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The Best Episodes of Sherlock Holmes

Every episode of Sherlock Holmes ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Sherlock Holmes!

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Sherlock Holmes uses his abilities to take on cases by private clients and those that the Scotland Yard are unable to solve, along with his friend Dr. Watson.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Sherlock Holmes Season 4 Episode 6 - The Hound of the Baskervilles
    9.5/10(4 votes)

    #1 - The Hound of the Baskervilles

    S4:E6

    Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead on Dartmoor, with his face contorted in terror and the footprints of a huge dog near his body. On arrival in England, Sir Charles's American heir, now Sir Henry Baskerville, engages Holmes to come to Devon and get to the bottom of the age-old legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles - a phantom which kills.From the outset, Holmes is convinced there is a human murderer at work and he lays a deep plan to foil him.

    Director:Brian Mills
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Sherlock Holmes Season 5 Episode 5 - The Illustrious Client
    8.8/10(4 votes)

    #2 - The Illustrious Client

    S5:E5

    Colonel James Damery calls on Holmes when the rich and beautiful Miss Violet Merville announces her engagement to Baron Gruner, a dangerous Austrian. Gruner has persuaded Violet that he is not a killer, and Holmes has to establish the truth and foil the powerful baron.

    Director:Tim Sullivan
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Sherlock Holmes Season 3 Episode 3 - The Second Stain
    8.6/10(7 votes)

    #3 - The Second Stain

    S3:E3

    Holmes is asked by the country's Prime Minister to aid in the recovery of a stolen diplomatic letter, which, if published, might lead England into war.

    Director:John Bruce
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Sherlock Holmes Season 2 Episode 5 - The Red-Headed League
    8.4/10(1330 votes)

    #4 - The Red-Headed League

    S2:E5

    A notice in a newspaper seeks red-headed men, inviting them to join a league which will pay them well - and Jabez Wilson, a pawnbroker who responds, finds he is hired and paid generously for spending four hours a day copying an encyclopedia in long hand. When the league is suddenly dissolved, Holmes is asked to find out what has been going on, and he quickly suspects crime. Indeed, behind this curious arrangement lurks Holmes's arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty.

    Director:John Bruce
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Sherlock Holmes Season 2 Episode 6 - The Final Problem
    8.4/10(1276 votes)

    #5 - The Final Problem

    S2:E6

    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.

    Director:Alan Grint
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Sherlock Holmes Season 1 Episode 6 - The Speckled Band
    8.3/10(1452 votes)

    #6 - The Speckled Band

    S1:E6

    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.

    Director:John Bruce
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Sherlock Holmes

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  7. Sherlock Holmes Season 2 Episode 3 - The Norwood Builder
    8.2/10(1205 votes)

    #7 - The Norwood Builder

    S2:E3

    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.

    Director:Ken Grieve
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Sherlock Holmes Season 4 Episode 5 - The Bruce Partington Plans
    8.2/10(7 votes)

    #8 - The Bruce Partington Plans

    S4:E5

    The body of one Cadogan West is found in an underground tunnel near Aldgate Station, with his skull smashed, and Holmes is puzzled by the interest his brother Mycroft is showing in the case. Mycroft explains that the top secret plans for a new submarine were in the dead man's pocket, but three of the ten pages were missing when the body was found. Mycroft, on behalf of the British Government, asks his brother to find the missing pages.

    Director:John Gorrie
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Sherlock Holmes Season 5 Episode 3 - Shoscombe Old Place
    8.2/10(4 votes)

    #9 - Shoscombe Old Place

    S5:E3

    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...

    Director:Patrick Lau
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Sherlock Holmes Season 1 Episode 2 - The Dancing Men
    8.1/10(1583 votes)

    #10 - The Dancing Men

    S1:E2

    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.

    Director:John Bruce
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Sherlock Holmes Season 1 Episode 7 - The Blue Carbuncle
    8.1/10(1341 votes)

    #11 - The Blue Carbuncle

    S1:E7

    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.

    Director:David Carson
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Sherlock Holmes Season 4 Episode 3 - Silver Blaze
    8.1/10(8 votes)

    #12 - Silver Blaze

    S4:E3

    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.

