Which BBC’s Sherlock episode is based on “The Six Napoleons”?

“The Six Thatchers” is the BBC’s Sherlock episode based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Six Napoleons.”

The episode is the opening story of series four and was written by Mark Gatiss. It uses Doyle’s plot idea of someone destroying plaster busts of Napoleon, but replaces the original objects with busts of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The change updates the mystery for the programme’s contemporary setting while preserving the pattern of apparently connected acts of destruction.

The story also develops the personal consequences of Mary Watson’s past and expands the international espionage thread introduced in earlier episodes. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sherlock Holmes, while Martin Freeman plays John Watson and Amanda Abbington plays Mary Morstan.

The title can be confused with “The Six Napoleons,” the original short story, but the television episode deliberately uses “Thatchers” to signal its modern adaptation.