Brother Mine - Mycroft Holmes Trivia Quiz

Answer: Seven years

Sherlock Holmes reveals the existence of his brother to Watson when discussing the question of whether an individual's particular talents were the result of heredity or training. Holmes points out that there must be something to the former as Mycroft possesses the talents of observation and deductive reasoning to an even greater extent than does Sherlock. Upon their meeting, Watson describes Mycroft as "a much larger and stouter man than Sherlock.

His body was absolutely corpulent, but his face, though massive, had preserved something of the sharpness of expression which was so remarkable in that of his brother." The two brothers then proceed to undertake an exercise, describing a man they they observe through the window and across the street.

Answer: Pall Mall

Mycroft is a man of such set habits that when he sends a telegram to his brother advising that he will call at Baker Street later the same day, Sherlock expresses astonishment at the prospect, stating that it would be "as if you met a tram-car coming down a country lane. Mycroft has his rails and he runs on them.

His Pall Mall lodgings, the Diogenes Club, Whitehall - that is his cycle." Sherlock points out that Mycroft has only once before been to Baker Street, on which occasion the elder brother again caused amazement by arriving at 221b before Sherlock and Watson, despite their having left Mycroft at the Diogenes Club.

Answer: Greek

Mr Melas, who resides in the rooms on the first floor above Mycroft in Pall Mall, has come to his illustrious neighbour with a conundrum. The previous day, Mr Melas, who is London's premier Greek interpreter, is taken to a house where he is forced to interpret the answers of a Greek man being held captive.

Although Mycroft has instituted some enquiries, his nature as a sedentary individual - Sherlock states that "he will not even go out of his way to verify his own solutions, and would rather be considered wrong than take the trouble to prove himself right" - leads him to call in Sherlock to try and solve the problem.

Indeed, Mycroft's lack of practical skill almost leads to the unfortunate demise of Mr Melas, as the enquiries Mycroft makes leads to the criminal gang realising that Melas has betrayed them.

Answer: The Government

When first describing Mycroft to Watson, Sherlock says that his brother "audits the books for some of the government departments". This is at an early stage of their friendship, and Sherlock feels he cannot yet trust Watson with the secret of Mycroft's true role.

It is on their second encounter that Sherlock is able to reveal the truth - that Mycroft is in fact the most indispensible man in the government. His capacity for storage of facts and synthesis of information makes him the 'clearinghouse' for all government decisions, where he will be asked about several disparate points and will be able to determine how they interact with each other.

Sherlock describes it by saying "suppose that a minister needs information as to a point which involves the Navy, India, Canada and the bimetallic question; he could get his separate advices from various departments upon each, but only Mycroft can focus them all, and say offhand how each factor would affect the other."

Answer: Submarine

Mycroft's need to employ Sherlock is a matter of the utmost national importance, as the "Bruce-Partington" submarine is a state secret of the highest order. The plans have gone missing, with some of them turning up on the dead body of Cadogan-West, a clerk at the Royal Arsenal responsible for safeguarding the highly secret documents.

Despite the circumstantial evidence that says it was the dead man who stole the plans, Mycroft is convinced that there is an alternative explanation, and knows that his brother also believes that to be the case upon hearing the facts. Mycroft's need is for Sherlock to employ his boundless energies to find the real culprit and recover the stolen documents, the efforts of which Mycroft will support with the full weight of his office in the government.

Answer: Gielgud

In 1954, the BBC Light Programme started to broadcast its series "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", starring John Gielgud as Holmes and Ralph Richardson as Watson. The series was adapted by John Keir Cross, and directed by either Martyn C. Webster, or Gielgud's brother Val. Val Gielgud was an experienced radio director, who had pioneered radio drama on the BBC, and was brought in as a safe pair of hands to help his brother.

In addition to his other talents (he was also a prolific writer of detective fiction), he was an occasional actor, and for the BBC adaptation of "The Bruce-Partington Plans" he was cast in the role of Mycroft opposite his brother.

The series was subsequently sold for broadcast in the United States, first on NBC Radio in 1955, and then the following year on ABC Radio.

Answer: The Golden Pince-Nez

Charles Gray's first appearance as Mycroft came in "The Greek Interpreter", which was broadcast by ITV in September 1985 under the series title "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", an episode that also featured David Burke as Watson. Two and a half years later, in April 1988, "The Bruce-Partington Plans" was broadcast as part of "The Return of Sherlock Holmes", with Edward Hardwicke as Watson.

These were Mycroft's two canon appearances as, in Arthur Conan-Doyle's original stories, the only other mentions of Sherlock's brother are in "The Final Problem" and "The Empty House".

However, in 1994, in what proved to be the final ITV series, which was broadcast as "The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes", Charles Gray returned in two further episodes - "The Golden Pince-Nez", due to Edward Hardwicke being unavailable, and "The Mazarin Stone", as a result of Jeremy Brett's failing health.

In addition to his portrayal of Mycroft in the ITV series, Charles Gray also played the character in the film adaptation of Nicholas Meyer's original Sherlock Holmes novel "The Seven Per-Cent Solution" in 1976.

Answer: Fry and Laurie

In 2011, Guy Ritchie's film "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows", a sequel to 2009's "Sherlock Holmes", was released, starring Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Dr Watson. The film also featured Stephen Fry as Mycroft, in a rare instance of a modern production displaying the character's distinctive 'portly' physique.

In 2018, Fry's erstwhile comedy partner Hugh Laurie appeared uncredited as Mycroft in the comedy film "Holmes & Watson". In 2004, the pair had announced that they would appear as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in a new version for ITV - this production never occurred due to Laurie's success as the Sherlockian lead character in the US drama series "House".

Answer: Christopher Lee

In 1962, Christopher Lee appeared as Sherlock opposite Thorley Walters as Watson, in the film "Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace", an original story written by Curt Siodmak. The film, although shot in English, was an international co-production with financing from France, Italy and West Germany, which led to difficulties in terms of the script owing to competing voices.

As a result, neither Lee nor director Terence Fisher were happy with the finished piece, although Lee was content with his performance as Sherlock Holmes. Eight years later, director Billy Wilder was casting his new parody film, "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes", when George Sanders, who had originally been cast as Mycroft, was forced to withdraw due to ill health. Wilder cast Christopher Lee in the role, making the character a fit and energetic individual in keeping with the idea of the film being that the Holmes stories as 'written' by Watson are embellishments of the facts, and the characters are not as they appear in the actual stories.

Answer: Restaurateur

The version of Mycroft in "Elementary", played by Rhys Ifans, introduces himself as a successful restauranteur who owns a string of restaurants in different countries, all of which are called 'Diogenes'. This version of Mycroft is revealed to have lost a significant amount of weight as a result of treatment for leukemia.

Although Mycroft is a genuine restaurant owner, and an excellent cook, he is also secretly in the employ of MI6, who use Mycroft and his restaurants as a way of gathering information on criminal organisations. Ifans appeared as Mycroft in a total of seven episodes opposite Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock.