# Sherlock Holmes poll **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451 "2015-01-10T01:05:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/61 "2015-01-12T18:36:57Z")
I voted for Robert Downey Jr. Honestly, he’s actually the closest to the Books. And his Watson isnt a dimwit. The Benedict Cumberbatch & Jonny Lee Miller Holmes are far too much assholes & dickheads. Sherlock really wasnt a asshole or a dickhead. Basil Rathbone did a great Holmes, but they made poor Nigel Bruce into a idiot dimwit. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/62 "2015-01-12T19:10:32Z")
I voted Cumberbatch, but have to say that Downey gave an A+ performance as well. Cumberbatch’s physical look of the part gives him the bump. (Miller I have seen but honestly can’t remember much about, which makes me think the others are probably better.) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/63 "2015-01-12T19:52:17Z")
I voted for Robert Downey Jr. I have been a Holmes fan since I was a child, and I honestly thought his movie was going to suck. I ended up loving it. Cumberbatch is fine, but I can’t get over the fact that he’s so overexposed. Also, the whole “shippiness” of “Sherlock” bugs me (the whole “I am Sherlocked” thing). I’m an anti-shipper, so that’s why Cumberbatch comes in behind Downey for me. I like “Elementary” and Jonny Lee Miller, but the longer the series goes, the more he seems to be morphing into the human version of Grumpy Cat. Does the man _ever_ smile? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/64 "2015-01-13T06:24:46Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I like “Elementary” and Jonny Lee Miller, but the longer the series goes, the more he seems to be morphing into the human version of Grumpy Cat. Does the man _ever_ smile? It makes it all the more luminous when he does… ---
**Author:** ![Archeonomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Archeonomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archeonomist)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2015, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/65 "2015-01-13T09:47:21Z")
The Cucumber for me too, of the recent shows. The other two just doesn’t work for me. Not that I’m completely sold on the Bumblesnatch show - he’s a bit too much of an asshole, and I think they’re trying to cram way too much stuff into each episode. Of course - Brett is _the_ Holmes. I have no love for Basil Rathbone, though. Horrible stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/66 "2015-01-14T14:17:18Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > This is especially true because, at the time, Brett’s series was pitched as something brand-new, for a new age. It was faithful to the original stories! It had a Watson who wasn’t a buffoon! It had the best period atmosphere that the resources of a modern, up-to-date studio could give it! Finally, a new actor who can challenge the decades-old dominance of Basil Rathbone! Everything about the publicity was geared to distance it from interpretations that had come before. Ironically enough, not unlike some of the publicity for _Sherlock_. I concur. The Granada series I think of as the first of the new Holmes, dark, brooding and anti-social and started the current trend of Holmes/Watson that truly reflect the spirit of ACD’s work. That being said I am binge-watching Sherlock right now and while Cumberbatch would get my vote in this poll, it also reminds me of how much better Brett was. The almost dirge like violin pieces that I could swear Brett actually played. Doyle’s Sherlock was a phenomenal actor while in disguise and compare how Brett played the vicar in _A Scandal in Bohemia_ vs Cumberbatch in _A Scandal in Belsavis_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/67 "2015-01-14T15:40:50Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > The Granada series I think of as the first of the new Holmes, dark, brooding and anti-social and started the current trend of Holmes/Watson that truly reflect the spirit of ACD’s work. I’ve just started watching _Sherlock_ (which is what prompted this poll). One of the things on the DVD was an interview with the show’s creators and they raised an interesting point about how we now associate the characters of Holmes and Watson with the Victorian setting. But they noted that this was not Conan Doyle’s intent. He wasn’t writing historical fiction - he was setting Holmes in what was modern London to his readers. To the original audience, Sherlock Holmes stories were the equivalent of _Law and Order_ or _CSI_ - a mystery thriller set in contemporary times. So by moving the characters up to the 21st century, the show’s creators (and the creators of _Elementary_) are actually restoring the original feel. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/68 "2015-01-14T16:32:11Z")
Benedict, among those three. But Jeremy Brett still holds the all-time crown. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/69 "2015-01-14T21:08:42Z")
If I can’t vote for Lieutenant Commander Data then I’m not voting. So I voted for Downey. ---
**Author:** ![FuriousGeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecae2f/32.png) [@FuriousGeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuriousGeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/70 "2015-01-14T21:21:52Z")
If I can’t say Gene Wilder was the best Holmes, then I am not voting. OK, that’s a lie. I voted for Miller. Just remarkably well done for an American TV procedural drama, IM ever so HO ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/71 "2015-01-16T03:47:32Z")
Sherlock not Sigerson ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/72 "2015-01-16T05:01:11Z")
Jonny Lee Miller was my choice. He just seems like the most human Sherlock, rather than an adding machine (Cumberbatch) or action star (Downey, Jr.). But I’d echo that Hugh Laurie’s Gregory House was the best Sherlock. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/73 "2015-01-29T22:34:25Z")
I think David Mitchell earns an honourable mention for his brilliant blending of comedy and tragedy. [Warning: this will make you cry.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp02ubGuTIU) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451/74 "2015-02-05T02:14:47Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > I think David Mitchell earns an honourable mention for his brilliant blending of comedy and tragedy. > > [Warning: this will make you cry.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp02ubGuTIU) She had a very long neck Oh wait! Wrong one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sherlock-holmes-poll/709451.md?page=3)