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DI Greg Lestrade
Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade
"Well, don't let it get to you, I always feel like screaming when you walk into a room. In fact, so do most people."
Played By: Rupert Graves
A Detective Inspector of Scotland Yard, and one of Sherlock's few friends. He is well aware that Sherlock is a stuck-up prick, but unlike the rest of the force, is also willing to admit that he genuinely is better at solving crimes than the police.
- Badass Longcoat: The few times he is badass, a long black overcoat is usually involved.
- Big Good: Moriarty, of all people, even compares him to King Arthur.
- Brilliant, but Lazy:
Word of God is that Lestrade is capable of solving the crimes he brings Sherlock to consult on by himself, it's just that most of them are extremely high-profile with a lot of media coverage, so he uses Sherlock as a shortcut, because in his own words he's "desperate". (And if the case involves murder, Sherlock solving it faster can mean fewer people die.) Case in point is the opening of "The Sign of Three" where Lestrade is infuriated that a criminal pair of brothers is always walking out of court Scot free, so he spends months with Donovan pursing them until they have an iron-clad case. - Busman's Holiday: How he becomes involved in "Hounds".
- Butt-Monkey: Is apparently one to the rest of the police force, over his support of the "fraud" detective Sherlock Holmes.
- Composite Character: He's a combination of Inspectors Lestrade and Gregson from the books. Lestrade's first name is even revealed to be Greg.
- Deadpan Snarker: Not as often as Sherlock and John, but he definitely gets some good one-liners in.
- Demoted to Extra: In Series 3, the main focus is how John and Mary's marriage has changed the dynamic of the show. Lestrade's still in all the episodes but he doesn't do that much plotwise.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Molly's Christmas dress in "Scandal" causes Lestrade to need to pick his jaw back up off the floor.
◊ - Donut Mess with a Cop: When Sally startles Lestrade in his office at the beginning of "Reichenbach", it's to find him with his feet up on his desk, classily stuffing his face with a doughnut and talking with his mouth full.
- Friend on the Force: To Sherlock. The only one. The rest of Scotland Yard is nearly 100% comprised of jealous, arrogant, bullying douchebags who would happily do anything to incriminate Holmes if needed.
- Give Me Back My Wallet: He is one of the many people Sherlock steals from to break in somewhere.
- Hero of Another Story: Cast by Moffat and Gatiss specifically because Rupert Graves gave off this trope when he played the role.
- Inspector Lestrade: Played with. He goes to Sherlock Holmes when he has cases that he is unable to solve himself. The creators comment that Sherlock Holmes is not stupid enough to accept being Surrounded by Idiots, so they present the diligent, methodical Determinator Lestrade of the later Holmes stories, not the Comic Relief Lestrade of A Study in Scarlet. In this series he's Sherlock's Friend on the Force - and the only member of the Yard who doesn't turn on him during the smear job of 'The Reichenbach Fall.'
- Last-Name Basis: Sherlock only knows him as Lestrade and is genuinly surprised when he finally learns his first name.
- Manipulative Bastard: He'll resort to it. "What, this? This is a drugs bust."
- Must Have Nicotine: Shows off his own patch to Sherlock.
- Nice Guy: Very easy to get along with. There's a reason he's the only officer on the force whom Sherlock likes.
- No Name Given: Only has a first initial of "G" , until "The Hounds of Baskerville", when Sherlock mocks him for going undercover to spy on him with a lame alias of "Greg".
- Only Sane Employee: The only cop in Scotland Yard willing to put up with Sherlock, because he gets results.
- And the only cop who doesn't immediately jump to the conclusion that Sherlock is a fraud in "The Reichenbach Fall".
- Only Sane Man: Frequently, especially when Sherlock's around.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: The only police officer willing to let Sherlock do what he must to solve the mystery at hand, often against his own better judgement.
- Silver Fox: Gray-haired and quite handsome.
- Team Dad: Most notably in Many Happy Returns where he checks in on both Anderson and John with genuine concern. Also often talks to Sherlock like a stern father or authority figure.
