The closing credits offer an apology that states: "With apologies to the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson."
The opening sequence of the movie is inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes story "The Red-Headed League". In the story, Sherlock Holmes captures John Clay and his accomplice, Archie. John Clay even calls out at one point, "Jump, Archie, or swing for it!"
Sir Michael Caine and Sir Ben Kingsley once stated that these were the exact roles they wanted to play in the exact way they did.
After dropping "Sherlock Holmes" Dr. Watson rebrands himself as "The Crime Doctor". A fictional character referred to as "The Crime Doctor" was created by E.W. Hornung, the creator of the better known "Raffles", and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's brother-in-law.
This movie was the last major theatrically released Sherlock Holmes related film for 21 years until Guy Ritchie's 'Sherlock Holmes' (2009).