Mycroft Holmes
Encyclopedia
Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character
in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle
. He is the elder brother (by seven years) of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes
.
While Conan Doyle's stories leave unclear what Mycroft Holmes' exact position is in the British government, Sherlock Holmes says that "Occasionally he is the British government [...] the most indispensable man in the country." He apparently serves as a sort of human computer:
Mycroft has appeared or been mentioned in four stories by Doyle: "The Greek Interpreter
", "The Final Problem", "The Empty House
" and "The Bruce-Partington Plans
". While he does occasionally exert himself in these stories on behalf of his brother, he on the whole remains a sedentary problem-solver, providing solutions based on seemingly no evidence and trusting Sherlock to handle any of the practical details. In fact, Mycroft's own lack of practicality is a severe handicap despite his deductive talents: in "The Greek Interpreter", his blundering approach to the case nearly costs the client his life.
Mycroft resembles Sherlock, but is described in "The Greek Interpreter" as being "a much larger and stouter man". In "The Bruce-Partington Plans", the following description is given:
Mycroft spends most of his time at the Diogenes Club, which he co-founded.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
. He is the elder brother (by seven years) of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
.
Profile
Possessing deductive powers exceeding even those of his younger brother, Mycroft is nevertheless incapable of performing detective work similar to that of Sherlock as he is unwilling to put in the physical effort necessary to bring cases to their conclusions.While Conan Doyle's stories leave unclear what Mycroft Holmes' exact position is in the British government, Sherlock Holmes says that "Occasionally he is the British government [...] the most indispensable man in the country." He apparently serves as a sort of human computer:
Mycroft has appeared or been mentioned in four stories by Doyle: "The Greek Interpreter
The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
"The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. The story was originally serialised in Strand Magazine in 1893. This story...
", "The Final Problem", "The Empty House
The Adventure of the Empty House
"The Adventure of the Empty House", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Public pressure forced Conan Doyle to bring the sleuth back to life, and explain his...
" and "The Bruce-Partington Plans
The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans
"The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is one of eight stories in the cycle collected as His Last Bow...
". While he does occasionally exert himself in these stories on behalf of his brother, he on the whole remains a sedentary problem-solver, providing solutions based on seemingly no evidence and trusting Sherlock to handle any of the practical details. In fact, Mycroft's own lack of practicality is a severe handicap despite his deductive talents: in "The Greek Interpreter", his blundering approach to the case nearly costs the client his life.
Mycroft resembles Sherlock, but is described in "The Greek Interpreter" as being "a much larger and stouter man". In "The Bruce-Partington Plans", the following description is given:
Mycroft spends most of his time at the Diogenes Club, which he co-founded.
In other media
Mycroft Holmes has been portrayed many times in film, television, and radio adaptations of the Holmes stories.Radio
- In the 1950s radio series starring John GielgudJohn GielgudSir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
as Sherlock Holmes, Gielgud's own brother, Val GielgudVal GielgudVal Henry Gielgud was an English actor, writer, director and broadcaster. He was a pioneer of radio drama for the BBC, and also directed the first ever drama to be produced in the newer medium of television....
, played the part. - John HartleyJohn HartleyJohn Hartley may refer to:*John Hartley , Yorkshire*John Anderson Hartley , Australian educationist*John Hartley , English clergyman who won Wimbledon...
played Mycroft in "The Greek Interpreter" on October 21, 1992, "The Bruce-Partington Plans" on January 24, 1994 and "The Retired Colourman" on March 29, 1995 in the BBC RadioBBC RadioBBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
broadcasts starring Clive MerrisonClive MerrisonClive Merrison is a Welsh actor of film, television, stage and radio. He trained at Rose Bruford College.- Television :...
as Sherlock and Michael Williams as Watson.
Film and television
- The first film appearance of Mycroft Holmes was in the 1922 film The Bruce Partington Plans, where he was played by Lewis GilbertLewis Gilbert (actor)-Selected filmography:* She Stoops to Conquer * The Manxman * The Mystery Road * The Oath * Dick Turpin's Ride to York * The Hound of the Baskervilles * The House of Peril...
. - The BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
broadcast a Sherlock Holmes series from 1965 to 1968 which starred Peter CushingPeter CushingPeter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
as Sherlock and Nigel Stock as Watson. Mycroft appeared twice, once in 1965 in The Bruce-Partington Plans and played by Derek FrancisDerek FrancisDerek Francis was an English comedy and character actor.He was a regular in the Carry On film players, appearing in six of the films in the 1960s and 1970s. He appeared in Roger Corman's last film of his Edgar Allan Poe series The Tomb of Ligeia...
and in 1968 in The Greek Interpreter and played by Ronald AdamRonald Adam (actor)Ronald Adam OBE , born Ronald George Hinings Adams, was a British RAF officer, an actor on stage and screen and a successful theatre manager.-Early life:...
