Above, from left: Lucy Liu, Jonny Lee Miller and Ato Essandoh in Elementary on CBS.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is one of the best known fictional characters in the world, and has been a popular subject for adaptation throughout the media, both parody and homage, from comic strips to radio shows, movies and TV. Currently there is a book series, reprint and originals, called The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a movie series and two ongoing TV series: Sherlock on PBS and Elementary on CBS.
In almost all adaptations, Sherlock Holmes is an unlicensed consulting detective, working with the police and private citizens. A master of deductive reasoning, his mind processes information so fast that he needs to keep it busy with a problem or his researches into related subjects: gun shots, blood, soil.
In the original stories, Holmes also has what would now be called bad habits, such as pipe tobacco, which he says helps him think, and a seven-percent solution of cocaine for when he’s bored. (Occasionally he uses morphine, too, though this is never depicted.) Holmes was not depicted as a drug addict, but only an occasional user when he didn’t have an interesting case at hand.
Cocaine was legal at the time, but Doyle, a medical doctor, did not have a sanguine view of its use. Dr. John Watson – Holmes’ fellow lodger, chronicler and companion – frequently disapproves. In a later story, Watson reveals that he has weaned Holmes off of the drug.
That drug use is not a constant in either the original stories or subsequent versions by other hands, but occasionally it rears its head. In Billy Wilder’s film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes it is mentioned a couple of times. In Nicholas Meyer’s book and screenplay The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, it takes center stage and becomes a full-blown addiction, causing Holmes’ hallucinations of the master criminal Professor Moriarty (actually a timid former mathematics tutor of Holmes).
In Elementary, Holmes is a recovering heroin addict who gets heroin addiction rehab treatment help, complete with aftercare including support group meetings and a live-in sober companion (in the form of Dr. Joan Watson). He became addicted following the supposed death of his great love, Irene Adler (though she actually faked her own death and is in reality his arch enemy Moriarty). He suffers a major relapse at the end of Season Three.
The depiction and extent of heroin use and abuse in Elementary is a departure from the canon, and is an aspect of Holmes character not explored in Sherlock either (though on the PBS show he does wear a nicotine patch to quit smoking). And that might be part of the point. When CBS announced its own modern take on Holmes, it was viewed as a copycat and the Sherlock producers would quickly jump on any perceived imitation of their show. So the Elementary producers probably looked for aspects of the character that Sherlock ignored, and Holmes drug use was one of these.
It’s an interesting and dramatic change. Making Holmes a user of heroin – an illegal drug – and an addict, not a recreational user, is a major departure. It makes Holmes flawed, less superhuman, and gives a new origin for his relationship/friendship with Watson. It’s also a realistic depiction of the 12-step process. Holmes takes breaks from cases to attend sessions, has a sponsor and even becomes a sponsor himself. He relapses and gets sober again. But it doesn’t take over the plot or Holmes’ life. It’s just a part of his life. It also breathes new life into a fictional character who has been around for more than 125 years.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is one of the best known fictional characters in the world, and has been a popular subject for adaptation throughout the media, both parody and homage, from comic strips to radio shows, movies and TV. Currently there is a book series, reprint and originals, called The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a movie series and two ongoing TV series: Sherlock on PBS and Elementary on CBS.
In almost all adaptations, Sherlock Holmes is an unlicensed consulting detective, working with the police and private citizens. A master of deductive reasoning, his mind processes information so fast that he needs to keep it busy with a problem or his researches into related subjects: gun shots, blood, soil.
In the original stories, Holmes also has what would now be called bad habits, such as pipe tobacco, which he says helps him think, and a seven-percent solution of cocaine for when he’s bored. (Occasionally he uses morphine, too, though this is never depicted.) Holmes was not depicted as a drug addict, but only an occasional user when he didn’t have an interesting case at hand.
Cocaine was legal at the time, but Doyle, a medical doctor, did not have a sanguine view of its use. Dr. John Watson – Holmes’ fellow lodger, chronicler and companion – frequently disapproves. In a later story, Watson reveals that he has weaned Holmes off of the drug.
That drug use is not a constant in either the original stories or subsequent versions by other hands, but occasionally it rears its head. In Billy Wilder’s film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes it is mentioned a couple of times. In Nicholas Meyer’s book and screenplay The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, it takes center stage and becomes a full-blown addiction, causing Holmes’ hallucinations of the master criminal Professor Moriarty (actually a timid former mathematics tutor of Holmes).
In Elementary, Holmes is a recovering heroin addict who gets heroin addiction rehab treatment help, complete with aftercare including support group meetings and a live-in sober companion (in the form of Dr. Joan Watson). He became addicted following the supposed death of his great love, Irene Adler (though she actually faked her own death and is in reality his arch enemy Moriarty). He suffers a major relapse at the end of Season Three.
The depiction and extent of heroin use and abuse in Elementary is a departure from the canon, and is an aspect of Holmes character not explored in Sherlock either (though on the PBS show he does wear a nicotine patch to quit smoking). And that might be part of the point. When CBS announced its own modern take on Holmes, it was viewed as a copycat and the Sherlock producers would quickly jump on any perceived imitation of their show. So the Elementary producers probably looked for aspects of the character that Sherlock ignored, and Holmes drug use was one of these.
It’s an interesting and dramatic change. Making Holmes a user of heroin – an illegal drug – and an addict, not a recreational user, is a major departure. It makes Holmes flawed, less superhuman, and gives a new origin for his relationship/friendship with Watson. It’s also a realistic depiction of the 12-step process. Holmes takes breaks from cases to attend sessions, has a sponsor and even becomes a sponsor himself. He relapses and gets sober again. But it doesn’t take over the plot or Holmes’ life. It’s just a part of his life. It also breathes new life into a fictional character who has been around for more than 125 years.