Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke, who played Holmes and Watson in the Granada Television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984–94), reprised their roles for Jeremy Paul's revisionist stage play, The Secret of Sherlock Holmes (1988–89). The only characters in the play are Holmes and Watson, and it highlights many aspects of their relationship from their first meeting to the Reichenbach Falls. In the second half, it is indicated that Moriarty never existed: he was a figment of Holmes' imagination, as the detective needed a worthy enemy as much as he needed a devoted friend like Watson.[6]
Radio and Podcast
Louis Hector played the villain in numerous episodes of NBC's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1934-1935).[7]
Orson Welles played Professor Moriarty opposite Sir John Gielgud's Holmes in the episode "The Final Problem" of the 1954 series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.[8]
In the BBC Radio 4 November 1992 broadcast of The Final Problem and 24 February 1993 broadcast of The Empty House, Moriarty was played by Michael Pennington.[10]
In the podcast Hollywood Handbook, Moriarty is played by Hayes Davenport where he is usually fighting the antihero Santaman, played by Sean Clements.[12]
Laurence Olivier portrayed Moriarty in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976),[19] based on the 1974 revisionist novel of the same name. In this version he is not the story's villain, but merely a harmless man who becomes an increasingly paranoid victim of Holmes' delusions, brought on by his addiction to cocaine and based on the fact that Moriarty indirectly contributed to the death of Holmes' mother, who was his lover.[20]
In Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), Anthony Higgins plays Holmes' schoolmaster, Rathe, who turns out to be an evil Egyptian mastermind called "Eh-Tar". During the long credit roll at the end of the film, Eh-Tar is seen walking to an inn and signs the ledger as "Moriarty", indicating that he will become Holmes' archenemy in the future.[21] Higgins later portrayed Holmes in Sherlock Holmes Returns (1993),[22] making him one of only two actors to portray both Holmes and Moriarty on film (Richard Roxburgh being the other; Orson Welles played both Holmes and Moriarty in radio programmes).
Paul Freeman appeared as Moriarty in Without a Clue (1988); the film revolves around the premise that Dr. Watson (Ben Kingsley), who is the real crime-solving genius, has hired a boozy, out-of-work actor (Michael Caine) to play "Holmes". Moriarty is aware of the deception and refers to "Holmes" as "that imbecile", as opposed to Watson, whom he grudgingly respects.[23]
In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), the film adaptation of the graphic novel by Alan Moore, Richard Roxburgh portrays the main antagonist named the Fantom, whose true identity was eventually revealed to be Professor James Moriarty in the climax where he faked his death following his last fight with Sherlock Holmes.[26]
In the 2009 film, Sherlock Holmes, Moriarty appears as a shadowy, mysterious villain employing Irene Adler. The role was voiced by the film's dialect coach, Andrew Jack[27] (although director Guy Ritchie refused to reveal his identity).[28]Jared Harris played the role in the 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,[29] as well as redubbing the character's lines from the first film in subsequent home releases and television broadcasts.
Ralph Fiennes portrayed Moriarty in the 2018 film Holmes & Watson, a comedic take on the Holmes and Watson characters.
Sharon Duncan-Brewster portrayed a genderbent version Moriarty in the 2022 film Enola Holmes 2. This version used the alias of Mira Troy (a flashback reveals that it is an anagram of her name) and posed as the secretary of Lord Charles McIntyre where they made use of corrupt police superintendent Grail and his fellow corrupt police officers in covering up their illegal activities.
Television
John Huston portrayed Moriarty in the made-for-TV movieSherlock Holmes in New York (1976) opposite Roger Moore's Holmes, attempting to rob the international gold exchange in New York while threatening Irene Adler’s son to prevent Holmes from investigating, although Holmes and Watson are able to rescue the son and solve the crime regardless, forcing Moriarty to flee after a last attempt to kidnap Irene's son after Holmes exposes the truth behind the crime and is able to arrange for the rest of Moriarty's American forces to be arrested.[30]
An anthropomorphic incarnation of Moriarty appeared in the anime series Sherlock Hound (1984–1985), voiced by Chikao Ōtsuka for Japanese and Hamilton Camp for English. During the series, Moriarty is the main antagonist behind every crime in almost each episode. As the characters were depicted as anthropomorphic dogs, Moriarty himself is seen closely resembling a wolf.[32]
Eric Porter portrayed Moriarty in three episodes of the TV series Sherlock Holmes (1984–1994), starring Jeremy Brett as Holmes: "The Red-Headed League" (1985) "The Final Problem" (1985) and "The Empty House" (1986).[33] The three episodes in question are the last two of the first series, known as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and the first one of the second series, known as The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Stock footage of Moriarty also appeared as a hallucination in the episode "The Devil's Foot" (1988), also from the second series. In the feature-length episode The Eligible Bachelor (1993), adapted from "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor", Holmes describes Moriarty as "a giant of evil" and says, "I regret Moriarty's death [because] without him, I have to deal with distressed children, cat-owners—pygmies, pygmies of triviality. You see, Moriarty combined science with evil. Organization with precision. Vision with perception. I know of only one person that he misjudged. Me." The episode is part of the third series, known as The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.
"Elementary My Dear Winston", the third episode for the 1989 season of The Real Ghostbusters (1986–1992), features Holmes, Watson and Moriarty (voiced by Alan Shearman, Maurice LaMarche, and Rodger Bumpass, respectively) by way of "belief made manifest": so many people believed in them that they became real. Moriarty now has supernatural powers and employs the Hound of the Baskervilles as his henchman. Holmes and Moriarty are both sucked into the Ghostbusters' storage facility while wrestling, in the same manner as the conclusion of "The Final Problem".
In the animated series Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (1999–2001), Moriarty (voiced by Richard Newman) was the villain behind nearly all of the crimes. He had been cloned back to life by a rogue geneticist, requiring Holmes to be "resurrected" as well in order to match him. The body of the original Moriarty was still frozen in ice behind the waterfall that he fell from during his battle with Holmes.[35]
Jim Moriarty is played by actor Andrew Scott in the modern-day BBC adaptation, Sherlock (2010–2017), as a psychopathic "consulting criminal" who develops a murderous obsession with Holmes.[36] He appears behind the scenes for most of the first two seasons, creating a series of apparent suicides and then setting up a sequence of events where Holmes must solve key mysteries before people are blown up by timed bomb vests, culminating in a confrontation in a swimming pool that is cut short by an unexplained phone call that prompts Moriarty to depart to deal with other matters. In the Series 2 finale "The Reichenbach Fall" (2012), he briefly assumes the identity of Richard Brook ("Reicher Bach" in German), creating the illusion that Holmes is behind his crimes and paid him to assume the role of Moriarty. Through this he destroys Holmes' reputation and also threatens his friends in order to drive Holmes to suicide. He himself commits suicide in the climax of the episode, but, at the end of the later episode "His Last Vow" (2014), his face appears on TV screens across the country. Although Holmes spends most of the subsequent special ("The Abominable Bride", 2016) in an elaborate hallucination of a similar case in 1895 to try to determine how Moriarty might have survived, he eventually concludes that Moriarty is genuinely dead, but had planned in advance to have others carry out his plans after his own death. During "The Six Thatchers" (2017), Holmes states his confidence that Moriarty's plans will go into action at some future date, but makes it clear that he will currently act as normal as he is certain that Moriarty's trap will make itself obvious when the time is right. The episode “The Final Problem” reveals that, prior to his death, Moriarty had conspired with the true mastermind of the plot, Sherlock's sister Eurus.
