Editing Elementary, Dear Data (section)

==Production==
"Elementary, Dear Data" was written by Brian Alan Lane and directed by Rob Bowman.<ref>{{cite book |date=1996 |last1=Phillips |first1=Mark |last2=Garcia |first2=Frank |title=Science Fiction Television Series: Episode Guides, Histories, and Casts and Credits for 62 Prime Time Shows, 1959 Through 1989 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-0041-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giTuAAAAMAAJ }}</ref>

===Story and script===
This episode contains elements from and references to the [[Sherlock Holmes]] short stories "[[A Scandal in Bohemia]]", "[[The Red-Headed League]]", "[[The Adventure of the Speckled Band]]", and "[[The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans]]", as well as the Holmes novel ''[[The Valley of Fear]]''. Furthermore, Moriarty's creation being a result of [[Geordi La Forge]] requesting an opponent capable of defeating Data references [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]'s creation of the same character for the short story ''[[The Final Problem]]'' – specifically, as an opponent capable of defeating Sherlock Holmes who, at the time, Doyle wanted to kill off.

Reportedly, the original ending had [[Jean-Luc Picard]] lying to Moriarty, that he could have existed outside the [[holodeck]], the same way the piece of paper on which he drew the ''Enterprise'' also stayed intact outside the holodeck. Co-executive producer Maurice Hurley wanted to keep that ending, as it made Picard look clever, but [[Gene Roddenberry]] nixed it, saying it made Picard look cruel. Instead, the paper stays intact without any explanation.<ref name="TorRewatch" />

When the episode was created, the staff believed Moriarty to be in the [[public domain]], given that ''The Final Problem'' was written in 1893, over 95 years before the episode aired.   However, the Doyle estate complained to Paramount.  The estate vigorously defends the copyright to the Holmes universe, and the stories were not always in the public domain outside of the United States.  Paramount and the Doyle estate eventually settled a deal, allowing for Moriarty's return several years later in the 1993 episode "[[Ship in a Bottle (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|Ship in a Bottle]]".<Ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.startrek.com/news/28-years-later-its-still-elementary-dear-data |title=28 Years Later... It's Still "Elementary, Dear Data" |date=December 5, 2016 |website=StarTrek.com }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://screenrant.com/star-trek-picard-season-3-daniel-davis-interview/ |first=John |last=Orquiola |date=March 23, 202 |title=Daniel Davis Interview: Star Trek Picard Season 3 |website=ScreenRant }}</ref>
 
===Casting===
The episode features [[Daniel Davis (actor)|Daniel Davis]] as [[Professor Moriarty|James Moriarty]]. Daniel Davis used an [[English accent]] for this role, though he is from Arkansas and speaks with an American accent when not in character. Davis was auditioning for the role of Moriarty alongside another actor in the room [[Brian Bedford]] directly in front of director [[Rob Bowman (director)|Rob Bowman]]. Davis said of being in the room with Brian Bedford, "So he's the standout in my mind, and we were sort of taking bets with each other about which of us would get it. We hadn't worked together or seen each other in a long time. So it was a very friendly rivalry. Then, when I got it, he was a very good sport and invited me to come to dinner to celebrate that I had gotten the part."<ref name="DavisInterview" />

The episode also features [[Anne Ramsay|Anne Elizabeth Ramsay]], making her first ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' appearance as Ensign Clancy. The actress reprised the role in "[[The Emissary (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|The Emissary]]", also in season two. Ramsay went on to a busy career as an actress. She co-starred as Lisa Stemple, the dysfunctional sister of Helen Hunt's character, in 123 episodes of ''[[Mad About You]]'', for which she shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. Ramsay also played a recurring role on ''[[Six Feet Under (TV series)|Six Feet Under]]'' and ''[[Dexter (TV series)|Dexter]]''.<ref name="Anniversary" />