It's Holmes versus Sherlock

This November will see Sherlock Holmes squaring off against Sherlock Holmes - he BBC’s Sherlock will go head to head with the Sherlock Holmes movies of Guy Richie in a live worldwide debate on 10th November. Two panels of leading Holmes experts and historians from the UK, USA and Australia will argue which is making the most contribution to the Sherlock Holmes legacy. Both have millions of fans but which is best for the Holmes character? It’s the number one topic amongst serious Holmes fans and the debate will pit two teams against each other - live (MX Publishing, London). Within the first 24 hours of asking for participants a dozen major experts have already applied to be on the teams including the editor of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London’s journal, Roger Johnson and experts from the UK, USA and Australia. Already the debate is set to be the biggest Holmes event of the year. As it is an online debate, some lucky Holmes fans from around the world will be able to participate. There will be around 90 free audience places that will be released some time in October on the Facebook Page for the debate. The event is being hosted by Sherlock Holmes publishers MX Publishing, who have promised that all audience members will receive something special for taking part. Managing Director Steve Emecz explains what prompted the event: “One of our new authors, Charlotte Walters (Barefoot on Baker Street) starts a very tough challenge today – to review each of the 56 Sherlock Holmes stories, one a day for the next 56 days. This prompted us to bring forward The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate to the eve of the last day of her record attempt. We speak to thousands of Holmes fans and they all have an opinion on the BBC’s Sherlock and the Guy Richie movies. The debate will give the experts a chance to tackle the subject in detail”. Each team will present their case and then there will be an open debate. The proceedings will be recorded for release in a number of formats. On the subject of participants Emecz confirms that they would be delighted to have cast members take part. “We would be very pleased to have those involved with Sherlock and the films, whether on the production side or the actors themselves participate. Whilst the majority of team members will be Holmes experts and historians, it would be fun to have Robert Downey Junior, Jude Law , Benedict Cumberbach or Martin Freeman join in." - Steve Emecz, MX Publishing Other team members include modern day Holmes authors like Dan Andriacco (No Police Like Holmes) arguing for the BBC, and Kieran McMullen (Watson’s Afghan Adventure) on the side of Guy Richie. Mcmullen explains why the films are important “The Holmes of Guy Ritchie is the multi-layered man of thought and action who lives in a real world of adventure unhampered by Victorian restrictions," - Kieran McMullen, Holmes author. Andriacco disagrees saying that the more traditional BBC adaptation is better as it’s more true to Holmes “It’s a fun look at who Holmes would have been if born in the late 20th century without changing his essential character,” - Dan Andriacco, Holmes author. Why did Charlotte Walters choose to mark the launch of her novel with the 56 day challenge? After finishing her debut novel, she simply missed Holmes. "Now that my novel is complete, I miss my daily dose of writing about Sherlock Holmes and have decided to take on the challenge of reading and blogging about one short story every day until I have covered all 56. Though it will be a pleasure to re-visit the stories, almost like popping around for a cup of tea with an old friend, trying to do this and write about it on top of my frantically busy full-time job and promoting my novel at book signings etc will be a challenge indeed (Charlotte Walters, Holmes author)." The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate takes place at 8pm UK time, 3pm Eastern Standard Time on Thursday 10th November.