Arthur Conan Doyle's stories about Sherlock Holmes are filled with characters who stand out from the crowd, from the dogged Inspector Lestrade to Sherlock Holmes' brother Mycroft. Some, like Mrs. Hudson, appear in several stories, while others, like Irene Adler, appear all too briefly. Often present to serve as nothing more than the yardstick by which we measure Holmes' brilliance, they're occasionally allowed to shine, revealing a deeper and more complex nature.
Now that Netflix's The Irregulars and two Enola Holmes movies have shown the way, it's time to give these characters their turn on the small screen. Through their own adventures, with or without Sherlock Holmes, they can show modern audiences what life was like in late Victorian London, particularly life in the seedier quarters!
Inspector Lestrade
Often described by Arthur Conan Doyle as looking sharp-faced, like a rat or ferret, Inspector Lestrade had already been a policeman for 20 years when he first met Sherlock Holmes. Although Holmes criticizes him for lacking imagination, he admits the detective has energy and tenacity.
Allowed out on his own, Lestrade just might show audiences a thing or two about Victorian policing, and that energy and tenacity combined with diligence and duty can produce results even without a consulting detective looking over your shoulder. As well, his cases are likely to represent a greater variety of London's inhabitants, including the working class and the impoverished, the people who actually made up the bulk of the city's population.
Mrs. Hudson
The landlady of 221B Baker Street, the patient and ever-attentive Mrs. Hudson, acts as a gatekeeper for her lodgers, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. In the stories she makes little impression, remaining in the background as quiet as a church mouse. In some adaptations, like the more recent Sherlock Holmes television series, her role is more prominent.
As a star in her own series, however, we would see how she deals with all of Holmes' visitors, welcome or otherwise. She might even take on the occasional case Holmes himself feels disinclined to accept, perhaps becoming a kind of Victorian Miss Marple.
Count von Kramm
Count von Kramm is the cover name used by Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein (which goes some way to explaining why he settled on von Kramm) when he first meets Sherlock Holmes in 'A Scandal in Bohemia'. Kramm is in fact hereditary king of Bohemia, and requires Holmes' help in recovering a sensitive photograph that might compromise his forthcoming marriage to a princess.
Kramm would be the perfect alias for a minor royal who, inspired by the work of Holmes, goes into the detecting business himself. With his access to the various courts and governments of Europe, not to mention his training with pistol and saber, he could chase up an endless number of dangerous cases involving secret plans, stolen jewelry, kidnapped dukes and blackmailed prime ministers.
Irene Adler
In four novels and 56 short stories, Sherlock Holmes was outsmarted only once by 'the Woman', Irene Adler. She is, in fact, the owner of the photograph required by von Kramm in 'A Scandal in Bohemia', and although not originally a criminal she is such an intriguing figure that she appears as one in recent Holmes films and television series.
A retired well-respected opera singer and performer, she would have contacts throughout Europe and the Americas, and being able to defeat Holmes is a sure sign Adler could be a brilliant detective herself or indeed, a master criminal to rival Professor Moriarty.
Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is Sherlock Holmes' greatest rival. In some ways, he is Holmes' twin: cunning, reserved, a borderline misanthropist, sociopathic, vain, brilliant but on the wrong side of the law.
A series featuring Moriarty as the protagonist would have to involve Holmes now and then, but perhaps more interesting would be the conflict between a gentleman such as himself and the up-and-coming criminal gangs from the working class (as shown in the series Peaky Blinders) which would have even less inhibition about using violence than Moriarty himself, and could prove a real threat to his underworld empire.
Mycroft
Probably the only man who can outthink Sherlock Holmes is his older brother, Mycroft. An essential cog in the British government - Holmes even goes so far as to suggest to Dr. Watson that from a certain perspective, Mycroft is the British government - he appears in only a handful of stories. Although possibly smarter than his younger brother, he hates going outside his government office or his rooms at the Diogenes Club.
Mycroft would make a brilliant armchair detective (or, considering his government connections, a brilliant armchair secret agent) with sidekicks and specialists doing his fieldwork. He would end up being a cross between Nero Wolfe and George Smiley: calm, unhurried, seemingly innocuous but with a mind as sharp as a stiletto.
Colonel Moran
A thoroughly corrupted fellow, Colonel Sebastian Moran was effectively Professor Moriarty's second-in-command and most trusted assassin. Once renowned as a brave soldier, he turned to crime early on in his career but managed to maintain an air of respectability. He was finally caught while trying to kill Holmes in revenge for Moriarty's death.
Moran would make the perfect Victorian antihero. While possessing so many of those attributes admired at the time, he is also murderous, greedy and ruthless. Audiences would be spellbound as they enjoy the vicarious and voyeuristic experience of watching a master villain at work in the smog-filled streets of London, especially one who, while possessing a kind of urbane charm, has fewer scruples than a sewer rat.
Dr. John Watson
One of the most loyal companions in literature, Dr. John Watson is not only Sherlock Holmes' biographer, but also - in his steady, honorable way - the perfect foil for the mercurial and often cynical consulting detective. He is there through almost every adventure, presenting people in a more sympathetic light than Holmes might prefer, determined to find justice for innocent victims, and a firm believer in Holmes' ability to bring order to a disordered world. He is in every sense the friend Holmes needs, something Holmes himself recognizes.
But there is a gap in their relationship, between when Watson is sure Holmes dies by throwing himself and Professor Moriarty off the Reichenbach Falls and his unexpected return three years later. During that time, practicing medicine, he would feel duty bound to take on some cases brought to him by lost souls looking for Sherlock Holmes, and all the while himself looking after his wife, Mary Morstan, during her final illness. Such a humane, intelligent and stalwart fellow deserves his own show where, out of the shadow of the great Sherlock Holmes, he can shine brightly as a detective as well as a doctor. Indeed, in this regard things may already be afoot!