Sherlock Holmes
He is the most famous detective in fiction
He appeared for the first time in 1887
The author of Sherlock Holmes was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Conan Doyle was a doctor and he based Holmes on Dr Joseph Bell, his senior at the Edinburgh Royal Infimary
His address in the stories is 221B Baker Street, London
Dr Bell often helped the police to solve crimes
Like Dr Bell, Holmes uses his amazing powers of observation to solve difficult cases
Sherlock Holmes was so popular that Conan Doyle had to revive him after he’d killed him off in one of his stories
Holmes describes himself as “Bohemian”, because he seems quite disorganised and eccentric, he generally gets up late and in order to get the truth he sometimes break the laws
Conan Doyle wrote 4 novels and 56 short stories featuring Holmes
Dr Watson, Holmes’s friend, is a key figure in the stories and is the narrator in the most of them
Today this house is now a Sherlock Holmes museum
According to the Guinness Book of Records, Sherlock Holmes is “the most portrayed movie character”, with over 70 actors playing the part in over 200 films
James Bond
He is a secret agent working for British Secret Service
His code name is 007. The “00” prefix signifies that he has a licence to kill
James Bond is a highly romanticised version of a true spy
Bond appeared for the first time in 1953
The creator of of James Bond is Ian Fleming
Fleming based on William Stephenson
Stephenson was a spymaster in World War II
Bond also has many of Fleming’s own characteristics:
- they both liked fast cars and beautiful women
- they were similar in height, hairstyle and eye colour
- they liked the same food “scrambled eggs and coffee
James Bond is a household name
All the Bond novels have been made into films
6 actors have played James Bond so far. The first was Sean Connery and the most recent was Daniel Craig.
There are also video games, comic strips, models of cars and other gadgets based on the Bond films
Harry Potter
He is a magician
The main focus of the Harry Potter stories is Harry’s battle with the evil wizard Lord Voldemort
Harry has a strong sense of right and wrong. He is brave and determined. But he makes mistakes and he sometimes loses his temper
The first book of Harry Potter came out in 1997 and the last appeared in 2007
The author of Harry Potter is Joanne Kathleen
Her publishers were worried that boys wouldn’t read books written by a woman, so they asked her to use the initials “JK”
In an interviewer in 2001 JK explained that Harry was her favourite male name, and also speak of a boy called Ian Potter
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The book have appeared in 67 languages
The first print run of Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows, the last book in the series, was 12 milion copies in the USA alone
There are Harry Potter films, video games and Harry Potter-themed merchandise