In the US television series Elementary (2012–2019), Moriarty is a composite character with Irene Adler. She is first mentioned in the 12th episode of the first season ("M", 2013). Holmes tracks an apparent serial killer who uses the name "M"; upon his capture, he is discovered to be Sebastian Moran, Moriarty's henchman, whose seemingly random murders were actually assassinations carried out for his employer, whom he claims to have never met. In the season finale, "Irene Adler" is revealed to be an alias created by Moriarty in order to get close to Holmes and observe him (a male voice who spoke to Holmes as "Moriarty" over the telephone is revealed to be a hired actor). The episode "We Are Everyone" (2013) reveals her true name as Jamie Moriarty and she continues to write letters to Holmes from prison.[37] She briefly escapes prison to assist in an investigation of a kidnapping of a girl who is revealed to be her daughter, abducted by the man who acted as Moriarty in past conversations, but willingly returns to custody after her daughter is safe. Despite being in prison, she later arranges for a ruthless crime boss to be assassinated after the woman attempts to kill Holmes’ assistant Joan Watson, sending her a letter to confirm her involvement. In the last episodes of Season Four, Holmes and Watson meet Professor Joshua Vikner (portrayed by Tony Curran), the father of Moriarty's child, who has taken over her organization after her incarceration, and who is also based on the literary version of Moriarty. He is arrested thanks to the actions of Sherlock's father Morland, who takes over the operation in order to dismantle it from within and ensure that none of its assets can be used against his son. By the time of the final episode of the series, Morland is dead, Moriarty's organisation basically disbanded, and Moriarty herself is presumed by the government to be dead, although Holmes expresses doubts about this even after attending her funeral. Moriarty appears on screen during season 1, when the character is portrayed by Natalie Dormer.
In the Russian-produced Sherlock Holmes (2013) series by Andrey Kavun, Moriarty was played by actor Alexey Gorbunov. Moriarty is a mathematics professor who attempts to assassinate the Queen. He appeared as the head of a London-wide criminal network called "The Cabmen Gang".[38]
In the NHK puppetry Sherlock Holmes (2014–present), Moriarty is the tall and blond deputy headmaster of Beeton School where Holmes and Watson study and live, and has a face with two different aspects: one of which looks calm but the other looks severe. Though he always behaves gentlemanly, he is strict with pupils, especially Holmes, who behaves at his own pace.[39] He usually calls a pupil by his/her given name and surname; for example, he calls Watson "John Hamish Watson".[40] He is voiced by Masashi Ebara.[39]
Moriarty is a recurring character in season 2 of The Librarians (2014–2018), where is he is played by David S. Lee. Here, Moriarty has been brought to life by Prospero of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and is forced to serve as his strategist. Though he maintains his loyalty to Prospero throughout the season, he eventually betrays him in the final episode, only to be banished back to his story as punishment. At the last second, he reveals that the only way to beat Prospero is to destroy his staff.
In HBO Asia/Hulu's re-imagining Miss Sherlock, Moriarty is first mentioned in episode six under the name Akira Moriwaki, and is believed to be behind the events of most of the series. Episode seven reveals Moriwaki to be Wato's (the Watson analogue) middle-aged female psychiatrist, Dr. Mariko Irikawa.[41]
Moriarty is the protagonist of the anime series Moriarty the Patriot, which was adapted from the manga series of the same name.
In David McDaniel's 1965 novel, The Dagger Affair (The Man From U.N.C.L.E. No. 4), THRUSH satrap Ward Baldwin explains to the U.N.C.L.E. team working with him to save the world that THRUSH is the successor to Moriarty's 19th Century criminal organization.[42]
In Nicholas Meyer's 1974 revisionist novel, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, Moriarty is portrayed as Holmes' childhood mathematics tutor, a whining little man with a guilty secret. He is incensed to hear that Holmes, apparently under the influence of cocaine, has depicted him as a criminal mastermind. Due to Holmes' worsening condition, Moriarty threatens to tell the authorities about Holmes' addiction. Dr. Watson seeks the help of Sigmund Freud, who uncovers the truth behind Holmes' perception of "the Napoleon of Crime". This is one of many works to seize on the fact that Moriarty never actually shows his face in the Holmes canon. The novel was made into a 1976 film and starred Laurence Olivier as a very different sort of Professor Moriarty.
