Prime-Video - Young Sherlock : Prime Video reinvents the birth of a legend with Guy Ritchie’s explosive Victorian origin story

By Mulder, 18 december 2025

There’s something quietly thrilling about seeing a myth dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up, and Young Sherlock looks determined to do exactly that. Slated for release on March 4, 2026 on Prime Video, the series positions itself as both a respectful homage and a bold reinvention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective, filtered through the kinetic, muscular storytelling sensibility of Guy Ritchie. From the very first images unveiled by Amazon MGM Studios, and reinforced by the early teaser footage, it’s clear this isn’t about nostalgia or polite literary reverence. Set primarily in 1870s Oxford before expanding into a globe-trotting narrative, Young Sherlock introduces Sherlock Holmes as a disgraced, impulsive, and dangerously brilliant nineteen-year-old, still years away from the emotional armor and razor discipline that would later define him at 221B Baker Street. This version of Holmes is raw, anarchic, and frequently out of control, which makes the promise of watching his intellect crystallize all the more compelling. The murder investigation at the heart of the story is not just a narrative hook but a crucible, one that threatens Holmes’ very freedom while dragging him into a conspiracy of international scope, an approach that feels very much in line with Guy Ritchie’s fondness for conspiratorial webs and escalating stakes.

The casting alone signals ambition and a strong sense of lineage. Hero Fiennes Tiffin, stepping into the role of the young Sherlock Holmes, brings with him a fascinating meta-layer: having already worked with Guy Ritchie on The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, he now embodies a character previously portrayed on the big screen by Robert Downey Jr., under the same director’s watch. That continuity matters, not in terms of direct stylistic imitation, but in the confidence that Ritchie understands how to balance Holmes’ arrogance, vulnerability, and ferocious intelligence. The family dimension added to the mythos is equally intriguing, with Joseph Fiennes cast as Sherlock’s father and Natascha McElhone as his mother, grounding the character in emotional and psychological roots that Arthur Conan Doyle only ever hinted at. The presence of Max Irons as Mycroft Holmes further enriches this dynamic, promising sibling tension long before Mycroft becomes the shadowy government mind fans know. Add to that the formidable gravitas of Colin Firth, alongside Dónal Finn and Zine Tseng, and the ensemble feels carefully calibrated to support a character-driven mystery rather than overwhelm it with star power.

Behind the camera, Young Sherlock is anchored by Matthew Parkhill, serving as showrunner, head writer, and executive producer, adapting the Young Sherlock Holmes novels by Andrew Lane, themselves a thoughtful pastiche of Arthur Conan Doyle’s original work. What stands out here is the layered authorship: scripts penned by Matthew Parkhill, Peter Harness, Francesca Lin, and Kt Roberts suggest a writers’ room attuned to both serialized storytelling and character evolution, rather than a simple case-of-the-week structure. Direction duties are shared between Guy Ritchie, Anders Engström, Tricia Brock, and Dennie Gordon, which should allow for tonal variety while maintaining a cohesive visual identity. From a production standpoint, Inspirational Entertainment and Motive Pictures oversaw physical production, with Amazon MGM Studios backing the project, and the scale shows: filming began in the United Kingdom in July 2024, with Oxford-adjacent locations and scenes shot in Bristol, before expanding in 2025 to Jerez, Cádiz, and Seville in Spain, as well as Cardiff in Wales. That geographic ambition mirrors the series’ narrative promise of a conspiracy that refuses to stay neatly contained within academic walls.

Stylistically, early footage and press materials strongly evoke the DNA of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films from 2009 and 2011, particularly in their emphasis on physicality, rapid pacing, and a Holmes who thinks with his fists as much as his brain. Yet there’s also a noticeable effort to avoid simple repetition. The Oxford setting, with its cloistered traditions and suffocating expectations, becomes an antagonist in itself, shaping a protagonist who doesn’t yet know how to channel his brilliance without self-destruction. The musical score by Christopher Benstead, a frequent Ritchie collaborator, leans into this restless energy, while editing by Mark Patten and Oliver Loncraine keeps the narrative moving with a modern rhythm that contrasts sharply with the Victorian backdrop. From my perspective as editor-in-chief of Mulderville, what’s most exciting isn’t just the promise of stylish set pieces or clever mysteries, but the idea that Young Sherlock might finally bridge the gap between literary reverence and contemporary serialized storytelling, offering a Holmes who feels emotionally legible to a new generation without betraying the core of what made the character endure for over a century.

Young Sherlock doesn’t feel like another franchise extension engineered to fill a content slot; it feels like a deliberate attempt to ask why Sherlock Holmes still matters, and what it costs to become a legend. By focusing on failure, disgrace, and unchecked intelligence, the series positions its protagonist not as a finished icon, but as a young man one bad decision away from ruin. If the final eight episodes deliver on the confidence of their premise, Young Sherlock could stand not only as a compelling origin story, but as one of Prime Video’s most distinctive period dramas, proving that even the most dissected character in literary history still has new secrets worth uncovering.

Synopsis :
A disgraced, young Sherlock Holmes finds himself wrapped up in a murder case that threatens his liberty. His first ever case unravels a globe-trotting conspiracy, culminating in an explosive showdown that changes his life forever.

Young Sherlock
Directed by Guy Ritchie, Anders Engström, Tricia Brock, Dennie Gordon
Written by Matthew Parkhill, Peter Harness, Francesca Lin, Kt Roberts
Inspired by Young Sherlock Holmes by Andrew Lane and Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Showrunner : Matthew Parkhill
Executive producers : Matthew Parkhill, Guy Ritchie, Andrew Lane, Simon Kelton, Ivan Atkinson, Simon Maxwell, Dhana Gilbert, Colin Wilson, Marc Resteghini
Starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Zine Tseng, Joseph Fiennes, Natascha McElhone, Colin Firth, Dónal Finn, Max Irons
Cinematography :
Edited by Mark Patten, Oliver Loncraine
Music by Christopher Benstead
Production companies : Inspirational Entertainment, Motive Pictures, Amazon MGM Studios
Network : Prime Video
Release dates : March 4, 2026 (France, United States)
Running time : NC