Detective fiction detective fiction. Doyle attempted to kill the character off after twenty-three stories, but by popular request, he continued to write the Sherlock Holmes series. Sherlock Holmes is not only referenced as the titular character, but has also influenced many other areas outside of detective fiction. For example, the BBC-produced TV series Sherlock gained a very large fandom after first airing in 2010, imbuing a renewed interest in the character in the general public. Because of the popularity of Holmes, Conan Doyle was often regarded as being “as well-known as Queen Victoria”. Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian private detective, created
Mycroft Holmes [...] the most indispensable man in the country." He apparently serves as a sort of human computer, as stated in "The Bruce-Partington Plans": Mycroft appears or is mentioned in four stories by Doyle: "The Greek Interpreter", "The Final Problem", "The Empty House" and "The Bruce-Partington Plans". While he does occasionally exert himself in these stories on behalf of his brother, he on the whole remains a sedentary problem-solver, providing solutions based on seemingly no evidence and trusting Sherlock to handle any of the practical details. In fact, Mycroft's own lack of practicality is a severe handicap despite his inductive talents: