Random Sherlock Holmes Stuff

Lestrade and Gregson

 Anyone who has read the original Sherlock Holmes stories, A Study in Scarlet in particular, should know who Inspectors Tobias Gregson and G. Lestrade are. Both detectives make their first appearances in A Study in Scarlet, who are both investigating a murder case which Gregson decides to consult Holmes about. When Holmes receives the letter from Gerson asking him to come investigate, he tells Watson that Gregson and Lestrade are "the best of a bad lot", but also pointed out an ongoing rivalry, saying that they were "as jealous as a pair of professional beauties" and that there would might be some fun in the case if both men were assigned to it. 

 Watson describes them as being completely different physically: Gregson is tall and blond with "fat, square hands", while Lestrade is "a little sallow, rat-faced, dark-eyed man", later described in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" as "a lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking". They apparently had different ways of investigating, as well, since in A Study in Scarlet each man went down a completely different path trying to solve the murder. Of course, they were both wrong, and Holmes was the one who caught the killer. 

 After A Study in Scarlet, both detectives make varying appearances in canon. Gregson only makes small appearances in three short stories; "The Greek Interpreter", "Wisteria Lodge", and "The Red Circle". He acknowledges Holmes' abilities and even admits that he feels more confident whenever he has help from Holmes on a case. He could even be willing to overlook some small things, such as in "The Greek Interpreter", when Holmes broke a window in order to enter a house. I think it's probably because of how infrequently he appears in canon that Gregson rarely appears in any Sherlock Holmes adaptions. 

 Inspector G. Lestrade is a different story. After A Study in Scarlet, Lestrade makes appearances in The Hound of the Baskervilles and eleven short stories. He is regarded as one of Scotland Yard's best mainly because Holmes lets him take credit for many cases. Though we don't learn too much about the man himself, he seems to have been very dedicated to his work, and his determination is probably how he rose through the ranks at Scotland Yard. Lestrade becomes good friends with Holmes and Watson, and it seems that he and Holmes really come to respect each other over the years. 

 Because of how often he was featured in the stories, Lestrade pops up quite often in movie and television adaptions of the Sherlock Holmes stories. I haven't seen many that Lestrade was actually in, and the one actor who sticks out in my mind is Colin Jeavons, who played the detective on the Granada Television series in some episodes. Physically, Jeavons looked how the character was described, and his acting was excellent. 

 Something I would really like to see is someone come up with a story about the two inspectors, maybe another one where they're stuck working on a case together. With all the Sherlock Holmes pastiches that have been written and movies with original storylines that have been done, you would think someone might have thought of that by now. Unfortunately, A Study in Scarlet doesn't seem to be adapted too often, so that might have something to do with it. But it would be interesting to see them in some story together again.