. - In the 1965 film A Study in TerrorA Study in TerrorA Study in Terror is a 1965 British thriller film directed by James Hill and starring John Neville as Sherlock Holmes and Donald Houston as Dr. Watson...
, Mycroft is played by Robert MorleyRobert MorleyRobert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
. - In the Billy WilderBilly WilderBilly Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
-directed film The Private Life of Sherlock HolmesThe Private Life of Sherlock HolmesThe Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is a 1970 film directed and produced by Billy Wilder; he also shared writing credit with his longtime collaborator I. A. L. Diamond. It starred Robert Stephens as Sherlock Holmes and Colin Blakely as Dr. Watson...
(1970), which starred Robert StephensRobert StephensSir Robert Stephens was a leading English actor in the early years of England's Royal National Theatre.-Early life and career:...
as Sherlock, Mycroft was played by Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
(who also played Sherlock Holmes in other productions before and since). In this film, which purports to show the 'real' people behind Watson's dramatised accounts, Mycroft is nearly unrecognisable: whippet-thin and not notably indolent. He is also depicted as either the head or at least a senior operative of the British secret serviceSecret serviceA secret service describes a government agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For instance, a country may establish a secret service which has some...
, for which the Diogenes Club is a front. - Charles GrayCharles Gray (actor)Charles Gray was an English actor who was well-known for roles including the arch-villain Blofeld in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, Sherlock Holmes' brother Mycroft Holmes in the Granada television series, and as The Criminologist in the cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show in...
assumed the character in both the 1976 film The Seven-Per-Cent SolutionThe Seven-Per-Cent SolutionThe Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. is a 1974 novel by American writer Nicholas Meyer. It is written as a pastiche of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, and was made into a film of the same name in 1976....
and four episodes of Granada TelevisionGranada TelevisionGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series in the late 1980s and early 1990s. - The 1975 film The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter BrotherThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter BrotherThe Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother is a 1975 English/American comedy film with Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Dom DeLuise, Roy Kinnear and Leo McKern. The film was Wilder's directorial debut....
, starring Gene WilderGene WilderGene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers...
as Holmes' younger brother "Sigerson Holmes," was inspired by Mycroft (he is mentioned, but doesn't appear). - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, a series of television films made by Soviet television, featured Boris Klyuyev as Mycroft Holmes, despite Klyuyev being nine years younger than Vasily LivanovVasily LivanovVasily Borisovich Livanov MBE is a Soviet and Russian film actor, and screenwriter.-Biography:His father Boris Livanov was a prominent actor of the Moscow Art Theatre...
, who played Sherlock Holmes. - He is also briefly mentioned in the 1985 film, Young Sherlock HolmesYoung Sherlock HolmesYoung Sherlock Holmes is a 1985 mystery/adventure film directed by Barry Levinson, produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Chris Columbus, based on characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
; when Sherlock is expelled from boarding school, he tells Watson that he plans to stay at his brother Mycroft's for a few days. - Peter JeffreyPeter JeffreyPeter Jeffrey was a British actor with many roles in television and film.Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence Alice and Arthur Winfred Gilbert Jeffrey. He was educated at Harrow School and Pembroke College, Cambridge but had no formal training as an actor...
played Mycroft in the 1990 film Hands of a Murderer which starred Edward WoodwardEdward WoodwardEdward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE was an English stage and screen actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , Woodward began his career on stage, and throughout his career he appeared in productions in both the West End in London and on Broadway in New York...
as Sherlock, John HillermanJohn HillermanJohn Benedict Hillerman is an American actor, known for his starring role on the television show Magnum, P.I.-Early life:...
as Watson and Anthony AndrewsAnthony Andrews-Life and career:Andrews was born in London, the son of Geraldine Agnes , a dancer, and Stanley Thomas Andrews, a musical arranger and musical conductor. He grew up in the North Finchley district of London...
as Professor MoriartyProfessor MoriartyProfessor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...