- He being the only person (that we see) to hug Sherlock upon his return reinforces this.
- Undying Loyalty: In "The Sign of Three", leaves an important case that has both plagued and infuriated him for over a year, leaving someone else to get the credit for the bust, simply because Sherlock texted him saying that he needed his help urgently because he was in trouble. Lestrade immediately calls for backup and storms over there... only to find that Sherlock was having trouble writing his best man speech.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Despite his loyalty to Sherlock, he takes great pleasure in Sherlock's misery - using every opportunity to get an embarrassing photo and refusing to keep his voice down when John and Sherlock are hung over.
DS Sally Donovan
Detective Sergeant Sally Donovan
"You're still hanging round him? You should get yourself a hobby. Stamps, maybe. Model trains? Safer."
Played By: Vinette Robinson
One of the more prominent police officers, Donovan hates Sherlock with a sort of cold apathy. As far as she's concerned, he's going to turn bad eventually, and she is well-prepared for that.
- Bullying a Dragon: Sherlock exposes her affair with Anderson at a crime scene just by taking a whiff of her. Doesn't stop her from calling him 'freak' or encouraging John to leave him. Not to mention, she was convinced at the time that Sherlock was a cold-blooded psychopath who would one day murder someone out of sheer boredom.
- By-the-Book Cop: Does not approve of Sherlock's consulting. To her, he's always "Freak".
- Catchphrase: "Freak.", mainly to Sherlock. In fact if one goes to John's blog, her only comments on the first few posts on Sherlock and John's cases are just "Freak".
- Deadpan Snarker: Has her moments.
- The Dog Bites Back: It doesn't pay to have enemies in the police force, Sherlock, no matter how lowly they seem.
- Driven by Envy: She appears more than a little resentful of Sherlock's abilities, especially when the media start painting him a hero.
- Fair Cop: Unless Sherlock is involved.
- Inspector Javert: She is very quick to determine that Sherlock is a criminal.
- Jerkass: Towards Sherlock. Sally rationalises her antagonism towards him as a being a result of Sherlock enjoying his work a little too much.
- Karma Houdini: Goes unpunished for her shitty attitude and unlike Anderson, doesn't feel any remorse in being manipulated by Moriarty against Sherlock.
- Pet the Dog: She did try and calm Greg down when the latter had a flipout after they kept failing to arrest a gang of robbers at the beginning of The Sign Of Three.
- The Lancer: To Lestrade.
- The Stoic: Unlike Anderson, she doesn't seem to have any guilt over her role in Sherlock's "death".
- Unwitting Pawn: To Jim Moriarty.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Disappeared for a while after "The Sign of Three", and then around Series 3 was Demoted to Extra, unlike Anderson.
- Womanchild: Her attitude to Sherlock and calling him freak invokes less a grown woman and more of a snotty high-schooler.
Philip Anderson
Philip Anderson
"Never mind that, we found the case! According to someone, the murderer has the case, and we found it in the hands of our favourite psychopath."
Played by: Jonathan Aris
A prominent forensics investigator, Anderson is much louder about his hate of Sherlock than Donovan and others. Sherlock responds by constantly belittling him and making him look like a fool (not that he needs much help).
- The Atoner: In "Many Happy Returns", he's come to regret the part he played in Sherlock's downfall, and is obessed with proving Sherlock's still alive to the point where he lost his job because of it.Anderson: I believe in Sherlock Holmes!
Lestrade: Yeah, well, that's not gonna bring him back, is it? - Bad Cop/Incompetent Cop: It's unclear if he's actually good at his job or not, since all we hear is Sherlock trashing him. In the original pilot, Lestrade seems to treat him better.
- Implied that he's not completely incompetent, considering Sherlock asks for him specifically in "Reichenbach" (despite reluctance in "A Study in Pink", which he claimed was because "Anderson won't work with me").
- Beard of Sorrow: Has one in the minisode "Many Happy Returns" and in Season 3, due to guilt over the part he played in Sherlock's downfall.
- Bullying a Dragon: Sherlock only has to sniff him to figure out he's having an affair with DS Donovan.
