The first Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle, "A Study in Scarlet," was published way back in 1887. The famous detective has long since passed into the public domain, which explains why so many different people can create TV shows and movies about him. There's Sherlock, the BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatch which ran for four seasons on the BBC. Netflix has a series of movies about Enola Holmes, Sherlock Holmes' equally brilliant sister.
And now, Amazon is mounting a new show called Young Sherlock, which will pick up with the genius investigator right at the start of his career. “At age 19, Sherlock Holmes is disgraced, raw, unfiltered, and unformed, when he finds himself caught up in a murder mystery at Oxford University which threatens his freedom," reads the official synopsis. "Diving into his first-ever case with a wild lack of discipline, Sherlock manages to unravel a globe-trotting conspiracy that will change his life forever.”
Sherlock himself will be played by English actor and model Hero Fiennes Tiffin. ("Hero" is his first name, FYI. I'm not saying he's a hero whose name is Fiennes Tiffin, although he might be a hero, I don't know his life.) Variety reports that The Wheel of Time veteran Dónal Finn will play Sherlock Holmes' arch-nemesis and criminal mastermind James Moriarty, keeping things in the Amazon family.
On The Wheel of Time, Finn plays Mat, a heroic character. That said, Mat is a few shades grayer, morally speaking, than the rest of the good guys, so I can see him bringing some dynamism to the role of Moriarty. The show also stars Joseph Fiennes, Natascha McElhone, Colin Firth, and 3 Body Problem's Zine Tseng, which is quite a cast.
Sherlock creator still wants to make a movie version with Benedict Cumberbatch
Sherlock Holmes has had many incarnations over the years, and a lot of them have hit with audiences. For viewers of a certain age, Benedict Cumberbatch will always be their Sherlock, with Martin Freeman as his right-hand man John Watson.
Mark Gatiss, who created the BBC show, still hopes to get the band back together for a Sherlock movie one day, although with all of them being busy with other projects, that's much easier said that done. “We’d like to make a film but trying to get everyone together is very difficult,” he recently told Deadline. “You’ll have to ask Benedict and Martin.”
Whether or not that movie ever ends up happening, fans of Sherlock Holmes will have plenty to entertain them in the years ahead.
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