. - Jerome WillisJerome WillisJerome Willis is a prominent British stage and screen actor with more than 100 screen credits to his name.Willis had a leading role in the ITV drama series The Sandbaggers as Matthew Peele. He also appeared in Z Cars as DCS Richards, Within These Walls as Charles Radley, and Doctor Who as...
played Mycroft in Sherlock Holmes and the Leading LadySherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1992 TV film)Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady was the first of two TV films made in late-1990 under the banner Sherlock Holmes the Golden Years. Harry Alan Towers was executive producer...
, a 1992 made-for-TV film which starred Christopher Lee as Holmes and Patrick MacneePatrick MacneePatrick Macnee is an English actor, best known for his role as the secret agent John Steed in the series The Avengers.-Early life:...
as Watson. - R. H. ThomsonR. H. ThomsonRobert Holmes "R. H." Thomson, is a Canadian television, film and stage actor.Thomson was born in Richmond Hill, Ontario. He studied at the University of Toronto, and the National Theatre School. His own play The Lost Boys was staged at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in March 2000 and at...
played Mycroft in the 2001 made-for-TV film The Royal ScandalThe Royal ScandalThe Royal Scandal is a non-canonical Sherlock Holmes film which is an amalgam of "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Bruce-Partington Plans". The film was produced in 2001 for The Hallmark Channel as part of an on-going series of Hallmark Sherlock Holmes films....
opposite Matt FrewerMatt FrewerMatthew "Matt" Frewer is a Canadian American stage, TV and film actor. Acting since 1983, he is known for portraying the 1980s icon Max Headroom and the retired villain Moloch in the film adaptation of Watchmen.-Life and career:...
's Sherlock. - Richard E. GrantRichard E. GrantRichard E. Grant is a Swaziland-born British actor, screenwriter and director. His most notable role came in the film Withnail and I. He holds dual British and Swazi citizenship.-Early life:...
played him as a semi-crippled young man- following a bad trip after he was injected with drugs by Moriarty- in Sherlock: Case of Evil (2002). - Mark GatissMark GatissMark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
played Mycroft in the 2010 BBC television series Sherlock. In this modernized version, Sherlock exhibits smouldering animosity towards his brother which Dr. Watson characterizes as "sibling rivalry." Mycroft, who Sherlock says can be affiliated with either MI6 or the CIA "on a freelance basis", calls this a "childish feud." - Stephen FryStephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
will portray Mycroft in the upcoming Guy RitchieGuy RitchieGuy Stuart Ritchie is an English screenwriter and film maker who directed Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, RocknRolla and Sherlock Holmes.-Early life:...
-directed Sherlock Holmes: A Game of ShadowsSherlock Holmes: A Game of ShadowsSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is an upcoming 2011 British-American action mystery film directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey, and Dan Lin. It is a sequel to the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur...
, scheduled for release in December 2011.
Novels and short stories
The character has been used many times in works that are not adaptations of Holmes stories:- In Jasper FfordeJasper FfordeJasper Fforde is a British novelist. Fforde's first novel, The Eyre Affair, was published in 2001. Fforde is mainly known for his Thursday Next novels, although he has written several books in the loosely connected Nursery Crime series and begun two more independent series: The Last Dragonslayer...
's series of books about Thursday NextThursday NextThursday Next is the main protagonist in a series of comic fantasy, alternate history novels by the British author Jasper Fforde. She was first introduced in Fforde's first published novel, The Eyre Affair, released on July 19, 2001 by Hodder & Stoughton. , the series comprises six books, in two...
, Mycroft is revealed to be Thursday's uncle, having escaped into fiction and taken up residence in the Sherlock Holmes series to escape the evil Goliath Corporation. - He was the main character in a series of mystery novels by the author Quinn FawcettQuinn FawcettQuinn Fawcett is the penname of a pair of authors, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and Bill Fawcett, who also write separately. Among their collaborations are a series of mysteries featuring Victoire Vernet, fictional wife of one of Napoleon's generals, a series featuring Sherlock Holmes's brother Mycroft,...
. - He is a recurring character in the Mary Russell mystery series by Laurie R. KingLaurie R. KingLaurie R. King is an American author best known for her detective fiction. Among her books are the Mary Russell series of historical mysteries, featuring Sherlock Holmes as her mentor and later partner, and a series featuring Kate Martinelli, a fictional lesbian San Francisco, California, police...
