Spanish Mystery Series 'The Final Problem' Features an Unconventional Sherlock Holmes

There are dozens of takes on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes in film and television. From contemporary adaptations (Sherlock) and origin stories (Young Sherlock) to medical mysteries (Watson), teen-focused adventures (Sherlock & Daughter), and a story in which Holmes is a mouse (The Great Mouse Detective), pretty much any take on the character has become fair game. But the five-part Spanish period thriller The Final Problem is one of the most original takes on the Great Detective we've seen in a while.

Based on the 2023 novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, the story is set in the spring of 1959, when thirteen people are trapped by a violent storm on a remote island near Mallorca. But when a British tourist mysteriously turns up dead, the group turns to Ormond Basil to solve the crime. Basil, you see, is famous for playing Sherlock Holmes, and therefore the other guests have decided he's the obvious choice to figure out whodunnit. With some help from aspiring thriller writer Foxá (Martiño Rivas) as his would-be Watson, Basil will have to channel the skillset of his most famous role to save the day.

If this all sounds a bit familiar, it's because it's also the plot of the excellent BritBox drama Death Valley, which sees an actor who once played a popular television detective helping a local police department solve crimes. (And that show is excellent, so there's every reason to believe in the power of this particular narrative gimmick.

Here's the series synopsis.

During the spring of 1959, thirteen people were isolated by a storm on a small island near Mallorca. No one imagines what is about to happen in the small hotel where they are staying: Elisa Mander, a discreet tourist of English origin, is found dead. What initially seems to be a suicide soon begins to show signs of being something much more disturbing: a murder. Basil, a retired actor who once portrayed none other than Sherlock Holmes on the big screen, will find himself, almost unintentionally, tasked with unraveling what happened. In a place from which no one can leave and to which no one can arrive, all the guests and employees will become suspects of a crime that, with each passing moment, reveals itself to be more complex and convoluted than anyone could have imagined at first.

Alongside Coronado and Rivas, the series also stars María Valverde (We Were Songs), Maribel Verdú (When Nobody Sees Us), Gonzalo de Castro (Politically Incorrect), Cristina Kovani (The Silence), José Condessa (Cocoa), and Pepón Nieto (Smiley).

Félix Viscarret (Don’t Look into Their Eyes) directs from a script adapted by Alberto Macías, Carlos Molinero, and Marisol Farré.

The series is produced by Fernando Bovaira (La Fortuna) for Mod Producciones, with Urko Errazquin (La vida padre) serving as executive producer.

The Final Problem premieres September 25 on Netflix.