John Gardner has written three novels featuring the arch-villain: The Return of Moriarty (1974), in which the Professor, like Holmes, is shown to have survived the meeting at the Reichenbach, The Revenge of Moriarty (1975) and Moriarty (released posthumously in 2008 after the author's death in 2007). In these novels, Moriarty is depicted as a Victorian-era Al Capone or Don Corleone, who single-handedly controls London's organised crime structure. "The Professor" is not really Moriarty, but Moriarty's younger brother, also named James, and as brilliant as his older brother, whom he impersonates, disgraces and murders, later stealing the deceased's identity.
Kim Newman used Moriarty as a minor character in the first volume of his Anno Dracula (1992) series; he claims to have given up his criminal interests, in the face of Count Dracula's increasing domination of London, and become a vampire in order to have infinite time to pursue his mathematical researches. Newman later wrote a series of short stories about Moriarty, narrated Watson-style by Colonel Moran, in which Moriarty interacts with many of his fictional contemporaries. They have been collected in Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles (2011). One of the stories, "The Red Planet League", first appeared in Gaslight Grimoire. Another story, "The Adventure of the Greek Invertebrate" (a play on "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter", which introduced Sherlock Holmes' brother Mycroft), features Professor Moriarty's two brothers, also named James, the colonel and the station master, and offers an explanation for the lack of variety in their forenames. The last story, "The Problem of the Final Adventure", is a revisionist retelling of "The Adventure of the Final Problem" from the other side.
Moriarty appears in a short story by Donald Serrell Thomas, in his collection The Secret Cases of Sherlock Holmes (1997), as the mastermind of a blackmail plot involving the alleged bigamy of Prince George. His younger brother, Col. James Moriarty, appears as the antagonist of another short story in Thomas' The Execution of Sherlock Holmes (2007).
Michael Kurland has written a series of five novels (The Infernal Device, Death by Gaslight, The Great Game, The Empress of India, and Who Thinks Evil) and four short stories featuring Moriarty.
Moriarty appears in Alan Moore's comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (1999–present). Recruited from university by British Intelligence, he supposedly set up his criminal empire as part of an undercover operation to monitor crime in London which got out of hand, to the point where the 'cover' became more real to Moriarty than his role in British Intelligence. Having survived the encounter with Holmes, he went on to become head of British Intelligence under the code-name "M" but still maintained his criminal interests. He instigated the creation of the League as a covert ops unit with plausible deniability and used them to recover an anti-gravity mineral called Cavorite which had been stolen by his crime lord rival the Doctor. He used the Cavorite to bomb the East End of London in an attempt to destroy the Doctor but was thwarted by the League which had uncovered the double-cross. Following his supposed death (indicated, but not clearly portrayed, as he "falls" into the sky while clutching the Cavorite), he was ironically succeeded as "M" by Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother. In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, it is suggested that Jack Kerouac's Dean Moriarty (from On the Road) is his great-grandson, and the rivalry between the two criminals is continued by the fact that the Doctor's great-grandson is Kerouac's other creation, Doctor Sax. In the third volume, set more than six decades later, Mina Murray comes across his carcass, still holding on to the Cavorite, inside a block of ice floating through space.
In The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes (1999), set during Holmes' three-year fake "death", Holmes encounters Moriarty during his trip in Tibet, where he learns that Moriarty is actually "the Dark One", a former Tibetan mystic possessing great psychic powers who lost his memories in an attack on the Dalai Lama, only for his near-death experience on the Reichenbach Falls to restore his memory, albeit leaving him horribly crippled and disfigured by his injuries. He attempts to acquire a legendary crystal that would allow him to wield even greater power, but, although Moriarty acquires the crystal, boosting his powers and healing his injuries, he is defeated when it is revealed that Holmes is partly possessed by the spirit of the Dark One's old rival. Sharing the spirit of a former llama allows Holmes to wield similar powers to Moriarty's, utilizing these mental powers to delay his old enemy long enough for Holmes' ally, Huree Chunder Mockerjee, to knock the crystal away from Moriarty and into Holmes' hands, giving Holmes the power to turn Moriarty's own abilities against him, vaporising Moriarty's body and destroying him once and for all.
