Hundreds of years after the Great Detective's time, a female Lestrade of New London's Scotland Yard discovers that a Mad Scientist has created a clone of the infamous Professor Moriarty from cells taken from his frozen corpse at Reichenbach Falls. Using the latest technology, she has the well-preserved body of the Sherlock Holmes rejuvenated and reanimated to help her foil the plans of what they initially believe to simply be a Moriarty-obsessed madman.After about half an episode of being disoriented and disadvantaged by being three hundred years out of his own time, Holmes settles down, moves into a Holmes museum recreation of his old apartment, and the game is, once again, afoot.In addition to Lestrade, Holmes is ably assisted by a new Watson, Lestrade's robotic partner who adopts his predecessor's personality and mannerisms after downloading Watson's collected writings. He soon gains a Latex Perfection mask giving him Watson's superficial appearance. Holmes also adopts a new team of Irregulars (with no mention made of Wiggins' name coinciding with the original Irregular leader).Each episode was Suggested By a story from the canon, though the extent of the resemblance varies widely: some stories are translated closely, simply transposing the characters to a new setting ("Silver Blaze" with asteroid racing craft, rather than racehorses) while others take little more than names and some concepts ("The Hounds of the Baskervilles" is about "werewolves" on a lunar colony). Most of the stories were, however, rewritten to make Moriarty the ultimate culprit (usually as The Man Behind the Man).Not to be confused with Sherlock Holmes in the twenty-first century.
This series provides examples of:
Action Girl: Lestrade. Holmes calls her a "force of nature unto herself."
Affably Evil: Moriarty can be a gentleman and quite casually so. It's almost a little creepy, as befits the original character.
After Action, Villain Analysis: Considering that this is Holmes and he does like to wax eloquent on cases at times... yeah.
All Your Base Are Belong to Us: From the Yard's computer core to the Moon to 10 Downing Street, this is part of Moriarty's modus operandi.
Watson and Fenwick also wear longcoats, but fall a bit short of the "badass" part.
Bad Writing: Unfortunately, the dialogue does not always jive.
Battle of Wits: Considering that we're talking about Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty, this is a given. "The Adventure of the Mazarin Chip" is probably the best example of this.
The "real" Watson in the prologue of the premiere.
Holmes and Watson together, watching Lestrade leap from a very high story.
Blondes Are Evil: Subverted with Heather Trenton, who had no idea what she was really doing.
Played with in “The Beryl Board”.
Brief Accent Imitation: Holmes does this a lot when in disguise, even mimicking people’s voices (Moriarty and Fenwick have this ability, as well). Holmes’s favorite accent incognito seems to be Southern.
Car Chase: Several times with hovercraft, but same basic principle... and often when Lestrade is at the wheel in one of the vehicles.
Casual Danger Dialogue: And it's not all Holmes and Moriarty, either - Lestrade and Fenwick can get into it, too.
Catch Phrase: All the Holmes standards plus some others... "Eyes and brains!"
This is all the more hilarious when the actual so called catchphrases associated with Holmes were either a) only ever said by him once or b) never even said by him.
Character Development: Holmes and Lestrade demonstrate considerable character development in the show, Holmes throughout the first three episodes, and Lestrade throughout the series, regarding her relationships with Holmes and the Irregulars.
Moriarty's attitude towards Lestrade also develops throughout the series, from "Miss Lestrade" to "New Scotland Yard zealot". Ouch.
Crowning Moment of Awesome: Moriarty and Holmes both use the Mazarin Chip to great effect, but Holmes's command for "Fireworks!" in the climax of the episode tops it all.
Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: After his poor treatment of Watson, Holmes thinks he's lost him and goes into denial. Then Watson reappears, much to Holmes's joy.
Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Or at least eat away at one character, who let the fact of his cyborg status bother him. To an extreme degree.
But revisited one more time in "Five Orange Pips," with an anti-tech society and the necessity of Holmes's clients understanding that Watson is just as human as they are (in mind and heart, anyway, if not in body).
To be fair to Lestrade, Holmes doesn’t even know what he’s ‘‘doing’’ when he’s behind the wheel.
Dull Surprise: Holmes, right after being de-aged and reanimated, wakes up to find this unknown girl right in front of his face telling him he is two hundred years ahead of his time, had only this to say:
Lestrade: Welcome to the 22th century, Holmes!
Holmes:Huh
Elaborate Underground Base: Um, Amanda Wheelwright's hideout kind of strains the willing suspension of disbelief.
Establishing Character Moment: The opening scene of the first episode shows an irritated Lestrade tearing through the skyline after a runaway criminal. Easily irritated, reckless driving, and pursuit of justice. Yup, that's our Beth.
Even Evil Has Standards: According to Moriarty in "Five Orange Pips," he doesn't want people getting hurt as he takes over the world. To be fair, he generally sticks to this rule, with the exception of "Baskerville" early on in the game.
