Case File: The Many Faces of Irene Adler

Other than Holmes and Watson themselves, Irene Adler (of dubious and questionable memory) may be the most adapted character from the canon. And most of the time, modern adaptations do not do her justice. She played a prominent role in four recent TV and film adaptations of the stories - depicted as a professional thief, a sex worker, a European (for some reason?) and literally a fictional character.

Today, we discuss the many faces of Irene Adler.

This episode chronologically covers the Granada Holmes episode “A Scandal in Bohemia,” Guy Ritchie’s film Sherlock Holmes, the BBC Sherlock episode “A Scandal in Belgravia,” and the Irene Adler plotline in Elementary season 1. Spoilers abound!

Find a transcript - Further reading for this episode

Music credit: The songs “Denmark (Live)” by the Portland Cello Project is featured with an Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).