10 things you didn't know about Sherlock Holmes

1: The smarter Holmes

As if Sherlock Holmes wasn't clever enough, he had an even more intelligent elder brother named Mycroft.

According to Holmes himself, Mycroft had superior powers of observation and deduction, but was far too lazy to have made a good detective. Mycroft (who was plump and portly, in comparison to the gaunt Sherlock) did actually appear in a few of the stories, and was said to occupy a very important position in the British Government – perhaps in the field of intelligence and espionage.

2: The perfect pipe

Sherlock's trademark curved pipe wasn't featured in either the Conan Doyle stories or the original illustrations. In fact, it owes its iconic status to a stage actor named William Gillette.

Gillette became famous for portraying the detective on stage in the early 20th Century, paving the way for future stars like Basil Rathbone and Peter Cushing. Gillette started off using a straight pipe on stage, but soon switched to a curved pipe – saying it was easier to keep clenched between his teeth while delivering his lines. Illustrators consequently began to feature the curved pipe when depicting Holmes, and the rest is history.

3: Intravenously, my dear Watson

When not cracking crimes, Holmes liked to while away the hours shooting up cocaine and morphine.

Dr Watson had an inkling that the detective was a drug user shortly after they first met, when he noticed Holmes had a habit of lying around on his sofa for hours on end with a "dreamy, vacant expression in his eyes". His suspicions were soon confirmed when Holmes began injecting drugs right in front of him, his arm "dotted and scarred with innumerable puncture-marks." Holmes even suggested Watson try some, but the good doctor wisely turned down the offer.

4: Not so elementary

Contrary to popular belief, the Holmes of Conan Doyle's stories never actually said "Elementary, my dear Watson".

This immortal catchphrase was actually popularised in TV and film versions of the works. For a long time it was generally thought the line was first uttered in a 1929 Sherlock Holmes movie, but evidence now suggests it was probably coined decades before in a Victorian stage adaptation of the original stories.

5: The absent arch-villain

Sherlock's supposed arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty only appeared in two of the original stories.

It's a common misconception that the devious Moriarty was a recurring villain in Conan Doyle's tales – a sort of Joker or Lex Luthor figure. The first time he appeared in a Sherlock adventure he was killed by Holmes at the end, and only turned up once again in a prequel tale. His inflated reputation stems not from his actual reported misdeeds, but from Holmes's high opinion of him as a criminal genius.

6: A case of love?

Sherlock Holmes, like Doctor Who, was generally immune to the sexual charms of women. Yet there was one lady he was rather wild about.

She was Irene Adler, a beautiful opera singer whom Holmes was once hired to investigate. She actually got the better of the great detective and managed to elude him, which could account for Holmes's strong feelings for her. According to Watson, "in his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex", but the doctor also maintained that Holmes did not love her. Holmes fans have never quite believed this, however, and there have been many post-Conan Doyle tales written about the romantic attachment between the detective and the singer.

7: Holmes the writer

As well as being a masterful detective, Holmes was also an acclaimed writer.

As reported by Dr Watson, Holmes had a passion for Orlando di Lasso, a Franco-Flemish composer of the late Renaissance period. In fact, Holmes wrote a well-received book about di Lasso, with specific focus on his choral works. According to Watson, Holmes's tome was "the last word on the subject".

8: Oh, Watson!

He may have been portrayed as a bumbling oaf in many screen adaptations, but the Dr Watson of the stories was actually a suave ladykiller.

Indeed, the man himself once boasted that he had "an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents", and he once seduced a woman he met during one of Holmes's cases. The lady in question, Mary Morstan, went onto become his wife, but it was also hinted that he had other wives besides her. It's always the quiet ones!

9: The Baker Street Irregulars

Dr Watson wasn't Sherlock's only assistant. He also had Wiggins, a street urchin who led his friends on missions for the great detective.

Wiggins and his cohorts were known as the Baker Street Irregulars, and Holmes paid them to investigate leads, gather evidence and spy on suspects. While Watson was rather surprised by Sherlock's association with the gang, the detective took immense pride in their devotion to duty – and always thought them more trustworthy than police officers.

10: Holmes's great relative

Holmes was a distant relative of the famous (and very real) French painter, Emile Vernet.

According to Holmes, his grandmother was the sister of Vernet, a major French artist who specialised in painting battle scenes from the Napoleonic and Crimean Wars. This is the one tidbit of information about the Holmes family that was revealed by Conan Doyle, and who knows – it might just help you out in a pub quiz one day...