Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is related to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, genealogy experts have discovered.
Sir Arthur created Sherlock Holmes in the 1880s, and went on to write four novels and dozens of short stories about the super-sleuth.
Cumberbatch, 40, has portrayed Holmes in the BBC series Sherlock since 2010.
Ancestry.com looked into both Sir Arthur and Cumberbatch's pasts to see if there was any connection between the pair, and they found it in the 14th century.
John of Gaunt - the Duke of Lancaster and the fourth son of King Edward III - is Cumberbatch's 17th great-grandfather, and Sir Arthur's 15th. That makes them 16th cousins, twice removed.
"Making family history connections is similar to piecing together a mysterious puzzle, one that the great Sherlock Holmes himself would be intrigued to solve," said Lisa Elzey, ancestry.com family historian.
Sherlock's fourth season starts on New Year's Day in the UK, and Cumberbatch - now a big movie star - has hinted it could be his last.
Queen Elizabeth II is also a descendant of John of Gaunt, as was Richard III.
Newshub.