• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, April 14, 2025

The great David Thewlis mesmerizes in the role of Sherlock Holmes in TV’s newest rendition of the famed, fictional sleuth.

In the new show coming to The CW this week, the new wrinkle in the Holmes story is a daughter Holmes never knew he had.

Indeed, in Episode One of the show, “Sherlock & Daughter,” he does not accept the claims of a plucky yet mysterious young woman who shows up one day at his doorstep at 221B Baker Street after traveling alone all the way from California.

She nevertheless succeeds in ingratiating herself so completely with her cleverness that the irascible, antisocial Holmes warily invites her to stay and learn the tools of the detective trade.

Before he tendered this invitation, she became involved in investigating the apparent kidnapping of the daughter of the newly named American ambassador to England. 

The girl, Amelia Rojas (played by Blu Hunt, pictured above), befriended the kidnapped girl on the steamship they both sailed on to England.

Another mystery lurks in the background too. It is the murder of Amelia’s mother in California, a case Amelia believes only the great Sherlock Holmes can solve. 

He is her father, anyway, so why not go all the way from California to London with nothing but determination and high spirits?

Ludicrous? Maybe. But who cares? This show is a high-quality, well-made adventure and mystery series -- two words that add up to one word: Entertainment. And isn’t that a novel concept?

Blu Hunt is a bright new face and Thewlis, 62, has been a striking figure in movies and TV shows for decades.

He first came to the TV Blog’s notice in 2017 when he played an oily, creepy villain in the third season of “Fargo” and stole the show. More recently, he played Fagin in the Disney+ series “The Artful Dodger.”

In the 1896 London of “Sherlock & Daughter,” he feels right at home.

The TV Blog previously wrote about "Sherlock & Daughter” on March 27.

“Sherlock & Daughter” premieres on Wednesday (April 16) at 9 p.m. Eastern on The CW.