Young Sherlock

Oxford, 1870. A disrespectful and disruptive teenager who has been expelled from several high schools, Sherlock has just spent a few months in jail for mocking a judge. Patient but exasperated, his older brother Mycroft bails him out of jail and gives him a half-chance by placing him as a scout at an Oxford college. It won’t be long before the young genius’s brilliant mind begins to stand out. In fact, the first person to notice him is none other than a student with the same abilities: James Moriarty.

Young Moriarty

The first episode, despite the beautiful sets and costumes, seemed a little too conventional to me. Young ham actors, Guy Ritchie-style fight scenes… I hesitated to keep watching. But as a fan of Sherlock (especially its brilliant modern adaptation), I kept watching. Fortunately, the plot improves and gains depth. Episode 5 serves as a turning point, as Sherlock’s childhood family drama is now linked to the current events.

Admittedly, the premise of a Sherlock who was initially friends with his nemesis James Moriarty isn’t exactly subtle (think Superman and Lex Luthor in Smallville…). But this is an opportunity to shine the spotlight on Moriarty (Dónal Finn), whose presence easily overshadows that of the cute hero.

The series is certainly full of color. First of all, there are the characters, who are all a bit off the wall: a (fake) Chinese princess, a (not-quite) crazy mother, a businessman who’s a bit of a spy, and spies who are a bit like businessmen… But it is also the beautiful settings that keep the story engaging: from Oxford, we travel to the English countryside, with a few flashbacks to the Mongolian steppes, then to Paris in the midst of the third Revolution, and finally to Constantinople.

A series that’s less subtle than its famous protagonist, but one that piques enough interest to make you want to see how season 2 turns out.

1 season, 8 episodes (50 mn), 2026- ,on Amazon Prime Video

Created by Guy Ritchie, WITH :

• Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Sherlock Holmes, Dónal Finn (The Wheel of Time, the Whitcher) as James Moriarty, Max Irons as Mycroft Holmes, Zine Tseng as Princess Shou’an, Scott Reid as Constable Lestrade, Joseph Fiennes as Silas Holmes, Natascha McElhone as Cordelia Holmes, Colin Firth as Sir Bucephalus Hodge, Numan Acar (Prison Break) as Esad Kasgarli, Holly Cattle (Rivals) as Edie, Ravi Aujla as Professor Kishore Malik