The fame’s afoot, Watson!
IT is the series that turned Benedict Cumberbatch into a household name – and launched Yasmine Akram on to the international scene.
Now one of the creators behind Sherlock has pledged that the BBC will continue making the hit detective drama until Cumberbatch ‘gets too famous’ to want to play the role.
In recent weeks, Cumberbatch has become a familiar presence on the red carpet due to his roles in the Oscarnominated 12 Years A Slave and August: Osage County. And the ever-increasing popularity of the star in Holly- wood is not lost on Steven Moffat, an executive producer on Sherlock.
Moffat told the Television Critics Association in California that he is already preparing a fourth series. The only potential problem is that Cumberbatch appears to be growing more famous in the US by the day.
The third series of Sherlock – which has Co. Kerry-raised Akram as a bridesmaid – made its American debut this week to impressive audience figures. Some 4million viewers tuned in, up 25 per cent from the previous year. Yasmine had several scenes with Benedict Cumberbatch’s title character, delivering funny lines and dancing with him.
Asked about the fans who had gathered to catch sight of him at a Los Angeles hotel, he called the experience ‘kind of extraordinary and a little bit unnerving … They are so supportive, loyal and by and large intelligent, and some of them normal’.
He dismissed the idea that playing Sherlock could prove overwhelming. ‘I’m fine with it. I’m going to keep going with it... I love it,’ he said.