Sherlock Holmes (BBC)

Sherlock Holmes is a tall, thin man with dark, curly hair. As with the original character, Sherlock is able to deduce (or rather, abduce) information from the smallest details. He describes himself as "A consulting detective, the only one in the world", consulted by Scotland Yard when they are out of their depth with cases (usually homicides). Sherlock is often insensitive of how this affects the officers and usually ridicules their incompetence. However, he is frequently mocked by them for being eccentric, especially by forensics member Anderson and Sergeant Sally Donovan.

Sherlock seems to care more about the crimes than the victims involved, like the Holmes of the original canon. He is not very sociable, nor does he suggest that he has friends. Sherlock is rude and inconsiderate towards others and to an extent, his flatmate and colleague John, often leaving him behind and asking him to do menial, domestic tasks such as shopping. However, Sherlock is shown to care deeply for John as the series progresses, showing uncharacteristic emotion when his friend's life is in jeopardy or when John comes to his aid.

Sherlock also has considerable fighting ability, and fights off a man armed with a sword using his bare hands in "The Blind Banker". He is also adept with a gun and able to chase a cab on foot across London.

He knows London's streets and alleys extremely well, and has strange connections, including a graffiti artist as well as the entire network of the homeless, whom he uses as his "eyes and ears".

Sherlock is a smoker who finds the habit impractical in present-day urban London and therefore mostly makes do with nicotine patches. He may apply as many as three patches on himself at the same time when it is a "three patch problem"; he implies that the nicotine helps him to think. For the same professed reason, he plays the violin and even composes music from time to time. It is also implied that he has a history of illegal drug use. Sherlock has violent mood swings during periods of extreme ennui when there are no cases that interest him. He is once seen curled up on the sofa and firing a gun at the wall in his flat. In "A Study in Pink", he claims to be a "high-functioning sociopath".

(transcribed from Wikipedia)