Sherlock Holmes Officially Begins a Brutal New Era With an Adults-Only TV Series

Sky’s forthcoming adults-only drama The Death of Sherlock Holmes will explore the largely untold three-year period after Holmes is presumed dead at Reichenbach Falls. Starring Rafe Spall and due in 2027, the series matters because it moves beyond familiar adaptations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective to expand a rarely dramatised gap in the original canon.

Most screen versions reuse established elements such as Baker Street, Watson, Moriarty and Irene Adler, often retelling well-known stories rather than inventing within Doyle’s framework. More than 75 actors have played Holmes on screen, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Basil Rathbone, Robert Downey Jr. and Jonny Lee Miller, underlining the character’s enduring adaptability.