In Neil Gaiman's short story "A Study in Emerald" (2003), the Moriarty and Holmes of an alternate history reverse roles. Moriarty (who, although never named as such in the story, is identified as the author of Dynamics of an Asteroid) is hired to investigate a murder. The murder has apparently been carried out by Sherlock Holmes (who signs his name Rache, an allusion to Doyle's first novel starring Holmes and Watson, A Study in Scarlet, in which "Rache"—German for "revenge"—is found written above the body of a murder victim) and Dr. Watson. The story is narrated by Colonel Sebastian Moran, given the rank of Major (Ret.) by Gaiman.
In a 2006 comic book story featuring Lee Falk's The Phantom, the 19th Phantom has to fight Moriarty; the climax of the story features the Phantom and Moriarty falling down a waterfall in the Bangalla jungle. At the end of the story, Moriarty is shown to be alive, as he returns to London to find "a detective named Sherlock Holmes".
In the comic series Victorian Undead (2010), Holmes and Watson must face a 'reborn' Moriarty as he unleashes a zombie plague on London, having survived his own death via a modified zombie formula that allows Moriarty to retain his intellect despite his deathly state.
In Paco Ignacio Taibo II's "The Return of the Tigers of Malaysia" (2010), Dr James Moriarty appears as the mastermind behind the attacks on Sandokan and his friend Yanez.
In Anthony Horowitz' 2011 novel The House of Silk, a chapter is dedicated to Watson's meeting with a secretive criminal mastermind. This character is not definitively identified, however it is heavily implied that he is Moriarty. Watson later states that he believes this to be the case, and in an appendix Horowitz states the identity of the character outright. Moriarty also appears as a corpse in Moriarty, the 2014 sequel to this novel, in which Pinkerton detective Frederick Chase is investigating the events that took place at the Reichenbach Falls.
In The Thinking Engine (2015) by James Lovegrove, set in 1895—specifically at the same time as the events of "The Adventure of the Three Students"—Holmes is called to challenge the Thinking Engine, an early computer that is seemingly capable of solving crimes using the same deductive abilities as Holmes himself. As the novel unfolds, Holmes realizes that every case the Engine has been called on to solve was committed by a perpetrator who had to be assisted by someone else to come up with such an intellectual scheme. In the final confrontation, Holmes and his allies realize that the Thinking Engine is actually a hollow construct with Moriarty inside it; he survived the confrontation at the Reichenbach Falls as he was wearing a specially designed body armour that protected his vital organs, although his limbs were so injured that his legs and one arm have been amputated and he can still barely speak on his own due to damage to his larynx. With his deception exposed, Moriarty apparently dies due to complications of the drugs being used to medicate his injuries, although it is strongly implied that Holmes gave him a deliberate overdose to prevent the risk of a trial allowing Moriarty to escape again.
In Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell (2016) by Paul Kane, it is revealed that Moriarty was able to escape his demise by using an incantation to transfer himself into the realm of the Cenobites, where he is transformed into the 'Engineer' of the Cenobites, intending to mount a new assault on Earth. Holmes is able to make a deal with the master Cenobites to transform himself into a Cenobite to oppose Moriarty's forces, the final confrontation seeing Moriarty destroyed once again, while Watson is able to make his own deal to restore Holmes to normal.
In The Cthulhu Casebooks by James Lovegrove, presenting an alternate version of Holmes' cases where he and Watson regularly faced the Great Old Ones of H. P. Lovecraft's work, Moriarty is the antagonist of the first novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows (2016), set in 1881, where he attempts various sacrifices to win the aid of the old god Nyarlathotep, but is drawn in by his would-be god when he attempts to sacrifice Holmes, Watson, Mycroft and Gregson, although Holmes speculates that he has some plan to return.
