SOME FACTS YOU DID NOT KNOW!

 Originally Sir Arthur Conan Doyle named the sleuth Sherrinford but changed his mind – perhaps because there were well-known Nottingham cricketers called Sherwin and Shacklock and the author was a big fan of the sport. 

 There are notes in the Museum of London that suggest both characters might have had very different names. 

 Conan Doyle was so impressed by Dr Joseph Bell, a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, who could diagnose patients on sight, that he based Sherlock’s skills of perception on him. 

 His first adventure was rejected by several publishers and printed in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, which was not a success. 

 …or at least, the most popular human character! He’s been in 226 films while Dracula has been in 239! 

 In the story The Bruce-Partington Plans, Sherlock is invited to Windsor to meet Queen Victoria in recognition of his services, and is presented with an emerald tiepin.