Sherlock can’t return without Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman-Asyia Iftikhar-Entertainment – Metro

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are booked and busy – but could their roles be recast (Picture: BBC/ Colin Hutton)

Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat said ‘people would be up in arms’ if they recast lead stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in a reboot.

The hugely successful BBC modern-day adaptation ran from 2010 to 2017 with Benedict, 48, and Martin, 53, as our dynamic detecting duo – Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

The hit series – which consisted of only four seasons and 13 episodes -scooped up multiple Bafta awards and nods, over 35 Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination for Benedict’s starring turn in the show – just to name a few accolades.

Since coming to a close, however, the lead stars have been booked and busy (including individual stints in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) making the likelihood of a grand return more and more unlikely.

Now, Steven, 62, has told Metro that unless the Breeders star and The Imitation Game actor can clear their schedules (or even want to) he ‘really couldn’t’ imagine a Sherlock reboot happening.

He continued: ‘I’m sorry. I think people would be up in arms if we tried to recast either of them or do [it] without either of them. I think people want those guys – that’s our show. 


Steven Moffathas made his stance clear (Picture: Getty)

The show ran from 2010 to 2017 (Picture: BBC/Hartswood Films/Colin Hutton)

‘I don’t mean that that’s the only version of Sherlock Holmes that can be. There are lots of other versions of Sherlock Holmes (and so there should be, I’ll watch all of them) but our version of Sherlock Holmes is Benedict and Martin.

‘So if they don’t want to do it or can’t do it, then there is no more Sherlock. 
That’s it.’

He added: ‘But you wouldn’t like it. You wouldn’t like it if somebody else came in and pretended to be Benedict or pretended to be Martin. It would be awful.’

The well-known showrunner previously told us that he was all in for another go-around if the opportunity presented itself.

‘As I’ve said before, I’ll do it tomorrow I mean Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 60 novels. It’s not a format that will wear out. Sherlock Holmes will never wear out.

‘I’d love to do it again. I would absolutely love to again,’ he said at the time, caveating the cast’s availability.

And even Benedict shared that he hadn’t shut the door on the past, adding ‘never say never’.

Earlier this year Steven returned to screens with Douglas Is Cancelled (Picture: ITV/Shutterstock)

The showrunner did return to Doctor Who (Picture: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Even wider cast members have expressed their enthusiasm at a possible comeback. Louise Brealey, who played Sherlock’s love interest Molly Hooper, told Metro ‘it would be amazing’.

She continued: ‘I think we all felt we hadn’t quite done with it. We didn’t think it was going to end there.

‘I think we all thought we would just do Christmas specials until we were, you know, very, very, very old. So I definitely think there’s an appetite for it. Is it likely? No. Is it possible? Yes.’

Elsewhere, earlier this year, co-creator Mark Gatiss (who also played Mycroft Holmes) spoke about his hopes to ‘make a film’ but once more added that ‘trying to get everyone together is very difficult, so we’ll see.’

The well-known British showrunner has been working on projects both new and old this year as he returned for Ncuti Gatwa’s era of Doctor Who and to launch an original ITV series, Douglas Is Cancelled (starring longtime friend Karen Gillan).

After returning to Doctor Who for Ncuti’s debut season with Boom – which also introduced a new companion – Steven has also written this year’s Christmas special, Joy To The World, starring Nicola Coughlan.

Steven last wrote for Doctor Who in 2017, the same year Sherlock also came to an end.

He told BBC: ‘The schedule on my last year was agonising, because I was coming to the end of Doctor Who and Sherlock at the same time.

‘I did fourteen new Doctor Who episodes and three new Sherlock films, and the scripts were all on my desk in the same year. I’ve written such a lot of Doctor Who that I can always find the on switch for that part of my brain.’

And he’s even previously said that if he was given the greenlight he would ‘start writing Sherlock tomorrow’.

Sherlock is streaming on BBC iPlayer.

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