We seem to get a new Sherlock Holmes every year at this point. He’s been reimagined in so many ways it’s almost silly at this point, but that’s what happens when a character is a century old. However, just because Sherlock gets the spotlight doesn’t mean that some of the other characters in the stories don’t deserve a go, and someone has finally taken that idea and run with it, because James Moriarty is finally getting a series of his own.
Fremantle and Archery Pictures are developing Moriarty, a new crime procedural following on Sherlock Holmes’ dark shadow. The series, which is currently a working title, comes from writers Chris Cornwell (A Discovery of Witches) and Oliver Lansley (Where’s Wanda?).
The project is described as a modern spin on “the most famous villain in all of detective fiction,” with Moriarty reinvented as a Professor of Criminal Psychology at Durham University. On the surface, he is an academic but in secret, he is the criminal mastermind behind every sophisticated crime in the North of England. Presumably he does this between planning lectures.
The twist? Another criminal starts attacking Moriarty’s empire, so in order to stop this threat while keeping his identity secret, Moriarty joins the police as a consultant. Sneaky. He is paired with Detective Imogen Burrows, a stoic Yorkshire detective, and the two form a new team, but Moriarty soon discovers the real threat may not be the rival faction he thinks he’s fighting.
Who Plays Moriarty?
Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers) famously portrayed Moriarty in the BBC’s Sherlock, while other versions have been played by Ralph Fiennes (The Menu), Jared Harris (Chernobyl), Eric Porter (The Forsyte Saga), Dónal Finn (The Wheel of Time), and Randall Park (Fresh Off the Boat), who plays the character in CBS’ Watson.
Archery Pictures founder Kris Thykier teased the show’s darker approach, saying, “We are thrilled to be working with Fremantle to bring to life the original and character driven spin off from the Sherlock Holmes universe that Chris Cornwell has created. Moriarty will show audiences what it takes to be a criminal genius, combining genre thrills with a playful, dark, and thrilling dive into the psychology of villainy.”
Rebecca Dundon, SVP Scripted Content at Fremantle, also highlighted the franchise potential of the project, adding, “We’ve been looking for a project to work with Archery on for a while and when Kris brought this to us, we instantly saw huge potential for a commercial, returning franchise that brings to life one of the more allusive characters in the Sherlock world.”
via Collider