Sherlock - Series 2 - Cast and Producer Interviews

Interview with Steven Moffat

It's a different feeling, being back for a second series, says Steven: "Last time nobody knew about us and there was some scepticism about 'modernising' Sherlock Holmes. And now look at Benedict and Martin, they are so famous in those roles! So far the series has sold in over 180 countries worldwide, so it's a very big change."

The big challenge in that case has to be - how do you follow such a success?

"Well this year, knowing we were a huge hit, I suppose we felt let's do the three big things, The Woman, the Hound and the Fall."

"Instead of making people wait years and years, we thought - to hell with deferred pleasure, let's just do it now, more, sooner, faster!"

"That also means we see three different sides to Sherlock. We have Sherlock and love, Sherlock and fear and Sherlock and death. He definitely goes through the mill in this new series."


Interview with Mark Gatiss

Known to viewers as Mycroft, Sherlock's steely, mysterious older brother, Mark is also responsible for writing this series' episode two, The Hounds Of Baskerville, arguably, Conan Doyle's most famous book, Mark discusses setting about updating such a classic.

"My idea for Baskerville was, as ever, to look for the 'modern'. So rather than setting it in a spooky old house, I wanted to find the sort of thing that frightens us today. We're still a very credulous species but we tend to be more afraid of secret goings-on and conspiracy theories. So I thought, what about a scary weapons research place out on Dartmoor? Where secret animal experimentation or something similarly terrible was taking place."

"The reputation of the story was obviously a challenge", says Mark, "it's the most famous and best-loved of them all. No pressure! At its heart, though, it's a horror story and horror is a big part of the appeal of Sherlock Holmes. I wanted to make it the scariest version there's ever been. Trying to work that out almost killed me!"


Interview with Benedict Cumberbatch

There is plenty of humour in this series, a lot of which stems from Sherlock and John working out each other as friends and how to live with each other's personalities.

"I think the humour comes out of new situations rather than their relationship. Without giving anything away, there are some very nice moments in the new series and of course there is the comedy of John reprimanding Sherlock. John knows now, what he's dealing with in Sherlock, he's accepting of his friend, I think in this series, what we see more of is John having to explain it to other people."

Much has been made of the relationship with Sherlock and John Watson, so to dispel any speculation the writers kick off episode one with a love interest, Irene Adler.

"Yes, the last series played on that quite a few times, with two men living together, and so many people getting it wrong. But episode one presents a very definite female presence in the form of Irene Adler, and she is more than a match for Sherlock. It's really nice to have a female counterpart.

"Irene Adler is someone who has an incredible amount of power. She's very beautiful, very smart and intelligent, quick-thinking and resourceful. She's got a lot of attributes that mirror Sherlock and she doesn't suffer fools gladly, Steven and Mark are very clear though, this is Sherlock 'and' Love, not Sherlock 'in' Love. But viewers can expect a lot of flirtation!"


Interview with Martin Freeman

John Watson, famously is written as a bit of a ladies man, so what will he make of Sherlock's love interest in episode one:

"John thinks Sherlock would be much healthier if he had a relationship with a human being as opposed to a theory or something. John in the interim, according to the writers, he's had a number of girlfriends, so I think he'd like Sherlock to do the same. I think it makes Sherlock more human in John's eyes."

In terms of what the audience can expect from John Watson this series, Martin explains:

"Well, John is not about to start doing deductions, but you kind of need John there, what he brings to 'the game' isn't the same as Sherlock, but it's kind of useful doing, as Mycroft says with disdain, 'the legwork'. John can do different legwork to Sherlock, but he'll do it all the same. It's pretty much more of that really, I mean there's only so much you can develop John's role in the deduction because then it's not Sherlock anymore. it has to be primarily about him, and that's the only way to do it, with John as backup.

Read the full interviews on the BBC Media Page: here

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