    Director:Brian Mills
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Sherlock Holmes Season 7 Episode 2 - The Dying Detective
    8.1/10(6 votes)

    #13 - The Dying Detective

    S7:E2

    A man dies suddenly of a mysterious fever, and Holmes suspects murder.

    Director:Sarah Hellings
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Sherlock Holmes Season 1 Episode 4 - The Solitary Cyclist
    8.0/10(1431 votes)

    #14 - The Solitary Cyclist

    S1:E4

    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.

    Director:Paul Annett
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Sherlock Holmes Season 2 Episode 1 - The Copper Beeches
    8.0/10(1294 votes)

    #15 - The Copper Beeches

    S2:E1

    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.

    Director:Paul Annett
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Sherlock Holmes Season 2 Episode 4 - The Resident Patient
    8.0/10(1160 votes)

    #16 - The Resident Patient

    S2:E4

    Dr Trevelyan calls on Holmes on behalf of his friend Blessington, after a Russian father and son vanish during a consultation. Blessington knows of no one who wishes him ill, but he is found hanged the next day. Holmes investigates, with advice from Watson.

    Director:David Carson
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Sherlock Holmes Season 5 Episode 6 - The Creeping Man
    8.0/10(4 votes)

    #17 - The Creeping Man

    S5:E6

    The daughter of scientist Professor Presbury sees her father's face at her second-storey window; Holmes connects this with recent zoo thefts.

    Director:Tim Sullivan
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Sherlock Holmes Season 6 Episode 3 - The Eligible Bachelor
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #18 - The Eligible Bachelor

    S6:E3

    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.

    Director:Peter Hammond
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Sherlock Holmes Season 2 Episode 2 - The Greek Interpreter
    7.9/10(1229 votes)

    #19 - The Greek Interpreter

    S2:E2

    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.

    Director:Alan Grint
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Sherlock Holmes Season 1 Episode 1 - A Scandal in Bohemia
    7.8/10(1769 votes)

    #20 - A Scandal in Bohemia

    S1:E1

    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.

    Director:Paul Annett
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Sherlock Holmes Season 1 Episode 3 - The Naval Treaty
    7.8/10(1394 votes)

    #21 - The Naval Treaty

    S1:E3

    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.

    Director:Alan Grint
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Sherlock Holmes Season 1 Episode 5 - The Crooked Man
    7.8/10(1352 votes)

    #22 - The Crooked Man

    S1:E5

    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.

    Director:Alan Grint
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Sherlock Holmes Season 3 Episode 7 - The Six Napoleons
    7.8/10(6 votes)

    #23 - The Six Napoleons

    S3:E7

    Holmes is curious about a series of attacks on figures of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte around London. One such incident leads to a violent death, and he investigates. Lestrade sees an Italian connection and proposes to focus Scotland Yard's attention on the Italian quarter of London, but Holmes is more interested in Chiswick.

    Director:David Carson
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Sherlock Holmes Season 5 Episode 2 - The Problem of Thor Bridge
    7.8/10(4 votes)

    #24 - The Problem of Thor Bridge

    S5:E2

    Maria Gibson, the wife of a gold-mining millionaire, is found shot dead at their country house. Gibson asks Holmes to find his wife's killer and thus to clear the name of his children's governess, Miss Dunbar, who has been charged with the crime. Is Gibson acting as a kindly employer, and what are the hidden depths of the case?

    Director:Michael A. Simpson
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Sherlock Holmes Season 5 Episode 4 - The Boscombe Valley Mystery
    7.8/10(5 votes)

    #25 - The Boscombe Valley Mystery

    S5:E4

    Alice Turner sends for Holmes when her lifelong friend farmer William McCarthy is killed and police suspicion falls on his son, James. James McCarthy admits quarrelling with his father, but he will not explain what their argument was about.

    Director:June Howson
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" is the best rated episode of "Sherlock Holmes". It scored 9.5/10 based on 4 votes. Directed by Brian Mills and written by Unknown, it aired on 8/31/1988. This episode scored 0.7 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Illustrious Client".