Benedict Cumberbatch on the return of BBC hit series Sherlock
BBC It’s 12 months since we last met up with Sherlock and his sidekick John Watson
It’s a quiet evening on Baker Street and Benedict Cumberbatch is about to film a scene outside 221B. We say quiet, but that’s not entirely true. Fifty feet away, several hundred fans are rammed behind crash barriers, watching every move.
There are a huge number of payoffs in this series Benedict Cumberbatch
When Benedict’s co-stars Martin Freeman, Mark Gatiss and Amanda Abbington arrive, a roar goes up, the actors wave then they head to the set, past dozens of crew members, a clutch of extras and a rain machine that’s sluicing the road with water. This, in case you ever wondered, is what it’s like to film an exterior scene for Sherlock. And, frankly, it tells you everything you need to know about the scale of the show after three series and last year’s Victorian one-off. Even if it is a little unusual for the actors.
“It could be a lot worse – they could be throwing rotten fruit,” Benedict chuckles when he stops for a breather in a nearby hotel. “By and large, they’re incredibly respectful and they understand that they’re essentially in our office for that moment. It’s just sometimes a bit confusing to know that you can’t really be ‘off’ – if you trip or raise an eyebrow, it becomes an internet meme. That’s a bit weird.” It’s 12 months since we last met up with Sherlock and his sidekick John Watson (Freeman), in the extended dream sequence that saw them transported back to the year 1895. Now we’re picking up with the story that bookended the last special, with modern-day Sherlock returning from exile to investigate the return of the apparently dead Moriarty. You won’t find the actors giving much away about the three-part series but, as the teaser poster and trailers have been loudly hinting, it’s fair to say that things are getting darker.
BBC There are a huge number of payoffs in this series
“It’s nice to be back, but it’s always better when everything is ripped from underneath you and you feel like you’re starting a character again,” Benedict says. “Selfishly, that’s more challenging and interesting, but for an audience it also means you get to see stuff you wouldn’t necessarily expect.” If Sherlock was “unravelled” by the events of series three, Benedict adds, “it’s a drop in the ocean compared to what’s to come... There are a huge number of payoffs in this series.” There are also new cases to solve. Episode one, The Six Thatchers, is loosely based on an Arthur Conan Doyle original about an assailant who smashes up plaster busts of Napoleon Boneparte – only this time the mystery someone has been destroying busts of the late Margaret Thatcher.
Benedict Cumberbatch in pictures Wed, September 28, 2016 The illustrious actor Benedict Cumberbatch in pictures. Play slideshow 1 of 26
There are changes on the home front, too, as John and Mary welcome their first baby. Martin and Amanda are of course partners and parents themselves, so how did it feel to film those scenes – like déjà vu? “Kind of!” says Martin. “But kind of not. Yes, we’re parents, and we’re a couple in real life. But we still know we’re going to work. There’s always that professional line.” He laughs. “And in a way thank God, because there are times when you as a couple go, ‘Oh… you again!’ And I know she feels that more than I do! But you have to go to work and that’s the joy of it, that you’re playing something else.” Fans may worry that the arrival of Baby Watson will curb John’s adventuring, but Martin says, “That wouldn’t be much of a show! It would be a different show if it was just EastEnders for us and Benedict still doing the Sherlock thing. It has to be about those two people having an adventure. But Mary is a huge presence in that.”