- Butt-Monkey: Sherlock can't stand him, and as such, treats him horribly.Sherlock: Anderson, don't talk out loud, you lower the IQ of the entire street.
- Or:
Anderson: Not much use, it doesn't lead us to the kidnapper.
Sherlock: Brilliant, Anderson.
Anderson: Really?
Sherlock: Yes, brilliant impression of an idiot. - Canon Foreigner: He is not from the original series.
- Cassandra Truth: In "Many Happy Returns," he has tracked Sherlock's movement and come to the conclusion that he is alive and coming back. No one believes him (at least, Lestrade doesn't.)
- Everyone Has Standards: He didn't like Sherlock, but when he discovered that he had been used by Moriarty to drive Sherlock to suicide he took it hard.
- Expy: To Brett Partridge from The Mentalist, not only in role as forensics, ill relationship with the protagonist and connection to the bad guy, but also down to the actors's physique and mannerisms. The first scene in the series between him and Sherlock is direct Shout-Out to the similar scene between Partridge and Jane.
- Gratuitous German: Apparently knows enough to tell Lestrade and Sherlock that "Rache" is German for revenge.
- Lab Rat: An in-the-field version, as he's a crime scene tech.
- Last-Name Basis: It wasn't until Series 3 that we learned his first name.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Implied to have one of these between Series 2 and "Many Happy Returns", over the role he played in Sherlock's downfall. Despite how much he hated him, Sherlock's death has weighed heavily on his conscience.
- "No. Just… No" Reaction: His reaction to a Yaoi Fangirl in his Sherlock fanclub suggesting that
Moriarty and Sherlock faked their deaths so they could run off into the sunset together. - Sanity Slippage: Guilt for his part in Sherlock's death apparently lead him to become obsessed with the case, lose his job and concoct increasingly bizarre theories for how Sherlock is alive and how he faked his death. He's right of course, but no-one believes him. Even when Sherlock tells him how he supposedly did it, he immediately begins questioning the explanation and appears to go a little mad from the revelation. He does however get better, and get his old job back.
- Shipper on Deck: Sherlock/Molly, apparently. His theory on Sherlock's survival ends with Sherlock crashing through a window at Bart's and kissing Molly.
- Straw Fan: He leads the Empty Hearse, a society which appears to be the in-universe representation of Sherlock's fandom.
- Took a Level in Kindness: He goes from hating Sherlock to becoming one of people Sherlock’s brain conjures up to save his life when he’s been shot.
- Unwitting Pawn: To Moriarty.
DI Dimmock
Detective Inspector Dimmock
- Played by: Paul Chequer
A one-episode character who fills Lestrade's role in "The Blind Banker".
- Continuity Cameo: Briefly appears in "The Six Thatchers" asking Sherlock for help.
- Inspector Lestrade: Plays this role in "The Blind Banker", as temporary replacement for the real Lestrade. (Soak up the irony!)
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While he is initially dismissive of Sherlock's claims about the link between the murders in the case, once he is comprehensively proven wrong, he gives Sherlock all the support he needs.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Lestrade.
DI Stella Hopkins
Detective Inspector Stella Hopkins
- Played by: Eleanor Matsuura
A DI attached to INTERPOL who like Lestrade also goes to Sherlock for help on cases. She keeps trying to convince Sherlock to assist her in finding the Borgia Pearl, a case Sherlock considers very boring and has no interest in solving.
- Adaptational Name Change: Due to the Gender Flip she goes from being Stanley Hopkins to Stella Hopkins.
- Butt-Monkey: Sherlock really isn't polite when he refuses to find the Borgia Pearl for her.
- The Determinator: She really wants Sherlock to find that Borgia Pearl.
- Fair Cop: She's very good looking.
- Gender Flip: In the Conan Doyle originals she was a naturally a man - Stanley Hopkins, since women weren't allowed in the police force in the Victorian Era.
- Nice Girl: From what she see she's a very nice woman.
- Ship Tease: There are definitely sparks between her and Greg.
