Sherlock's Mark Gatiss reprises Mycroft role for special new clip

From Digital Spy

Sherlock last brought us new episodes (and only three at that) in January 2017 and fans have been forced to wait patiently ever since for news of another run of the detective series.

But although there's still no official news on that front Sherlock co-creator, writer and star Mark Gatiss has dropped a surprise treat in the form of a short video of himself in character as Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the BBC series, which made its debut on July 25, 2010.

The video, which was created for Chinese website Youku and posted by the BBC Sherlock Turkey Twitter account, sees 'Mycroft' dressed in a smart suit and sitting in front of the camera to 'criticise' the series.

Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

Related: Sherlock season 5 – everything you need to know

"It has come to my attention that it is ten years since a highly fictionalised account of my brother's adventures was brought to the screen. This was a mistake," he says. "Detection is or should be an exact science and should be treated in the same cold and unemotional manner.

"These programmes have attempted to tinge it with romanticism, which has rather the same effect as if one were to work a love story or an elopement into the fifth proposition of Euclid. However, in their defence, the one who plays me is very handsome."

Of course he has to get in a dig at the audience too and point out his own superior intelligence, as he says, "Some of us have re-read Proust during lockdown, or learned another three languages, but if you choose to vegetate on the sofa watching the television, that is entirely your concern".

Mycroft also refers to self-isolation as "paradise" and criticises his brother for getting involved in "all sorts of strange adventures" and creating friendships.

The anniversary of the show, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a modern-day version of the famous detective and Martin Freeman as his friend and investigative partner John Watson, has been marked by fans on social media with the hashtag #10YearsOfSherlock.

Gatiss, along with Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat and producer Sue Vertue, also celebrated the anniversary by taking part in a Q&A session for Sherlockology in which they discussed the most difficult scenes to film and potential future Holmes stories that they could adapt.

As for that elusive fifth season Gatiss revealed in late 2019 that there are "no immediate plans" for it to return just yet and with the main cast members now being very much in demand in Hollywood, it could be a while yet before schedules align for long enough to create new episodes – but there's always hope as Moffat has previously said that he 'assumes' they will return at some point.


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