Forget Sherlock, This 154-Episode Detective Series Is The Better Arthur Conan Doyle Show

Image via MovieStillsDB Published Oct 1, 2026, 5:15 PM EDT Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. Sign in to your ScreenRant account The BBC's Sherlock is one of the best detective TV shows of all time, but when it comes to being an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, another TV show did it better. Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular and influential literary characters of all time, so much so that he has been used as a blueprint for many other well-known fictional detectives. Among the best TV shows of all time are different detective shows, either adaptations of Conan Doyle’s stories or inspired by them. TV shows like House and Monk were inspired by Sherlock Holmes, and when it comes to adaptations of the Great Detective, the BBC’s Sherlock is still one of the best. Created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, Sherlock adapted the characters and stories by Conan Doyle to the modern day. Sherlock ran for four seasons from 2010 to 2017, and despite a dramatic drop in quality in its final two seasons, it’s still one of the best modern Sherlock Holmes adaptations. However, when it comes to how well it adapted the characters and stories, Sherlock isn’t the best show. Sherlock’s direct competitor was CBS’ Elementary, also a modern adaptation of the character but with some major differences from the BBC’s show. Elementary had a longer run of seven seasons, and not only was it a better adaptation of the books, but it was also, overall, a better show. Elementary Captured The Essence Of The Books Better Than Sherlock Created by Robert Doherty, Elementary aired on CBS from 2012 to 2019 and starred Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Joan Watson. Elementary’s Sherlock Holmes fell from grace in London, but after some time in rehab to treat his substance-use disorder, he relocates to New York to work as a police consultant for the NYPD. However, Holmes is forced by his father to live with a sober companion, this being Dr. Joan Watson. Watson was once a successful surgeon, but after losing a patient, she made some changes to her career. Although they have a tough start, Holmes and Watson eventually form a strong bond and friendship, and they complement each other quite well both as investigators and at a personal level, but without ever crossing the line into romantic territory. Elementary was a consistent success with critics and general audiences, and it’s widely regarded as the best modern Sherlock Holmes TV show. Unlike Sherlock, which leaned a lot more into drama, Elementary has a procedural approach, with a good balance of comedy and drama. Elementary opted for a traditional episodic structure, with each episode covering a different case, which is a lot more like the essence of the books, where each novel and story is different. While Sherlock also had a different mystery in every episode, they were a lot longer, essentially being like short movies. Surely, Sherlock was a lot more ambitious and had a cinematic feel, but that ultimately led to its downfall, while Elementary kept it simpler, smarter, and stayed true to the essence of the books throughout its entire run. Elementary Had A Much Better Ending Than Sherlock Elementary did many things better than Sherlock, most notably character development and the dynamic between Holmes and Watson, including a much better ending. Sherlock had a very good start with its first two seasons, but it peaked too soon with season 2’s finale, “The Reichenbach Fall”, in which Moriarty (Andrew Scott) killed himself to force Holmes into doing so, but the detective ended up faking his own death. “The Reichenbach Fall” was the end of Sherlock’s good run and the beginning of its downfall, with seasons 3 and 4 being huge disappointments, including the series finale. Elementary completely avoided falling into that through well-written stories, characters, and consistency throughout the entire show. Elementary’s finale gave a proper conclusion to the stories of Holmes and Watson, both individually and together, while also setting up their future but without giving hope for a continuation of the show. Sherlock and Elementary are some of the best Sherlock Holmes TV shows of all time, and both have their strengths and weaknesses and are worth watching, but for those wanting a modern adaptation that stays as true to the source material as possible, the best show is definitely Elementary. Release Date 2012 - 2019-00-00 Network CBS Directors Guy Ferland, John Polson, Christine Moore, Seith Mann, Jerry Levine, Lucy Liu, Larry Teng, Aaron Lipstadt, Andrew Bernstein, Michael Slovis, Sanaa Hamri, Alex Chapple, Michael Pressman, Jennifer Lynch, John David Coles, Jonny Lee Miller, Peter Werner, Jeremy Webb, Adam Davidson, Aidan Quinn, Colin Bucksey, Craig Zisk, David Platt, Helen Shaver Cast Jonny Lee Miller Sherlock Holmes Writers Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Tamara Jaron, Kelly Wheeler, Jordan Rosenberg, Arika Lisanne Mittman, Peter Ocko, Mark Hudis, Nick Thiel, Brian Rodenbeck, Cathryn Humphris, Paul Cornell, Richard C. Okie, Christopher Hollier, Andrew Gettens, Lauren MacKenzie Creator(s) Robert Doherty