Sherlock Holmes and Star Trek
| Related terms: | Treklock |
| See also: | Blake's 7 and Star Trek, Star Trek and Star Wars and Star Trek and Starsky & Hutch |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The relationship between the fandoms of Sherlock Holmes and Star Trek is a long one.
Comparisons of the great detective to Mr. Spock go clear back to John Boardman's essay "Intimations of Mr. Spock" in Spockanalia 3 (September 1968).
In 1976, Leonard Nimoy appeared in a Sherlock Holmes play which furthered fans' interest in the cross-pollination of the two universes.
The next major nod in Star Trek to Sherlock Holmes was in Star Trek: The Next Generation. There were many references to Sherlock Holmes in the show. In "Data's Day," Data first became aware of Holmes when Riker called Picard a private eye. In "Lonely Among Us," Data was introduced to the works of Arthur Conan Doyle by Captain Picard. In "The Big Goodbye," Geordi La Forge described Dixon Hill as a 20th century Sherlock Holmes.
Two episodes of TNG, "Elementary, Dear Data" and "Ship in a Bottle," focused on Data's admiration of the character of Holmes. In 1988, and then in 1993, "Data played the role of Holmes in a holodeck program, alongside La Forge in the role of Dr. Watson. La Forge, while accompanying Data and Katherine Pulaski on a challenge to solve a Holmes mystery he had not read, accidentally programmed the Moriarty hologram so well that it became self-aware and learned of its true existence, requesting the computer to create an adversary capable of defeating Data, rather than capable of defeating Holmes."[1]
Another major connection between the two fandoms was in the 1991 film The Undiscovered Country. Written and directed by Nicholas Meyer, who'd also written The Seven Percent Solution, it gave Spock this bit of dialogue: "When you have eliminated the impossible, everything that is left must be the truth", which he attributes to one of his ancestors. Since this is a quote from the Sherlock Holmes novel, The Sign of Four, it implies that Spock, and therefore his human mother, Amanda Grayson, are descendants either of Holmes or of his creator Arthur Conan Doyle.
Similar Relationships and Divides
- Science Fiction Fandom vs. Media Fandom
- Sherlock Holmes and Star Trek
- Blake's 7 and Star Trek
- Star Trek and Starsky & Hutch
- Star Trek and Space: 1999
- Star Trek and Star Wars
Some Meta
- Holmes Was a Vulcan, "Mr. Holmes, where have you lived?..." by Priscilla Pollner, article in The SH-sf Fanthology #3 (1972)
- article The Starship and the Upstairs Flat,[2] an article by Diane Duane which compares Star Trek to Sherlock (BBC)
- Michael Joseph Halm's detailed family tree expose[3]
- The Sherlock Holmes Connection, a 1991 essay in IDIC #15
Star Trek: TOS Fanart Examples
from Masiform D #4, Kevin Walsh, 1976
from Warped Space #16, Gordon Carleton, 1976
from Menagerie, Doug Rice, 1976, see play poster above for its photo reference -- this illo is also commentary on Nimoy's book I Am Not Spock
from LNAF Yearbook 1977, Alice Jones
from The Holmesian Federation #1, Spock as Holmes, Gayle F is the artist, 1978
art by Hilary Barta and Fred Hembeck for "Sherlock Spock" in Enterprise Incidents #6, 1978
The Holmesian Federation #1, McCoy as Watson, Gayle F, 1978
The Holmesian Federation #1, by V.M. Wyman, 1978
The Holmesian Federation #1, by Signe Landon, 1978
from Delta Triad #5, Melinda Shreve, 1979
from The Adventures of Sherlock Bones #3, a rarer portrayal of McCoy as Holmes, 1980
The Holmesian Federation #4, Merle Decker, 1983
The Holmesian Federation #5, Wanda Lybarger, 1984
The Holmesian Federation #6, Signe Landon, 1985
from Spiced Peaches #35, "Sherlock Holmes" by Ellen Smock & Melinda, a riff squared: Sherlock (BBC)
Star Trek: TNG Fanart Examples
Data as Holmes in Who's Blake #3
from Clipper Trade Ship #71, artist is Ray, 1991
STAG #113, Asif Zabbar, 1994
from Make It So #12, Gordon Smith, 1993
from Make It So #19, Christine Carr, 1994
art from Transwarp, Sha'eena
References
- ^ "Sherlock Holmes - Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki". 2013-07-29. Archived from the original on 2013-07-29.
- ^ "The Starship and the Upstairs Flat - Out of Ambit". 2012-02-02. Archived from the original on 2013-07-29.
- ^ "The Case of the Missing Ruby: The Holmes, Grayson, Pink Panther Connection by Michael Joseph Halm". 2013-07-29. Archived from the original on 2013-07-29.