ROLE REPLAY: Moriarty

The game is afoot as Sherlock is back (8.30pm, BBC1), with Moriarty set to return, too. Here, we take a look at some of the more unusual portrayals of the criminal mastermind…

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976) This confounding fictionalisation explores Sherlock’s state of mind, given his copious use of cocaine.

Laurence Olivier’s Moriarty complains to Watson that Holmes is victimising him, and that he is anything but a criminal mastermind. Watson tricks Holmes into visiting Vienna, where he has an appointment with famous mind doctor Sigmund Freud. Tom And Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes (2010) The cartoon cat and mouse meet Holmes and Watson and have a run-in with Moriarty, here voiced by Malcolm McDowell, who is corralling cats into doing his evil bidding.

Sherlock Holmes A Game Of Shadows (2011) A recent and relatively faithful big-screen outing for Conan Doyle’s characters finds Robert Downey Jr’s Sherlock coming face to face with his nemesis, played by Jared Harris (centre, right), at the Reichenbach Falls.

Elementary (2012-present) In this modern-day TV rejig, Moriarty, played by Natalie Dormer (centre, left), is a complex figure who first meets Jonny Lee Miller’s Sherlock in the guise of Irene Adler. Her true identity is later revealed, and she continues to haunt Sherlock and Lucy Liu’s Watson from afar. Series five is currently showing on Tuesdays at 9pm on Sky Living.