We all saw Sherlock jump to his death from the roof of St Bart's hospital in his latest BBC reincarnation. We even saw the blood pouring from his head. But within five minutes he was looking on wistfully as Watson stood by Holmes's own grave – all ready for a third BBC series. Conan Doyle first tried to kill off his sleuth in 1893 with a fall from the Reichenbach Falls. But the public wanted more. So Conan Doyle manufactured the first of Holmes's many comebacks. That time he simply climbed back up the cliff. How the BBC Holmes cheated death remains a mystery, sending internet speculation into a right old tizzy. But what's not mysterious is the continued appeal that brings him back. From his disguised manifestation as the medical investigator in the TV series House, to Guy Ritchie's less than convincing film version, the popular appeal of Holmes remains undiminished. Which, of course, is the real explanation for his continual resurrection.