself to John, having disguised himself as a waiter, he is unhappily shocked at John's intense emotional reaction and the fact that John does not immediately accept him back into his life. After he and John have become close again, Sherlock is then seen to be completely confused when John asks him to be the best man at his and Mary's wedding, and is unable to mentally finish John's statement about wanting to be "with the two people that (he) love(s) and care(s) about most in the world" with his own name. Again understanding John's words literally, when John first uses the phrase "the best man," Sherlock goes off on a tangent describing the "best man" he ever knew until John pauses him and explains that he is referring to the "best man" for his and Mary's upcoming wedding. During his best man speech later on in the episode, Sherlock moves everyone deeply by telling John that he is sitting "between the woman (he has) made (his) wife and the man (he) has saved; in short, the two people who love (him) most in all this world."

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. He also seems confused and mildly disgusted when in "The Sign of Three" she brags to him about her relationship with her current boyfriend. After the introduction of Irene Adler, Sherlock seems to have some interest in Irene, though her attempts to throw him off by shocking him seem to have no effect on him; and comes to her rescue when she is about to be executed in Karachi. 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, and he carefully avoids allowing the relationship to become too intense.

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. At the end of Series Three, seeing no other choice, he shoots and kills Charles Augustus Magnussen, a corrupt and unethical newspaper owner who is threatening to release incriminating material he has on Mary Watson. Instead of going to prison, Sherlock is sent to do dangerous undercover work in Central Europe; this is interrupted by the shocking revelation at the end of Series Three of Moriarty's survival. Sherlock also enjoys dancing; proudly demonstrating a perfect pirouette to Janine in "The Sign of Three" during the reception of John and Mary's wedding and lamenting the fact that dancing "never really comes up in crime work." In the same episode, shortly after he deduces Mary's pregnancy, Sherlock explains that he is the one who taught John to dance.

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; solving dangerous cases, as he puts it, "as an alternative to getting high." Seen in "His Last Vow", Sherlock has a short fuse when high or recovering, shoving Mycroft against the wall of the flat and painfully twisting one arm behind him; John was afraid in this scene that Sherlock would seriously injure his brother.

Despite the challenges Sherlock presents toward potential friends, John is shown to be extremely loyal to his flatmate. In Series Three, after Sherlock returns from his two-year absence, John selects Sherlock to be the best man at his and Mary's wedding. The speech Sherlock gives is somewhat awkward, with his demeanor showing how uncomfortable he is with making a speech in front of strangers,^[1] and his apparent lack of understanding when a number of deeply moved guests begin to sniffle and an extremely touched John abruptly hugs him seems to provide more evidence that Sherlock is on the autism spectrum.

Trying to prevent anyone, specifically the press, from getting a photograph of his face, Sherlock disguises it with a deerstalker. This becomes his trademark-- much to his annoyance as he greatly dislikes the hat, describing it in "The Reichenbach Fall" as a "death Frisbee" and expressing confusion about the advantage this hat, according to its name, would provide to a person hunting deer. He concludes that as this hat has ear flaps, it is an "ear hat." However, he seems to have accepted the fact that the hat is now his trademark since he puts one on before greeting the press about his miraculous return in "The Empty Hearse". Sherlock is also shown not to enjoy eating; in The Blind Banker, he explains to Molly Hooper that he doesn't eat while he's working, as digesting slows him down. In the pilot episode of the show, he tells John that he does not eat every day, and later in the episode, John uses the fact that Sherlock has not eaten in several days to convince Lestrade to allow Sherlock to leave the scene of the cabbie Jeff Hope's death-- in order to go and eat dinner-- instead of staying to share his deductions with the police force.

Dr. John Watson

Martin Freeman as John Watson

John Hamish Watson (Martin Freeman) is Sherlock's best friend 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 friendly, compassionate, patient and 'human' compared to Sherlock's aloof, cold-hearted tendencies. He gets on better with the police and takes care of practical matters at their flat, apparently doing most of the shopping. Sherlock has called him "the wisest, warmest human being [he] knows", and has stated that "the warmth and constancy of [John's] friendship" can redeem even a "rude, ignorant, all-around obnoxious arsehole like [Sherlock]."

