Is Young Sherlock Based On A Book?

There’s no shortage of Sherlock Holmes adaptations out there: from BBC’s Tumblr darling Sherlock to the ongoing detective-slash-medical drama Watson. Now, Prime Video’s Young Sherlock series (streaming now) gets to know the storied sleuth in his early days.

As Hero Fiennes Tiffin — who plays the titular teen — recently told the Boston Herald, Arthur Conan Doyle originally depicted Holmes as a “cold and distant” detective. Conversely, on Young Sherlock, “We’re trying to give him a youthful positivity. If we’re lucky enough to have more seasons and continue to document his journey, sadly, we’re going to see those traits slowly wear off.”

Is Young Sherlock Based On A Book?

Originally, co-executive producer Simon Maxwell presented the project to showrunner Matthew Parkhill as an adaptation of Andrew Lane’s Young Sherlock Holmes novels, the team told The New York Times. But despite this initial inspiration, you’ll find that the finished product is a departure from Lane’s novels. “It’s nothing against the books, which I loved reading,” Parkhill said. “But I just didn’t know what to do with a 14-year-old schoolboy — so I went in a different direction.”

So if you’re a Sherlock Holmes aficionado, you’ll probably find lots to enjoy in both the books and the show. Just know they’re separate stories: Lane’s novels, for example, begin with a younger Sherlock spending summer break at his aunt and uncle’s house, where he stumbles upon the mystery of locals dying from an apparent plague-like illness.

Prime Video’s Young Sherlock, on the other hand, ages up Sherlock to 19 years old, highlighting his life as an “anarchic adolescent” and his friendship with future foe, James Moriarty (Dónal Finn).

“Obviously, the audience knows where it’s going to end up,” Parkhill told the Times. “So you get the deliciousness of being able to use that to create tension and use that dramatic irony. That’s a lot of fun to play with.”

Unpacking Sherlock Holmes’ Origin Story

Parkhill also told Entertainment Weekly that as a longtime fan of Sherlock Holmes, he didn’t want to mess with the canon. “Meaning, I’ll never touch anything that starts after that first Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story,” he explained. “I felt that anything that happened before that, for me, it felt like a blank page. So I tried not to be too daunted, but I was respectful.”

The show also has a unique connection to another modern adaptation. Guy Ritchie, who directed the Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, serves as director and executive producer on Young Sherlock.