The super sleuth just got spoofed.
Welcome to WatchMojo UK and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10
Sherlock Holmes parodies!
For this list, we’ve gathered the funniest, cleverest and most popular parodies of Arthur
Conan Doyle’s celebrated detective.
Holmes does have a long history with the printed pastiche, but we’re focussing on film and
TV parodies today, as well as viral clips and YouTube favourites.
ut here we head to the Holodeck on the Starship Enterprise.
This “Next Generation” episode sees Brent Spiner’s Commander Data take the central
role in a Sherlock-style mystery, which ultimately gets quite out of hand.
With La Forge doubling up as Watson, the crew are caught amidst a Victorian England virtual
reality – with a certain Moriarty proving a worthy menace to be reckoned with.
Even Data’s stumped at times, but at least he looks
the part.
While Holmes’ often-grisly assignments are rarely child-friendly, the character is a
staple archetype for the clue-counting, puzzle-solving, super-smart detective role on children’s
TV.
Special mention for “Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century” – a fave show for many
‘90s kids – but Sesame Street’s Sherlock Hemlock turns the parody into preschool puppetry
– and slightly skews the stereotype, as well.
The over-confident Hemlock usually cracks the case, but there are often hiccups along
the way – all in the name of education, of course.
We all know Sherlock’s powers of deduction are second to none, but what if they’re
applied to something other than a complicated crime scene?
When David Walliams’ Watson is unexpectedly interrupted for this comedy sketch, Jack Whitehall’s
Holmes just will not let the matter drop.
One glance around the room and the cause of John’s embarrassment is all too clear, but
Whitehall rattles through the list of incriminating evidence, regardless.
Oh, the shame.
Michael Caine dons the deerstalker next, to play an actor playing Holmes as part of a
ruse to allow Watson to continue solving crimes.
And if that sounds a slightly over-complicated concept, your confusion is nothing compared
to Caine’s central character.
Despite Sherlock’s reputation for having the most brilliant brain around, this guy’s
always on the verge of a catastrophic error.
And, though Ben Kingsley’s Watson is a genuinely intelligent chap, and the pair do tend to
crack the case, there’s a fair bit of farce along
the way.
Drawing directly from the BBC’s Benedict Cumberbatch interpretation of the character,
this Pete Holmes sketch swaps Sherlock’s unstoppable intelligence for something a little
more flawed.
Recreating the “Study in Pink” scene when the detective first meets Watson, Holmes saunters
through a stream of deductions with more than a hint of arrogance – until it’s revealed
that he’s completely wrong.
And the more he tries to prove his worth, the more magnificently incompetent he makes
himself look.
To what’s probably today’s most bizarre parody, and a silent era flick starring the
Hollywood legend Douglas Fairbanks.
Fairbanks plays the Holmes-inspired Coke Ennyday, the ‘world’s greatest scientific detective’,
who also happens to be an irrepressible cocaine addict.
And the story sees Ennyday embark on a comic caper to catch a gang of drug smugglers (oh,
the irony), while polishing off most of the plunder himself.
Sherlock’s pipe is a big part of his character, and illicit substances still crop up every
so often, but this is something else.
A Disney adaptation of Eve Titus’s children’s book series, “Basil of Baker Street”,
this mid-‘80s animated classic reimagines the Sherlock stories with anthropomorphic
rats and mice.
And the rodent-loaded movie doesn’t forget its roots, as the eponymous ‘mouse detective’,
Basil, is actually named after the English actor Basil Rathbone, who famously played
Holmes during the ‘30s and ‘40s.
With Dawson doubling as Watson, and Ratigan mimicking Moriarty, the key characters are
all accounted for – just with cute whiskers and an inherent fear
of cats.
Some Scandi spoofing next, as Norway’s NRK takes on Holmes and Watson for a surreal series
of short clips stacked with innuendo, awkward kissing and ongoing problems with predictive
text.
It’s another parody that draws inspiration from Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman,
as these scenes see Sherlock make sense of a murder mystery by spouting some definitely
random words of nonsense.
Playing on the world-famous sleuth’s well-worn eccentricities, the game is on – but the
rules are anyone’s guess.
As the final act in the final episode of this Mitchell and Webb sketch show, fans of the
comedy duo could not have guessed that they’d end it this way.
After four series of crazy, comic carnage, we’re met with Mitchell as an aging Holmes
and Webb as an attentive Watson.
And though the scene throws up some funny moments, the overriding ambiance trades humour
for heartbreak.
Balanced on bleak but perfectly pitched performances by both, it proves a sensational sign-off.
Mix “Sherlock” with Macklemore and you get an instant classic.
After years of fans hoping that they would, the Hillywood Show finally parodied the BBC
series in 2016 – and it was definitely worth the wait.
With genius lyrics and clever choreography, they roll through almost every significant
scene from the first three seasons, revisiting everything from Sherlock’s suicide to Watson’s
stag do.
There’s even time for a Steven Moffat cameo right at the close.
It’s the pick of the parodies, and Baker Street’s best.