John seems to behave as Sherlock's advocate, helping strangers to understand what they should expect from Sherlock as he helps Sherlock to behave in socially acceptable ways. He calmly but sternly corrects Sherlock when he is brash and helps "translate" sarcasm and "typical" human emotions, which Sherlock snidely refers to as "sentiment," to him. John is very tolerant; as Sherlock's flatmate he has to deal with everything from coming home to find Sherlock shooting holes in the wall to opening the refrigerator to discover a severed human head. He is shown to, in general, be very protective of Sherlock and his neurological differences; when, at the beginning of "The Hounds of Baskerville," Sherlock is angrily pacing the sitting room of their flat, desperate for a case, John politely and respectfully encourages him and tries to help him find something to do, although, after Sherlock's deduction of Mrs. Hudson proves extremely insulting, John tells him off and insists he apologize. One thing John will not do with Sherlock, however, is play the game Cluedo; Sherlock's frustration that the inflexible rules of the game do not allow for scenarios that resemble realistic cases has apparently ruined the game for John. After he becomes engaged to Mary Morstan in Series Three, John develops a code with Mary that they use when one of them realizes that they need to privately discuss an issue Sherlock is having.

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. He was honourably discharged as a Captain. 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 dependable and brave, 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. John also shows impressive physical strength; in the episode A Scandal in Belgravia, when a confused Sherlock, who has been rendered ill by Irene Adler's poison, gets out of bed to search for her and falls, John is able to lift him from the floor to return him to bed.

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 an estranged 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 too 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 .^[2]

Metropolitan Police personnel

Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade

Rupert Graves plays Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade

Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves) works for Scotland Yard. 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 and treats him with extreme disrespect and rudeness, cruelly calling him a "freak" to his face, 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, which Sherlock reveals, severely embarrassing the pair, 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.

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. Also in that episode, Anderson, who has at least some familiarity with German, concludes that the letters that the dying Jennifer Wilson, poisoned by the cabbie Jeff Hope, carved into the floor with her fingernail, "Rache," spell the German word for "revenge." 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 later questions him along with others that know Sherlock to find out where he is.

Villains

Jim Moriarty

Andrew Scott plays James 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.

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.

Moriarty appears once again in the special episode "The Abominable Bride", set in Victorian era. This time, he and Sherlock confront at Baker Street and the Reichenbach Falls. The whole conversation, however, is just a part of Sherlock's dream in his mind palace. At present day, Sherlock confirms that Moriarty is definitely dead.

Charles Augustus Magnussen

Charles Augustus Magnussen (Lars Mikkelsen), who is shown briefly in "The Empty Hearse" and appears prominently in "His Last Vow", is a powerful businessman who controls a media empire. He holds information on many people of prominence, allowing him to use such information for blackmail purposes in order to achieve his goals; Sherlock has nicknamed him "the Napoleon of Blackmail". 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. Sherlock solves this situation by shooting Magnussen in the head.

Irene Adler

Lara Pulver plays 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, a (female) member of the House of Windsor. 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 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," when 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 are 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 a scene taking place in Sherlock's mind palace, when he tells Sherlock that, "... Mummy and Daddy will cry ... and The Woman will cry," in a surreal sequence where Sherlock, who is suffering from a near-fatal gunshot wound and has retreated to his Mind Palace to find a way to keep himself alive, imagines himself in a room where Moriarty is chained.

Other characters

Mrs. Hudson

Una Stubbs as Mrs. Hudson while filming for Sherlock.

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, and throughout the show, she is seen to still believe that they are a gay couple, despite John's repeated protests that he is not gay and that he and Sherlock are not a couple. 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 pushes a CIA agent out of a second-story window multiple times 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

Mark Gatiss plays 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. 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 skilled at deduction, even correcting Sherlock on occasion and beating him in deduction exercises, as well as lacking enthusiasm for “legwork”. His intellect is borderline superhuman, allowing him to learn Serbian in a couple of hours. As such, even Sherlock admits that Mycroft is smarter than he is; in reference to their childhood, Mycroft thought Sherlock was “an idiot”, only changing his mind when they compared themselves with other children.

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. Cigarette addiction is something Mycroft shares with Sherlock; Sherlock also states that Mycroft has OCD, and can only handle low tar cigarettes and thus “smokes like a beginner.”

Molly Hooper

Louise Brealey plays 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 or perform experiments on victims' bodies, such as, as in Sherlock's first scene in A Study in Pink, beating them with a riding crop in order to study postmortem bruising. She was in a relationship with an Information technology employee named Jim, who was later revealed to be Moriarty. 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 stabs Tom with a plastic fork when he insults Sherlock. During her engagement to Tom, Molly still wishes she could be in a relationship with Sherlock; when, to make him jealous, she mentions the intimacy she and Tom are sharing, Sherlock appears confused and a bit disgusted instead of jealous.

