Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes books have been adapted countless times, but the best adaptations of the 21st century all have one surprising trait in common. Sherlock Holmes has remained one of the world's most famous detectives for over a century now, and it's partly due to the fact that there have been so many modern shows inspired by Sherlock Holmes, like Monk and House, to more direct modernizations, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work seems immortal. Not every Sherlock Holmes adaptation is made equal, however.

Over the decades, TV and film adaptations of Sherlock Holmes have changed drastically. Basil Rathbone's iconic movies from the 1930s and 40s were more or less direct translations of Conan Doyle's books from page to film. Newer takes on the character, like Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock or Johnny Lee Miller's Elementary, have updated the character for the modern day. Others, like Morris Chestnut's Watson, have even taken Holmes out of the story entirely. The best Sherlock Holmes adaptations of the 21st century, however, have all taken wildly different approaches to Conan Doyle's famous work.

The Best Sherlock Adaptations Of The Century Are All Very Different From The Source Material

Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, BBC's Sherlock, & CBS's Elementary All Experimented With Arthur Conan Doyle's Books

In the last quarter-century, three Sherlock Holmes adaptations were clearly the best and most popular: Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movies, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, the BBC's Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, and CBS's Elementary, starring Johnny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. All three of these modern adaptations are quite different. Elementary, for example, takes place in modern-day New York, while Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes features plenty of action and violence. None of the best modern-day Sherlock Holmes adaptations are very much like Conan Doyle's books at all, in fact.

Of course, all three adaptations are still adaptations. They all follow Sherlock and Watson, they're all concerned with seemingly unsolvable mysteries, and they feature many of the most important parts of Conan Doyle's original stories, such as Sherlock's addiction to cocaine or Watson's role as a doctor. None of them are truly accurate, though. Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movies are much more interested in being an action-thriller than the books ever were. Elementary is set in modern times, in America, with a female Watson. Sherlock was more directly inspired by the books, but it changed key parts of the cases and Sherlock's characterization.

They're all still Sherlock Holmes stories and instantly recognizable as an extension of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original work, but each of the best modern adaptations also offers something new that the books never did. Whether it's the modern setting, the amount of action, or the dynamic between and actual character traits of Holmes and Watson, each adaptation made its own mark. They were so different from Conan Doyle's books that they may have even helped Sherlock Holmes have such longevity after more than a century.

Guy Ritchie’s Movies, BBC’s Sherlock, And Elementary Reinvented Sherlock For A New Generation

Modern Sherlock Holmes Adaptations Have Updated The Legendary Detective & Helped The Sleuth Remain Immortal

The original text of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes books isn't the most approachable, especially for modern readers. They were, after all, written in the 19th century, and they contain references and plot devices intended for the cultural context of Victorian London, which most readers are no longer familiar with. One of the best things about Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, and Elementary is how they reinterpreted Sherlock and updated him for modern audiences. Those modern movies and shows are much more accessible than Conan Doyle's books, and they brought the legendary sleuth to a new century.

Those adaptations did more than just modernize Sherlock Holmes, however, they also added to the character's long and storied legacy. Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes added a sense of adventure and danger to the detective that clearly helped with Sherlock's popularity in the 21st century. Elementary and Sherlock dove deeper into Sherlock's personal life than the books normally did, and revealed even more reasons to love the character. In short, they took what Conan Doyle had written and enhanced it to make it more palatable for modern audiences.

Because of these modern adaptations, Sherlock Holmes is just as intriguing to modern audiences as he was in Victorian England.

In a way, these modern adaptations have even helped expand the very notion of Sherlock Holmes and what the character can be. For example, both Sherlock and Elementary examined Sherlock's use of cocaine and applied more modern science to it. That both showed the dangers of drug misuse and also signaled to audiences that even a brilliant man like Sherlock Holmes could struggle with substance abuse. Those shows turned Sherlock from some inconceivable Übermensch into a relatable role model. Because of these modern adaptations, Sherlock Holmes is just as intriguing to modern audiences as he was in Victorian England.