In the sequel, Sherlock Holmes and the Miskatonic Monstrosities (2017), Holmes and Watson learn in 1896 that Moriarty's willing sacrifice of himself to Nyarlathotep gave him the strength of will to consume his would-be god's power for himself, leading some of the other Outer Gods against the Old Ones in preparation for an assault on Earth due to his greater ambition and drive. Holmes and Watson are able to defeat Moriarty's current assault by destroying his human agent, but they are each aware that Moriarty will return.
In the conclusion of the trilogy, Sherlock Holmes and the Sussex Sea-Devils, set in 1910, after killing Mycroft Holmes and various other old allies of Sherlock with his mortal agents, Moriarty captures Holmes and Watson with the intention of taking them to witness his destruction of Cthulhu's physical form as his Outer God forces destroy Cthulhu's mind on the higher planes, which he believes will allow him to kill Cthulhu and ensure his own dominance. However, Holmes had secretly made a deal with Cthulhu years ago to maintain his own vitality while hunting Cthulhu's enemies on this plane, and when Holmes grants permission for Cthulhu to take back what was given, it gives Cthulhu such a power boost that he recovers from the injuries inflicted by Moriarty's efforts, with the two last shown engaging in a physical struggle as they ascend into the higher planes.
In the manga series Moriarty the Patriot written by Ryōsuke Takeuchi and illustrated by Hikaru Miyoshi, the story follows a young Moriarty and his two brothers, expanding on their motives for following a path of crime.
In New Paradigm Studios comic series Holmes and Watson (set in modern day Harlem with the characters being African-Americans), Moriarty is a "software giant/record label/movie studio/clothing brand" alluded to throughout the comic. In "Music. A Treat For the Gods, Doctor...", a modernization of "A Scandal in Bohemia," William King of Bohemia Record Labels attempts to sell Irene Adlero's song to the Moriarty label.[43]
In the computer adventure Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (2007), Holmes encounters Moriarty locked in a Switzerland mental hospital in 1895 (four years after "The Final Problem"), where the Professor has suffered severe brain injuries from the Falls. Not recognising Holmes in disguise, Moriarty is tricked into thinking his nemesis is in the hospital lobby, and charges from his cell in a frenzy, giving Holmes a diversion so he may investigate the asylum's secrets further.
In Sherlock Holmes Versus Arsène Lupin, or Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis, there has been no word of any mental recovery or escape attempts by Moriarty. Holmes remarks to Watson, "If there had, we would be on the way to Switzerland already."
Moriarty returns in The Testament of Sherlock Holmes (2012), as the main antagonist who tries to frame Holmes and create anarchy in response for being tricked by Holmes in the Black Edelweiss Institute in Switzerland. Before he died, Moriarty asked Holmes to take care her daughter Katelyn.
In Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter (2016), Moriarty's death continues to haunt Holmes due to the fact that Sherlock adopted Moriarty's daughter Katelyn and is living in fear of her discovering the truth about her biological father and following in his footsteps. After Kate is kidnapped Holmes discovers Moriarty's crypt and a message he left for Kate where it's revealed Moriarty anticipated both his death and Kate's adoption, he attempts to convince her to turn against Holmes and continue his work.
In the mobile game Fate/Grand Order (2015), Moriarty is an Archer class Servant and the antagonist of the Shinjuku chapter. His alias is Archer of Shinjuku.
In the massive-multiplayer role-playing online game Wizard101 (2008) there is a character based on Moriarty, named "Meowiarty".
Although he doesn't properly make an appearance in it, the videogame The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve (2017) features a serial killer named "The Professor", in an allusion to Moriarty.
In the rhythm mobile game Uta no Prince Sama: Shining Live (2018), adapted as "Renaraty", Moriarty is played by Ren Jinguji in a fictional movie
