Victorian London just gained a bright new star on Wednesday nights. In Sherlock & Daughter, The CW dusts off Holmes’s deerstalker and drops him—and a fiercely clever woman who claims to be his daughter—right into 1896 London. Sure, I’ve loved the sleek twists of BBC’s Sherlock, the New York grit of Elementary and even Watson’s modern spin, but nothing beats the foggy gaslight alleys and horse?drawn carriages that made Holmes a legend in the first place.

Holmes is in trouble. First, both Dr. Watson and Mrs. Hudson are missing, presumably kidnapped. Homes’ maid has been murdered and her finger sent to him in a box. Second a young American woman has turned up on his doorstep, claiming to be his daughter. She said her mother told her if she was ever in trouble go to Sherlock Holmes for help. Her mother, an inventor, has been murdered, so young Amelia Rojas is most definitely in trouble.

Sherlock Holmes is brought to life brilliantly by David Thewlis who played Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter movies and the god Ares in Wonder Woman (2017). When the camera catches him at the right angle, Thewlis has a remarkable resemblance to the old Sidney Paget illustrations in the Strand magazine.

We’ve seen Sherlock Holmes frozen and revived twice, (once in a live-action movie, The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1987) once in a cartoon Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century). We’ve seen him fight Dracula. We’ve seen him in New York city and Washington, DC. We’ve seen him investigate the Loch Ness Monster, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970). I don’t remember ever seeing him as a father.

Amelia Rojas, who may or may not be Holmes’ daughter is played by Blu Hunt, who has a considerable amount of Geek Cred despite her young age. She was Danielle Moonstar aka Mirage in The New Mutants (2020). Hunt had a recurring role in the CW show The Originals as Inadu (alias The Hollow). She co-starred on the Netflix show Another Life as ship’s engineer Catawnee.

Professor James Moriarty has not been seen yet, but who but the Napoleon of Crime could be behind the disappearance of Dr. John H. Watson and Mrs. Hudson? Not to mention the abduction of two foreign ambassadors’ offspring!

Moriarty (who has not made an appearance yet) will be played by Dougray Scott, who was Prince Henry in Ever After (1998) and starred as Bill Masen in The Day of the Triffids in 2009. Scott also starred in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2008).

Sherlock & Daughter was created by Brendan Foley, based on the 56 short stories and four novels of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Foley wrote and directed the horror film Assault of Darkness (2009). Folry directed, wrote, and produced The Riddle (2007), a psychological crime thriller film. The showrunner is Jamrs Duff, the creator of The Closer and Major Crimes.

Holmes claims not to recognize the portrait of Amelia’s mother nor to know her name. But as River Song once said of her husband: “The Doctor lies.” Holmes might be telling the truth. Blu Hunt is 29, although I suspect Amelia Rojas is a little younger. He simply might not remember after so many years. Or perhaps Amelia will turn out to be his daughter. I don’t expect that to be confirmed or denied until the second season at the earliest.

Seán Duggan is listed as playing Dr. Watson. I hope that means he’ll be rescued and joining the show as a supporting character. Maybe it just means he’ll be seen in flashbacks.

In the meantime, spoilers, Holmes has hired Amelia to be his assistant. We’ve only seen the first episode so far, but this show has definite potential. I’ll be watching April 23 when the second episode is broadcast to see if it lives up to that potential.

Where to find SHERLOCK & dAUGHTER

Sherlock & Daughter is on Wednesday nights on the CW in the USA. The show will be broadcast on Discovery+ in the U.K. and Ireland. In Denmark, it’s on DR. Australians can watch it on SBS. If you’re in Iceland, watch on RÚV. It’s on SVT in Sweden and NRK in Norway. In Finland, it’s on Amedia. If you’re in Russia, you can watch on Amediateka. So far, eight episodes have been filmed, all directed by Bryn Higgins, but only the pilot has been broadcast.

Bryn Higgins is one of the show’s producers in addition to directing the first eight episodes. She was nominated for a BAFTA Award for The King of Chaos and directed episodes of Black Mirror and Q.E.D. (the science documentary), not the steampunk adventure show of the same name.

I watched the pilot. I liked it. Sherlock & Daughter has a great cast and a competent crew. I predict it will do well. What do you think?