Fans of all things deerstalker may wish to sit down for this one. Steven Moffat, creator of the hit BBC drama Sherlock, has confirmed that two more series are on the way, and that, should the right part arise, he’s not against casting ex-Doctor Who favourite Matt Smith in the show.
News of the former comes from the premiere of Sherlock‘s final series three episode ‘His Last Vow’, which will air in the UK on Sunday. Moffat talked up the next two series, claiming it will be his and co-creator Mark Gatiss’ best work yet:
“Rather excitingly, Mark and I, for no particular reason, we just got out of the rain and sat at the top of the [Sherlock] production bus… and we just started plotting out what we could do in the future. And we plotted out the whole of series four and five.
So we have got plans – but our plans don’t tend to be ‘Let’s blow up the world or cast the most famous person in the world’ they tend to be ‘What exciting twists and turns can we add to this?’ And I think we’ve got some crackers!
‘The ideas we had that day, I thought were the best we’ve ever had.”
Hopefully that means a return to form for the series, which, in this writer’s opinion, has stuttered slightly with the first two episodes of season three, sacrificing plot for humour once too often. But if there’s one thing that will make even disillusioned Sherlock fans fall in love with the series all over again, it’s surely the inclusion of Matt Smith.
Moffat told Zap2it that there’s ‘enough inevitable crossover’ between the detective series and Doctor Who, for which he is current showrunner, stating that ‘nothing is impossible’. Before the internet goes into meltdown, however, Moffat did go on to say that it would only happen if there was proper justification:
“If there was a perfect part for Smith, there’s no rule against it. We wouldn’t want it to be stunt casting, because stunt casting doesn’t work, so it would have to be just because he was overwhelmingly right for it.
It might be disconcerting for either of them to appear in the other’s show… I’d jump at the chance to work with [Matt] again. I don’t know how likely that is to be on the set of Sherlock.”
And, considering Matt’s currently planting roots in both local London theatre (AMERICAN PSYCHO, The Almeida Theatre) and the Hollywood hills (Ryan Gosling’s HOW TO KILL A MONSTER), just how likely is it that he’ll be wanting to go back to BBC drama?
Still, with or without Matt Smith, Sherlock will continue, and – providing Moffat is right about the next two series being his best yet – long may it do so.
Should Matt Smith – as friend or foe – join Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman at 221b Baker Street? Let us know in the comments below! And to stave off the agonising wait for this Sunday’s final series three episode, ‘His Last Vow’, make sure to check out our Sherlock series blog.
Source: The Radio Times
