The WORST episodes of Sherlock Holmes (1984)

Every episode of Sherlock Holmes (1984) ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Sherlock Holmes (1984)!

Sherlock Holmes is one of the world’s most popular fictional detectives, famed for his legendary powers of observation and deduction. Adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original novels, this classic series by Granada Television starred Jeremy Brett as the definitive Holmes, with David Burke and later Edward Hardwicke as his able assistant Dr. Watson.

Last Updated: 12/10/2024Network: ITV1Status: Ended
The Creeping Man
star
6.38
185 votes

#1 - The Creeping Man

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/28/1991

Spinster Edith Presbury asks Holmes to investigate when she is frightened by a large hulking figure silhouetted in her bedroom window - a presence which causes her dog to howl. Holmes is convinced the prowler is something out of the ordinary, but Watson at first finds the case trivial.

Directors: Tim Sullivan
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The Three Gables
star
6.92
148 votes

#2 - The Three Gables

Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/7/1994

Holmes investigates when a man dies and the manuscript of his recently-completed book is stolen. He has to discover who was behind an unusual proposal to buy a house and all of its contents.

Directors: Peter Hammond
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The Eligible Bachelor (2)
star
7.48
61 votes

#3 - The Eligible Bachelor (2)

Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/17/1993

Concluding the case of the mysterious disappearance of Henrietta Doran, who vanished without trace on her wedding day.

Directors: Peter Hammond
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The Dancing Men
star
7.57
342 votes

#4 - The Dancing Men

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/1/1984

Hilton Cubitt, from Derbyshire, consults Holmes about a series of dancing men picture-messages his wife is receiving. On their wedding-day, she had made Cubitt promise he would ask her nothing about her past, but she now seems to be terrified. Holmes has to decipher the code of the matchstick men and get to the bottom of a dreadful murder which lies behind it.

Directors: John Bruce
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The Naval Treaty
star
7.70
254 votes

#5 - The Naval Treaty

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 5/8/1984

Holmes is approached by Percy Phelps, of the Foreign Office, to recover a document which has been stolen - before it can cause an international scandal and ruin Phelps's career. It seems the British Empire and the Kingdom of Italy have entered into a secret and embarrassing treaty.

Directors: Alan Grint
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The Crooked Man
star
7.70
231 votes

#6 - The Crooked Man

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/22/1984

An unhappy wife learns that her husband, Colonel Barclay, cheated her earlier fiance, leaving him disabled and in exile. After a fierce argument between them, the Colonel's dead body is found next to his unconscious wife in a locked room with no key, and with curious animal tracks outside the window. Nancy Barclay remains in a coma.Holmes investigates and finds a story of betrayal and a mystery worthy of his powers.

Directors: Alan Grint
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A Scandal in Bohemia
star
7.72
508 votes

#7 - A Scandal in Bohemia

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/24/1984

A masked man calls, on confidential business, and Holmes quickly recognizes the visitor as the King of Bohemia. The King is planning for himself a dynastic marriage and is worried about a compromising photograph in the possession of his American former mistress. He wants Holmes to get it back for him.In outwitting the lady, Irene Adler, Holmes goes to great lengths - and at the end of the affair Watson comes to the conclusion that his friend is himself smitten.

Directors: Paul Annett
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The Greek Interpreter
star
7.75
166 votes

#8 - The Greek Interpreter

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/1/1985

Holmes's brother, Mycroft, seeks his help in deciphering the story a man tells about being kidnapped and forced to translate for an injured Greek. Holmes investigates the disappearance of Paul Kratides, abducted by two villains, Latimer and Kemp, with the aim of forcing him to sign a document releasing his sister Sophie to marry Latimer.

Directors: Alan Grint
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The Blue Carbuncle
star
7.76
272 votes

#9 - The Blue Carbuncle

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 6/5/1984

A plumber, John Horner, is arrested just before Christmas and charged with stealing a famous jewel, the Blue Carbuncle, from Lady Morcar. He denies the theft - but he has a criminal record, and all the evidence is against him. After Holmes's doorman finds the Carbuncle in a Christmas goose, Holmes uses an old hat to track the goose to a poultry dealer, then traps the servant who stole the jewel and framed the plumber. The Blue Carbuncle has a dark history, and the stone features in the programme's opening credits with turbulent scenes from its past.

Directors: David Carson
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The Solitary Cyclist
star
7.83
207 votes

#10 - The Solitary Cyclist

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/15/1984

Violet Smith has recently started a new job as music teacher to Robert Carruthers, staying during the week at his house in the country. She consults Holmes because she is worried about being followed once a week on her way to the railway station by a man on a bicycle. Carruthers asks Miss Smith to marry him, but Holmes sees a sinister connection between him and the stalker.

Directors: Paul Annett
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The Last Vampyre (2)
star
7.87
64 votes

#11 - The Last Vampyre (2)

Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/27/1993

Concluding the case in which Holmes unmasks an ingenious vampire.

Directors: Tim Sullivan
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The Copper Beeches
star
7.88
211 votes

#12 - The Copper Beeches

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/25/1985

Violet Hunter consults Holmes about Edward Rucastle's offer of a job. He wants her to cut off her hair before coming to work for him as a governess. Holmes sees a sinister motive and investigates.

Directors: Paul Annett
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The Eligible Bachelor
star
7.91
75 votes

#13 - The Eligible Bachelor

Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 2/10/1993

American heiress Henrietta Doran (known as Hatty) marries Lord St Simon, but she vanishes without trace on her wedding day, leaving London agog. Later, the police find her wedding dress in the Serpentine, a lake in a London park, with a note in the pocket of the dress. While investigating the case, Holmes suffers from nightmares, which he sees as a factor in the mystery.