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."^[3]

Mary Morstan

Amanda Abbington plays 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 that Sherlock had great challenges when it came to understanding human emotions. Knowing the great friendship John shared with Sherlock, Mary then made it her job to try to get 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 before the wedding by describing himself as "a high-functioning sociopath... with your number." She seems to know how to get what she wants from both John and Sherlock. She understands both of them very well and respects their close, brotherly friendship; during "The Sign of Three" as the three of them sit in the flat at Baker Street planning the wedding, she realizes how much Sherlock, who is averse to change, needs to know that John still cares deeply about him and will always be his friend, and how much John also needs to connect with him, and insists that the two of them go out on a case. During this scene, Mary sees that Sherlock is afraid, as evidenced by the large number of Sydney Opera House-shaped origami serviettes he is seen to have created out of nervous energy while John and Mary had had their private conversation. She is also very patient during Sherlock's long-winded and embarrassing best man speech at the reception of her and John's wedding, appearing to be quite amused by Sherlock's rambling, awkward, but ultimately very touching soliloquy. During the show, Mary is shown to have an unusually excellent memory and to understand a skip code; clues which help Sherlock realize that all is not as it seems with Mrs. Watson. It is later revealed in "His Last Vow" that Mary is in fact a former CIA agent, who went freelance and eventually on the run, and might not be English. An upset John even commented she should have married Sherlock since they're so alike. 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; though, as a world-class sharpshooter, she was able to shoot Sherlock in such a way that he would be hospitalized but would not die. At the end of the third series, Mary is pregnant with a daughter.

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 Hawkins

Janine Hawkins (Yasmine Akram) is Mary Morstan’s bridesmaid in the "The Sign of Three". She is the personal assistant 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. Pretending to propose to her, Sherlock succeeds in getting into Magnussen’s penthouse; however, Mary had rendered Janine unconscious moments before.

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 had bought herself a nice cottage in Sussex. It is unclear whether that was her original intention or improvised for revenge. Most of the stories that she publicized were made-up to sell better. Sherlock and Janine agree that this makes them even, and she leaves amicably, although she insists that he should not have lied to her.

Mr. and Mrs. Holmes

Mr. and Mrs. Holmes (Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham), Sherlock and Mycroft's parents, appear in Series Three. They are introduced in The Empty Hearse when John comes into the flat at Baker Street to find an older couple seated in the sitting room, speaking to Sherlock. He assumes that this couple are clients, but Sherlock's conversation with them eventually implies that they know one another. After they leave, Sherlock explains to John that they are in fact his parents. John is hurt when he discovers that the reason that Mr. and Mrs. Holmes did not attend Sherlock's funeral was because Sherlock had told them, unlike John, that he was alive.

Mr. and Mrs. Holmes are shown to be patient and accepting parents to their highly intelligent but socially impaired sons. As the two of them chat with Sherlock during the scene in which they are first introduced, neither parent appears too surprised when Sherlock abruptly steps up onto the coffee table, using it as a step so he can climb onto the couch to work on a complex chart he is using to help him with an ongoing case. As he stands between them, working on this visual aid, his mother simply looks up at him and continues talking as if she does not even notice his unusual behavior. His father sighs and looks a bit annoyed, but remains polite.

Mr. and Mrs. Holmes also appear later in Series Three, in His Last Vow. They are featured when John and Mary join the Holmes brothers at their parents' house for a somewhat awkward Christmas dinner before John and Sherlock travel to Appledore to seek out Magnussen's incriminating materials on Mary. Despite her great love for her boys, Mrs. Holmes is shown apparently not to fully understand Mycroft's role in international security; when he complains that she has gotten potatoes on his laptop, "on which depends the security of the free world," she simply tells him that he "shouldn't leave it lying around if it's so important." It is from their mother, though, apparently, that the Holmes brothers get their great intellect; that Christmas, Mrs. Holmes is shown to have written a book on mathematics. Mr. Holmes, though not a genius, seems almost to fill a John-like role as, as Mary Watson puts it, the "sane one." Both the Holmes parents seem to immediately love and accept Mary, who may represent something of a daughter-in-law to them, as neither of their own sons seem likely to marry or have children.

External links

• Sherlock at the Internet Movie Database

References

1. "Sherlock is an Aspie". sherlockisanaspie.tumblr.com (warning: profanity present in source). Retrieved 2015-11-26.
2. Dorothy L. Sayers, "Dr. Watson's Christian Name", in Unpopular Opinions (London: Victor Gollancz, 1946), 148–151.
3. Wells, Matt (21 May 2012). "Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall - live chat with the co-creators". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2012.