Fridge Logic: We never got to hear how Moriarty adapted to the new century. In fact, what we know about his history is purely conjecture by Holmes and Lestrade and corroborated by Moriarty.
Foregone Conclusion: Holmes's non-death in "The Empty House". It's so much of a foregone conclusion that this trope doesn't use the spoiler brackets!
Gas Mask Mooks: The men Moriarty hired as a front for his subtler scheme in "Five Orange Pips".
Gender Flip: Lestrade, thanks to The Smurfette Principle coming into larger existence after the source material. Here, the role is played by Beth Lestrade, a descendant of the original Inspector G. Lestrade.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: The Unusual Euphemism "zed" replaces several different swear words throughout the show - older audiences understand the various contexts of the word.
Impersonation Gambit: Holmes does this several times throughout the series as part of his M.O.
Insistent Terminology: Grayson never stops referring to Holmes as the "dead detective".
Incredibly Lame Pun: Holmes seems to have a predilection for this, as he comes up with a few throughout the series. One was lampshaded by Lestrade when she groaned.
It's Personal: If Watson is in harm's way, absolutely.
Jumped at the Call: Let's put this in perspective: Lestrade could not make Holmes help her. He chose to, and he threw himself into her investigation.
Just a Machine: Holmes's initial reaction to Watson, as well as John Oppenshaw's.
Kick Chick: Lestrade delivers some pretty mean kicks, including a Call Back to the third episode when she disarms Moriarty in "The Sussex Vampire Lot".
Latex Space Suit: Holmes’s and Lestrade’s space suits in “Baskerville”.
Limited Wardrobe: Discounting Holmes's and Moriarty's various disguises, none of the characters ever change their clothes - Lestrade won't even take off her uniform for a wedding!
Monster of the Week: The series has no fewer than three genetically-modified/mutated people – averted with two in that they were victims rather than the Villain of the Week.
Mugged for Disguise: Holmes is, by Lestrade. The result is humorous but disastrous to the case.
Muscles Are Meaningless: Moriarty’s impressive build never stops the sleeker Holmes from mopping the floor with him.
Nerves of Steel: Holmes and Lestrade demonstrate this regularly.
Never Found the Body: During one fight, Moriarty tells Holmes that the Yard won't be able to find any trace of him if he falls into a laser field below. True enough, Watson witnessed both men fall, and no bodies were recovered... But that would be too simple for a second Reichenbach, wouldn't it?
No Ending: The last time we see Moriarty (second-to-last episode aired, but probably intended to be the finale), he's gotten away. Neither this issue nor Holmes's relationship with Lestrade (see Will They or Won't They?) is ever resolved.
No Name Given: The Prime Minister in "Mazarin Chip".
Not so Different: Bit of Fridge Logic here: read the whole page and come back to this trope. Notice how many times Holmes and Moriarty appear together? And yet Holmes is solidly good and Moriarty is solidly evil.
Not So Stoic: When there's a possibility of having lost Watson or Lestrade, watch Holmes's composure crumble.
Poorly Disguised Pilot: The idea first materialized as "Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century," a two-part episode of Bravestarr, which was made more than a decade before the series was finally produced.
Running Gag: In-universe. Lestrade loves to make cracks at Fenwick's rather deformed appearance.
Saved for the Sequel: The first two episodes - the first three make up the show's only story arc.
Say My Name: The "real" Watson in the prologue of the premiere. He uses Holmes's given name.
Scenery Porn: The cityscape sequences may be Conspicous CG, but you have to give them credit for detail (even if the stock shot of one distinctive double-tower appears a few times too many).
He really ought to be saying this ‘’all’’ the time.
Take a Third Option: Holmes is a master at this, especially when Moriarty's the one holding the gun to his head.
Taking You with Me: Seems to be Moriarty's preferred method of trying to get rid of Sherlock Holmes.
Take Over the World: Being an adventure cartoon, this trope is a given. However, with Moriarty as the would-be conqueror, the schemes tend to be rather more complex than your average villain.
We Will Meet Again: Moriarty always comes back, no matter how hard Holmes pounds him.
Will They or Won't They?: For all the amusing chemistry between Holmes and Lestrade, the question of their relationship is left as open-ended as the matter of Moriarty still at large. It's a definite YMMV issue, with the fandom divided between slashers and Holmes/Lestrade fans (virtually no proponents of asexual!Holmes).
Would Hit a Girl: Criminals, especially Moriarty and Fenwick, don't hesitate attack Lestrade. Her belligerence probably encourages them.
You Have Failed Me: Averted. For all the times that Fenwick botches things, Moriarty still keeps him around. Given Moriarty's need for perfection, one must wonder why...
Zeerust: Although some characters are clothed in more contemporary-looking apparel, not everyone is, and the architecture and some of the technology definitely fits the trope.
Zoot: Fenwick says this a few times, most notably in "Mazarin Chip."
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