Directors: Peter Hammond
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The Abbey Grange
star
7.91
183 votes

#14 - The Abbey Grange

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 7/16/1986

Holmes is called in to investigate a murder. Lady Brackenstall says she saw a gang of men kill her bullying husband, Sir Eustace, but on Holmes's arrival the case seems to have been solved. Holmes is uneasy and returns to the scene of the crime, where he finds things are not as they appear to be. And Watson is curious to hear about the lady's love affair with a sea captain during a long voyage...

Directors: Peter Hammond
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star
7.91
168 votes

#15 - Silver Blaze

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/13/1988

In a remote area of Dartmoor, The Silver Blaze, England's most famous and valuable racehorse, goes missing, the dead body of the horse's trainer is found, and sheep are savaged. The Police seem bewildered, but then they charge Fitzroy Stephen, a famous figure in the racing world, with the murder. Holmes is called in to trace the missing horse and finds he has to separate fact from fiction.

Directors: Brian Mills
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The Final Problem
star
7.93
188 votes

#16 - The Final Problem

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 9/29/1985

The French government sends for Holmes when the Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre. Holmes swiftly decides he is dealing with a mastermind - and none other than his old enemy Professor Moriarty himself.Holmes foils Moriarty's plans to sell Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece and trails him to Switzerland, where they meet and fight to the death above the famous waterfall at Reichenbach.

Directors: Alan Grint
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The Speckled Band
star
7.93
247 votes

#17 - The Speckled Band

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/29/1984

Holmes is approached by Helen Stoner, who feels threatened by her domineering step-father, Dr Grimesby Roylott. Her sister died mysteriously just before her planned wedding, and Helen has heard again the curious whistle she first heard on the night of her sister's death.Holmes perceives great danger and lays a complicated plan to defeat the threat to the beautiful Helen.

Directors: John Bruce
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The Second Stain
star
7.95
156 votes

#18 - The Second Stain

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/23/1986

The British Prime Minister himself calls at Baker Street to seek Holmes's help with a political crisis. A highly confidential letter from a foreign power has been stolen from the Secretary of State for European Affairs, threatening the world with war. Minutes after the Prime Minister's departure, Holmes receives another visit, from a veiled lady.In his investigation, a bloodstain is clearly an important clue, but whose is the blood? Holmes sees through the deceptions of great and small alike.

Directors: John Bruce
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Shoscombe Old Place
star
7.95
133 votes

#19 - Shoscombe Old Place

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/7/1991

Sir Robert Norberton stakes a huge amount (much of it borrrowed) on his horse Shoscombe Prince winning a race. His trainer thinks Sir Robert has gone mad and consults Holmes. Then one of the many creditors disappears and human bone is found in a furnace...

Directors: Patrick Lau
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The Master Blackmailer
star
7.96
90 votes

#20 - The Master Blackmailer

Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/2/1992

Holmes and Watson are called in to deal with a blackmailer. A dazzling young lady is about to be married, and Charles Augustus Milverton, the slithery king of all blackmailers, has letters she wrote to another man. Watson is astonished when Milverton calls at Baker Street at the invitation of Holmes, who has a plan to thwart him. As ever, things are not quite as they appear to be.

Directors: Peter Hammond
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The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
star
7.98
131 votes

#21 - The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax

Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/21/1991

Watson, on holiday in the Lake District, meets the enigmatic Lady Frances Carfax, who is being haunted by the ghost of a horseman. Holmes decides to come up to join Watson, but by the time he arrives Lady Frances has vanished without trace. Holmes investigates and becomes very curious about the ghost.

Directors: John Madden
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The Mazarin Stone
star
7.99
138 votes

#22 - The Mazarin Stone

Season 7 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/4/1994

The Mazarin Stone, a famous jewel, acts as a magnet for crime. Holmes investigates the latest and perhaps most curious episode in its adventures.

Directors: Peter Hammond
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The Red Circle
star
8.01
141 votes

#23 - The Red Circle

Season 7 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/28/1994

Mrs Warren, a London lodging-house keeper, comes to Holmes with a curious story of a reclusive and eccentric tenant. Mrs Warren's husband has been abducted and then quickly released again, perhaps a case of mistaken identity. Holmes decides the case is more important than it appears.

Directors: Sarah Hellings
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The Norwood Builder
star
8.01
206 votes

#24 - The Norwood Builder

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/8/1985

A young solicitor, John Hector McFarlane, seeks Holmes's help after retired builder Jonas Oldacre dies in a fire. McFarlane, who benefits from Oldacre's will, is suspected of murder and asks Holmes to clear his name. Holmes looks for another motive and another killer, and dresses up as a tramp to get the information he needs about the Oldacre household. The surprising answer he finds is that Oldacre is not exactly dead.

Directors: Ken Grieve
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star
8.01
180 votes

#25 - The Devil's Foot

Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/6/1988

Reluctantly, after an illness, Holmes takes a holiday in Cornwall, with Watson for company. Then one day he finds himself investigating a mysterious death... after a quiet evening at home playing cards, three local inhabitants have been found in the morning in a terrible way: the two brothers overtaken by sudden mental illness, babbling incoherently, and their sister dead, with her face twisted into a look of terror. Holmes is delighted with the chance to bury his holiday boredom by taking on the case.

Directors: Ken Hannam
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