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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a Human writer. Living in 19th century England, he wrote the famous Sherlock Holmes books and short stories. He created the character of Professor James Moriarty as a worthy adversary of Holmes. (TNG: "Elementary, Dear Data", "Ship in a Bottle")

Captain Spock once implied that he was a descendant of Doyle's – "An ancestor of mine maintained, that if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

Data was very much interested in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle and it was Captain Picard who introduced him to the author. (TNG: "Data's Day")

Background information

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country director and screenplay writer Nicholas Meyer had previously written the screenplay for The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, based on his novel. The film and book feature Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle's creation. This may be the reason that Spock implies that he is a descendant of Doyle's through his mother Amanda Grayson.

Although Professor Moriarty described Conan Doyle as an Englishman in "Ship in a Bottle", he was in fact Scottish.

A. Conan Doyle received credit as the Sherlock Holmes characters creator in the end credits of the TNG Season 6 episode "Ship in a Bottle". It was also mentioned that this use was arranged with Dame Jean Conan Doyle.

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