Lucy discovers Sherlock's origins in Arthur's early life as a medical student. She unpicks the early stories, revealing the dark underbelly of late Victorian Britain, from drug use to true crime, and traces Doyle's disenchantment with his detective.

Lucy explores Doyle's desire to distance himself from Sherlock. From the delights of the ski slopes to the horrors of the Boer War, she reveals how far Doyle went to make himself the hero of his own story.

Lucy investigates the return of Sherlock and finds that the darkness of the later stories mirrored the reality of Doyle's life. After the loss of his eldest son, he became an evangelist for spiritualism.