Netflix developing new Sherlock Holmes show
Netflix has revealed that they’re developing a new Sherlock Holmes show, but it won’t follow the path taken by recent adaptations, NME magazine reports.
Instead of focusing on the titular detective, famously portrayed by the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr, The Irregulars will instead focus on a gang of street urchins who solve crimes for Holmes in London while he takes the credit.
The titular heroes are based on the Baker Street Irregulars boys, who famously featured in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books as Holmes’ eyes on the street.
The script for the show is being developed by Tom Bidwell, after he recently worked on the BBC’s forthcoming adaptation of Watership Down.
“Sherlock Holmes [in Conan Doyle’s books] had a group of street kids he’d use to help him gather clues, so our series is what if Sherlock was a drug addict and a delinquent and the kids solve the whole case whilst he takes credit?,” Bidwell told BBC Writers Room.
“It’s my dream project and my oldest idea (I’ve been pitching it for 10 years). Netflix are incredibly supportive for our vision for the show, and it’s allowing us to be very ambitious with the way we’re telling our stories.”
Although a revival of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock seems somewhat unlikely, the actor last year admitted that the character could be portrayed a woman in the future.