140 free Sherlock (BBC Series) trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Sherlock trivia quiz covers the BBC series created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, which ran for four three-part series and a Victorian special between 2010 and 2017 (for questions on Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories, see our Sherlock Holmes quiz). It follows Benedict Cumberbatch's modern-day consulting detective and Martin Freeman's Afghanistan veteran John Watson from their first flatshare at 221B Baker Street to the fall from Barts, the return, John's wedding, the shooting of Magnussen and the secret sister locked away at Sherrinford. The easy questions are ones any viewer knows: who plays Moriarty, what Sherlock calls himself instead of a psychopath, where the special is set and what Irene Adler's phone password turned out to be. From there it works through every episode: the pink lady and the cabbie's pills, the Black Lotus cipher, the pips of The Great Game, the Baskerville hound and its acronym, Richard Brook, the thirteen scenarios on the roof, the Mayfly Man, Mary's A.G.R.A. stick, Culverton Smith the 'cereal killer', Redbeard and the girl on the plane. There are behind-the-scenes questions too: the unaired 60-minute pilot, why Baker Street was filmed on North Gower Street, Matt Smith's audition for Watson, Cumberbatch's real parents playing his fictional ones, the Emmys and the Royal Mail stamps. Every answer was checked against the encyclopaedia entries for the series, its episodes and its cast before publishing, and the supporting sentence is stored with each question. Fans of British crime drama may also like our Doctor Who and Broadchurch quizzes.
30 of 140 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who plays Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock?
Benedict Cumberbatch
Producers noticed him in the 2007 film Atonement.
Q 02Who plays Dr John Watson?
Martin Freeman
He had been Tim in The Office.
Q 03Which two writers created Sherlock?
Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss
Both were Doctor Who writers who plotted it on trains to Cardiff.
Q 04How many episodes of Sherlock were produced in total?
13
Four series of three, plus one special.
Q 05On which channel did Sherlock originally air in the UK?
BBC One
PBS's Masterpiece carried it in the United States.
Q 06In which city was Sherlock primarily filmed?
Cardiff
Filming there was cheaper than London.
Q 07Which real London road stood in for the exterior of 221B in Baker St?
North Gower Street
Real Baker Street had too much traffic and Holmes signage.
Q 08Which American station co-produced Sherlock for its Masterpiece strand?
WGBH-TV Boston
That is why it aired on PBS in the US.
Q 09From which war has John Watson returned when he meets Sherlock?
Afghanistan
Gatiss called it 'the same unwinnable war' as Conan Doyle's Watson.
Q 10Who plays Sherlock's nemesis, Jim Moriarty?
Andrew Scott
He later won a BAFTA for the role.
Q 11What is Molly Hooper's job?
Pathologist at Barts Hospital
Louise Brealey plays her in all four series.
Q 12Who plays Mrs Hudson, the landlady?
Una Stubbs
She had known Cumberbatch since he was four.
Q 13Which co-creator of the show plays Mycroft Holmes?
Mark Gatiss
He also wrote The Great Game and The Hounds of Baskerville.
Q 14Who plays DI Greg Lestrade?
Q 21Who plays Mr and Mrs Holmes, the brothers' mother and father, from series three?
Cumberbatch's real mum and dad
Wanda Ventham and Timothy Carlton.
Q 22Who plays Irene Adler in A Scandal in Belgravia?
Lara Pulver
The BBC received over 100 complaints about her nude scene.
Q 23Who plays Henry Knight in The Hounds of Baskerville?
Russell Tovey
His character saw his father killed on Dartmoor.
Q 24Sherlock was first announced in 2008 as what kind of production?
Rupert Graves
His first name is only revealed in The Hounds of Baskerville.
Q 15Which Conan Doyle story's version of Lestrade did the writers choose to follow?
The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
A man frustrated by Holmes but who admires him.
Q 16Which 2007 film made Moffat and Vertue want to cast Cumberbatch as Sherlock?
Atonement
He was the only actor they saw for the part.
Q 17How does Sherlock describe himself instead of a psychopath?
A high-functioning sociopath
Author Maria Konnikova disputed the label.
Q 18What replaces Holmes's pipe in the modern series?
Nicotine patches
A 'three-patch problem' in A Study in Pink.
Q 19Which future Doctor Who star auditioned unsuccessfully for Watson, judged too 'barmy'?
Matt Smith
Moffat cast him as the Eleventh Doctor soon after.
Q 20Who plays Mary Morstan?
Amanda Abbington
She was Martin Freeman's real-life partner at the time.
A single 60-minute drama
The BBC never broadcast that pilot.
Q 25Roughly how much did the original unaired pilot reportedly cost?
£800,000
It was included on the series one DVD.
Q 26Which director came up with putting text messages on screen instead of showing phones?
Paul McGuigan
He directed A Study in Pink and The Great Game.
Q 27What is the name of the sandwich shop beneath the flat used as Sherlock's home?
Speedy's
It reported a sharp rise in customers.
Q 28Which brand made the £1,000 coat Cumberbatch wore in the series?
Belstaff
They put it back into production because of demand.
Q 29Who composed the music for Sherlock?
David Arnold and Michael Price
Arnold had scored five James Bond films.
Q 30Which film franchise had David Arnold scored before Sherlock?
James Bond
Five Bond films between 1997 and 2008.