, which feature a retired Sherlock Holmes as a major character. Mycroft is portrayed as a senior figure in the British Secret Service, who occasionally calls on Russell and Holmes for assistance in specific cases. - A young Mycroft Holmes is the protagonist of a mystery-adventure "edited" by Michael P. Hodel and Sean M. Wright, Enter the Lion: A Posthumous Memoir of Mycroft Holmes (published in hardcover by Hawthorn Books in 1979 in the U.S. and by JM Dent & Sons Ltd. in 1980 in London (ISBN 0-460-04483-4) and in paperback by Playboy Press in 1980). The action takes place in 1875, ten years after the end of the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, at the time when Mycroft Holmes was a minor official in the Foreign Office. Mycroft is aided by his younger brother Sherlock, Victor Trevor (who appears in Doyle's tale "The Adventure of the Gloria ScottThe Adventure of the Gloria Scott"The Adventure of the 'Gloria Scott'", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes...
"), and an adventurer known as "Captain Jericho", a mysterious former slave. They band together in an effort to prevent an attempt by former Confederate officers to involve the British government in a scheme to overthrow the United States government. The story also provides an explanation as to the antagonism between Sherlock Holmes and Professor MoriartyProfessor MoriartyProfessor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...
. - Mycroft has a small but extremely important role in Ray Walsh's novel The Mycroft Memoranda, published in London by Andre Deutsch, 1984 (ISBN 0-233-97582-9), in which Sherlock Holmes, at the request of Major Henry Smith, Acting Commissioner for the City of London, becomes involved in the hunt for Jack the Ripper.
- Mycroft and the Diogenes Club play an important part in Kim NewmanKim NewmanKim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
's novel Anno Dracula. - The Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
novel All-Consuming FireAll-Consuming FireAll-Consuming Fire is an original novel written by Andy Lane and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The novel is a crossover with Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes featuring the characters of both Holmes and Doctor Watson, and also...
featured Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, as well as the apocryphal Sherringford Holmes. The Doctor's companionCompanion (Doctor Who)In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
Bernice SummerfieldBernice SummerfieldBernice Surprise Summerfield is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length Doctor Who novels, the New Adventures...
was then reunited with Mycroft in the 2008 audio play The Adventure of the Diogenes DamselThe Adventure of the Diogenes DamselThe Adventures of the Diogenes Damsel is a Big Finish Productions audio drama featuring Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield, a character from the spin-off media based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who.- Plot :...
where he was voiced by David WarnerDavid Warner (actor)David Warner is an English actor who is known for playing both romantic leads and sinister or villainous characters, both in film and animation...
. - The novel Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders by Gyles BrandrethGyles BrandrethGyles Daubeney Brandreth is a British writer, broadcaster and former Conservative Member of Parliament and junior minister.-Early life:...
suggests that Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
's friendship with Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
led Doyle to create Mycroft as a caricature of Wilde: mentally brilliant, but indolent and lazy. - The award-winning short story by Robert J. SawyerRobert J. SawyerRobert James Sawyer is a Canadian science fiction writer. He has had 20 novels published, and his short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Amazing Stories, On Spec, Nature, and many anthologies. Sawyer has won over forty awards for his fiction, including the Nebula Award ,...
, "You See But You Do Not Observe", portrays Mycroft Holmes' namesake involved in pulling Sherlock and Watson into the year 2096 to solve a scientific mystery. - He appears in the novel The Italian SecretaryThe Italian SecretaryThe Italian Secretary is mystery fiction by Caleb Carr. This literary pastiche is meant as an honourable homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and one that had the approval of the Doyle estate.-Plot introduction:Sherlock Holmes and Dr...
(2005) by Caleb CarrCaleb CarrCaleb Carr is an American novelist and military historian.-Biography:A son of Lucien Carr, a former UPI editor and a key Beat generation figure, he was born in Manhattan and lived for much of his life on the Lower East Side. He attended Kenyon College and New York University, earning a B.A. in...
. - In the Enola HolmesEnola HolmesThe Enola Holmes Mysteries is a series of juvenile detective novels by American author Nancy Springer, starring Enola Holmes, the fictional fourteen-year-old sister of Sherlock Holmes...
series, Mycroft is the official legal guardian of their much younger sister, Enola, after the mysterious departure of their mother on her daughter's 14th birthday. Rather than submit to his wish for her to be sent to boarding schoolBoarding schoolA boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
to conform to contemporary feminine social mores, Enola instead runs away to secretly become a private detective in London while eluding her brothers. Through the series, Mycroft is steadfastly determined to capture her while Sherlock gradually grows to respect her considerable talents and begins to understand her reasons for her defiance. However, it is Mycroft who suspects that Enola may well be determined to become an adult colleague in his brother's profession, a notion Sherlock finds difficult to accept. - The Young Sherlock HolmesYoung Sherlock Holmes (books)Young Sherlock Holmes is a series of young adult Thriller novels by Andy Lane featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's detective Sherlock Holmes as a teenager in the 1860s-Books in the series:...
series by Andrew LaneAndy LaneAndrew Lane , who also writes as Andy Lane, is a British author and journalist. He has written a number of spin-off novels in the Virgin New Adventures range and audio dramas for Big Finish based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who , as well as assorted non fiction books based...
features Mycroft Holmes.
