Young Sherlock: Confirmation, Cast & Everything We Know (2024)

The expansive Sherlock Holmes franchise has just gotten bigger with the announcement of a brand-new prequel series entitled Young Sherlock. Making his debut in the novels and short stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the year 1887, the intrepid sleuth Sherlock Holmes uses his amazing logic and deduction skills to crack some of the toughest fictional cases of the 19th century. Generally accompanied by his companion Dr. John Watson, Holmes wasted no time in jumping off the page and onto the stage and screen as his reputation grew over the years.

Though there have been dozens of adaptations of Sherlock Holmes over the decades, director Guy Ritchie is partially responsible for bringing the character back into focus with the release of the 2009 film starring Robert Downey Jr. A blockbuster sequel followed a few years later, and by then, the modern day Sherlock Holmes craze was in full force. Now, Ritchie returns to the franchise to direct a prequel series based on the novels by Andrew Lane. Young Sherlock aims to continue the Holmes craze into the 2020s while exploring new stories for the daring detective.

Young Sherlock Latest News

A Director & Star Are Announced

Rumblings concerning the show began in April 2024, but the latest news confirms Young Sherlock is in the works with Guy Ritchie directing. The prequel series has been given the go-ahead by Amazon Prime Video and will adapt the novels of author Andrew Lane. Despite being in early development, Young Sherlock has already found its title character with the casting of Hero Fiennes Tiffin. Director Guy Ritchie had previously worked with Tiffin on his 2024 war film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare which also starred Henry Cavill. It's unclear if the series will connect to Ritchies Sherlock Holmes films.

Young Sherlock Is Confirmed

The Project Was Announced In May 2024

Though British tabloids dropped hints about the project in April 2024, an official announcement regarding Young Sherlock didn't surface until later in May. The reveal was a doozy with the inclusion of director Guy Ritchie and the news that Hero Fiennes Tiffin had been cast in the lead role. The 8-episode series is slated to debut on Amazon Prime Video, but no production timeline has been established yet. The show will adapt Andrew Lane's books of the same name, the most recent of which was published in 2025.

Young Sherlock Cast

Hero Fiennes Tiffin Stars As Sherlock Holmes

The cast of Young Sherlock is largely unformed, but it has been revealed that Hero Fiennes Tiffin will be the latest in a long line of actors who have played Sherlock Holmes. Tiffin will play a much younger and less savvy version of the character, and audiences will get to see Holmes grow into the intrepid sleuth that readers met in Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet back in 1887. Instead of Dr. John Watson, Holmes' older brother Mycroft and his American tutor Amyus Crowe are his companions in the novels, but those roles haven't been cast yet.

Young Sherlock Story Details

Andrew Lane Has Written 8 Young Sherlock Books Thus Far

Along with the announcement of the show, a basic synopsis has been provided that offers some clues about the story of Young Sherlock. The 8-episode first season will follow a 19-year-old Sherlock as he attends Oxford University and finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery that changes his life forever. This marks a bit of a departure from the book series and sees Holmes aged up from his younger teenage years to young adulthood. In most of Lane's novels, Holmes is 14, something that would be difficult to adapt into a television series.

Andrew Lane's Young Sherlock book series includes:

The plot is closest to Lane's 7th novel, Stone Cold, which sees the burgeoning sleuth investigate a strange case involving the university's pathology labs, but the Oxford connection could merely be a coincidence. Based on the details provided, Young Sherlock may be an amalgamation of various novels from Lane's series, or could tell an entirely new story with the same tone as the popular YA books.

Sherlock Holmes

PG-13

Adventure

Mystery

Action

Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes adapts the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with an all-star Hollywood cast. Set in 1890, Sherlock Holmes follows the eccentric but brilliant detective Sherlock (Robert Downey Jr.) and his partner Watson (Jude Law) as they solve various mysteries around Victorian London. Teaming up with former adversary Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), the detectives find themselves pitted against the villainous Lord Henry Blackwood (Mark Strong) as he attempts to gain control of Britain.

Director

Guy Ritchie

Release Date

December 25, 2009

Studio(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Writers

Anthony Peckham , Simon Kinberg , Michael Robert Johnson

Cast

Mark Strong , Eddie Marsan , Robert Downey Jr. , Rachel McAdams , Jude Law

Runtime

128 minutes

Franchise(s)

Sherlock Holmes

Sequel(s)

Sherlock Holmes 3 , Sherlock Holmes 2

Budget

$90 million