While Sherlock fans are desperately waiting for news about season 5, which Steven Moffat has teased several times, another British actor has just taken on the role worn by Benedict Cumberbatch. And it's a star of the Harry Potter saga!
After Hogwarts, head to Baker Street
Sherlock Holmes is much more than the most famous detective. He is the greatest English literary myth. Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the resident of 221B Baker Street is the hero of four novels and five collections of short stories, which had a major influence on all detective literature of the 20th century. The illustrious writer Agatha Christie, who created the characters of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, never denied the legacy of Conan Doyle's character; and there are allusions to his work even in comics, notably in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by the great Alan Moore.
But the greatest proof of the success and importance of Sherlock Holmes is of course the impressive number of his incarnations in cinema and on television. While series fans all remember Benedict Cumberbatch's very modern interpretation of the opium-addicted detective, other actors have brilliantly played him before him. Among the most famous, we obviously think of Jeremy Brett in the excellent series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in the 1980s or Peter Cushing in The Hounds of Baskerville, produced by the cult British studio Hammer. Among his more recent faces, we must also mention the American Robert Downey Jr. in Guy Ritchie's diptych, Ian McKellen in Mr. Holmesor Henry Cavill in Enola Holmes.
Good news, since Sherlock Holmes now has a new face, in the series Sherlock & Daughter, launched on April 16, 2025 on CW and Discovery+, where he is played by none other than English actor David Thewlis. This giant of British cinema is obviously known for having played the role of Professor Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter saga, from the third installment of the adventures of the wizard with the lightning scar. The plot plunges us into London in 1895; an aging Sherlock Holmes is confronted with the most devious enigma of his career when a young American woman, recently arrived in England, claims to be his daughter.
While the pitch will undoubtedly raise a few eyebrows, the choice to entrust the role of Sherlock Holmes to David Thewlis is obvious; Although the presence of a potential hidden daughter of Sherlock Holmes gives the show the appearance of a modernist reinvention of the myth, the classicism of David Thewlis seems to bring the project closer to the works with Brett or Cushing. Moreover, the series has received particularly glowing reviews from English-speaking critics, including The Hollywood Reporter, which particularly praised the performance of the main actor. Note that the first season, which will have a total of eight episodes, was written by the Northern Irish screenwriter Brendan Foley, who notably distinguished himself with the very clever horror film Assault of Darkness.
We can't wait to see if Sherlock & Daughter will receive enough public support to be renewed for a second season. In the meantime, no network has announced any French release. Fingers crossed!
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