Comics
- He is depicted as a violent psychopath in 2000 AD (Canon FodderCanon FodderCanon Fodder is a 2000 AD series created by Mark Millar and Chris Weston.Judgement Day has come and gone, with God failing to appear, and the dead have risen from the grave and now everyone who ever lived walks the Earth again. Not surprisingly, over-crowding is rife and crime has escalated out of...
, issues #861–867) by Mark MillarMark MillarMark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer, known for his work on books such as The Authority, The Ultimates, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Civil War, Wanted, and Kick-Ass, the latter two of which have been adapted into feature films...
and Chris WestonChris WestonChris Weston is a British comics artist who has worked both in the US and UK comics industries.-Biography:Weston was born in January, 1969 in Rinteln, Germany, and lived in various countries as a child...
. - In Issue #6, Volume 1 of Alan MooreAlan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
's The League of Extraordinary GentlemenThe League of Extraordinary GentlemenThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, publication of which began in 1999. The series spans two six-issue limited series and a graphic novel from the America's Best Comics imprint of Wildstorm/DC, and a third miniseries...
, Mycroft Holmes becomes the leader of British intelligence and uses the code-name "M" – a nod to the fictional head of MI6M (James Bond)M is a fictional character in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, as well as the films in the Bond franchise. The head of MI6 and Bond's superior, M has been portrayed by three actors in the official Bond film series: Bernard Lee, Robert Brown and since 1995 by Judi Dench. Background =Ian Fleming...
in Ian FlemingIan FlemingIan Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
's James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novels. It is hinted that he and his brother are not on the best of terms as a mention of Sherlock sending his regards are met by Mycroft with laughter and regarded as a joke. (Mycroft also appears as the Bond M in Son of Holmes and Anno DraculaAnno Dracula (novel)Anno Dracula is a 1992 novel by British writer Kim Newman, the first in the Anno Dracula series. It is an alternate history using 19th century English historical settings and personalities, along with characters from popular fiction...
). - Mycroft Holmes is the head of "The Committee" in the comic book mini-seriesLimited seriesA limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
, Predator: NemesisPredator (comics)The Predator comic books are part of the Predator franchise published by Dark Horse Comics.-Stories:*Predator **1-4 by Mark Verheiden, Chris Warner and Ron Randall, June 1989-March 1990...
, by Gordon RennieGordon RennieGordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
and Colin MacNeilColin MacNeilColin MacNeil is a British comics artist, best known for his work on 2000 AD and in particular on Judge Dredd and other stories within his world like Shimura and Devlin Waugh....
and published by Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
. He hires the main character, Captain Edward Soames, to hunt down the murderer "Spring-Heeled Jack", a PredatorPredator (alien)The Predator is a fictional extraterrestrial species featured in the Predator science-fiction franchise, characterised by its trophy hunting of other dangerous species for sport, including humans and its fictional counterparts, Aliens....
hunting in the East End. - Mycroft Holmes appears at least twice in the Italian comic bookItalian comicsItalian comics are comics made in Italy. They are locally known as fumetto – plural form fumetti – although this latter term is often used in English to describe a specific comic genre . The most popular Italian comics have been translated into many languages...
Martin MystèreMartin MystèreMartin Mystère is an Italian comic book. Created by writer Alfredo Castelli and drawn by Giancarlo Alessandrini, it was first published in Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore in 1982....
and spin-off series Storie di Altrove/Stories from Elsewhere.
PC games
- He plays a central role as the victim of an assassination attempt in the PC game The Lost Files of Sherlock HolmesThe Lost Files of Sherlock HolmesThe Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes is an adventure game series developed by Mythos Software and published by the American computer game company Electronic Arts for DOS in the 1990s...
: The case of the Rose Tattoo. - In the 2009 PC game Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the RipperSherlock Holmes vs. Jack the RipperSherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper is an adventure game for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360, developed by Frogwares. It is the fifth game in the Sherlock Holmes series of adventure games developed by Frogwares...
, the younger Holmes receives assistance on a case from his brother.