There’s no doubt that Sherlock Holmes has a lot of adaptations out there, all varying in quality. Movies, games, TV shows: you name it, and it probably exists. With most of the original Sherlock Holmes works already in the public domain, and the last of them entering public domain next year, there isn’t a limit for how people take and use this popular character, an easy example being the popular Enola Holmes series, which recently released its second movie.

Considering the amount of Sherlock tales there are between the novels and short stories that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote, there’s no doubt that there’s a lot of material to potentially adapt, which only helps boost the numbers of Sherlock adaptations as it leaves the door open for a lot of directors and writers to make exactly what they want. This has led to several different TV shows over the years that many fans still adore, no matter how long they’ve been around, and these are the best.

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6 Sherlock Hound

     Tokyo Movie Shinsha

Sherlock Hound is exactly what it sounds like — Sherlock Holmes, but as a dog. This animated series turns most of the characters of Sherlock Holmes into anthropomorphic dogs and often features technology inspired by steampunk styles, turning the series into a sci-fi mystery. The 26 episodes were also co-written and co-directed by anime mastermind Hayao Miyazaki (of Studio Ghibli), which almost automatically means that it’s good.

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Since the show has already taken on a different aspect of the characters, it’s safe to say it doesn’t really adapt a specific story of Sherlock’s, merely bringing the essence of the books into its show. This includes mysteries that Sherlock and Watson solve together, Professor Moriarty as the antagonist, and some other familiar characters never missing from the stories. If you like a more whimsical kind of story telling, and mysteries that are easy to digest, this is definitely one you should check out.

5 Sherlock Holmes (1954)

     First-run syndication

In 1954, the first ever American TV adaptation of Doyle’s detective, Sherlock Holmes, was released. With 39 different episodes, most of the show featured original cases for Sherlock and Watson to solve. A few of the original stories from Doyle that the show did directly base an episode on are The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter, The Valley of Fear, The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb, the Red-Headed League, and the first part of A Study in Scarlet.

Being the only American adaptation for over half a century, there was no doubt the show was popular and remained popular for a long time. Despite the age now on it, there’s no denying the milestones it reached, nor the effort that went into making it as believably ‘Sherlock’ as they could while still creating their own stories.

4 The Cases of Sherlock Holmes

     BBC1

The Cases of Sherlock Holmes actually envelops two BBC Sherlock series: Sherlock Holmes, released in 1965, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, released in 1968. The second ever BBC adaptation was split because of the sheer difference between the two seasons. The first was in black and white while the second was in color, already bringing a major difference, but the original Sherlock actor, Douglas Wilmer, didn’t return for various reasons.

It took them a while to find a replacement, finally approaching the legendary Peter Cushing to take up the role after his great performance as Sherlock in The Hound of the Baskervilles movie. Despite the differences, both seasons are definitely worth watching, as they had permission from the Doyle estate to directly adapt most of the Sherlock Holmes stories, with a few exceptions as their rights were already sold for other productions at the time. This means it’s a pretty faithful adaptation, bringing the real Sherlock stories to life on the screen with great actors that kept the audiences coming back for more.

3 Sherlock Holmes (1984)

     ITV

Another series split into sections is the 1984-1994 Sherlock Holmes. The different seasons of the show each had a different name it was shown under, all from different Sherlock Holmes short story titles. With 36 different episodes and five feature-length specials, the series adapted 43 of the original tales, only leaving out 17 of the many Sherlock stories that Doyle wrote. Despite this, the adaptation isn’t entirely faithful, as a few of the stories were combined, taking either both stories and tying them together, or taking pieces from each of them.

What’s interesting about this cast is, the Sherlock actor, both Watson actors, and even a few supporting actors had all acted in a different production of Sherlock Holmes, whether on the screen or on the stage. None of them played the same role they had previously, either, taking up new roles and still portraying them in a way that makes them favorites for the fans.

2 Elementary

     CBS Television Distribution

A more modern take on Sherlock Holmes, Elementary is set in New York City, featuring Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock and Lucy Liu as a female Watson. This American drama made sure that Sherlock kept his personality, just fitting him into modern times and dealing with modern issues.

However, the gender swap for Watson was not the only difference there, as she’s not a war veteran that ended up sharing the same home as Sherlock, but a former surgeon hired to help Sherlock’s rehabilitation, as he is a recovering drug addict. Moriarty is also a woman, still a nemesis but now a former lover of Sherlock’s. Elementary was popular enough to last seven seasons, and was praised for its approach to the stories with its modern twists as well as its great attention to detail.

1 Sherlock (2010)

     BBC

Perhaps the most popular TV adaptations despite having less episodes than all the rest, Sherlock is a BBC series starring famous actors Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock and Martin Freeman as Watson. There are four seasons and 13 episodes, each episode longer than a typical TV episode would be in order to tell the full story. Set in the present day except for a single one-off special in the Victorian period, the show uses many different Sherlock short stories in the episodes.

From loose interpretations to close adaptations and even a couple episodes inspired by multiple cases at once, it still maintains the right dynamic and characterization between all of its main and recurring characters. Over the course of its run it was nominated for several awards and won many of them too, including at the Emmys, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes.