The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle is a 2005 biographical drama which follows Arthur Conan Doyle as he tries to expand his literary career after killing off Sherlock Holmes. At the same time, his publisher introduces him to Mr Selden, a researcher and Holmes aficionado who's tasked himself with uncovering Doyle's past in order to discover the inspiration behind The Great Detective...
Provides examples of:
- Alcoholic Parent: Arthur's father, Charles Altamont Doyle, suffered from severe alcoholism and is confined to an asylum until his death.
- Call-Forward: When Arthur is out playing with his son Kingsley in the woods, he hears a sudden noise that sounds suspiciously like a gunshot, with Kingsley seemingly disappearing for a few seconds, alluding to his death in the First World War.
- Expy Coexistence: The Reveal of Selden's true identity means that Holmes coexists in this universe with his sources of inspiration such as Joseph Bell and Bryan Charles Waller.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: In-Universe, Selden interviews Joseph Bell about claims that he and his methods of diagnosis were a source of inspiration for the character of Holmes. The watch deduction from The Sign of the Four was based on a time when Arthur gave Bell his father's pocket watch to try and disprove the effectiveness of Bell's method of deduction.
- Parental Substitute: Selden comes to the conclusion that Arthur viewed Joseph Bell as a kind of father figure, which Arthur concedes to have been true.
- Young Future Famous People: The Flashbacks to Arthur's days at medical school in Edinburgh show that the class included one lone female student. Although the timelines don't quite match up, she may have been included as a reference to Sophia Jex-Blake, the first female doctor in Scotland. She studied Medicine at Edinburgh but was originally barred from graduating by the university authorities and had to undertake additional exams in Switzerland and Ireland before she could register as a doctor with the General Medical Council.