Sherlock Q&A with Mark Gatiss

© BBC 2012

Co-creator, writer and star of BBC One’s hit show Sherlock, Mark Gatiss, talks to hmv about storylines, inspiration and the fate of the shows beloved star.

hmv: There’s been huge excitement and anticipation for the second series of Sherlock, it’s gathered a mass audience world-wide since the first series aired in August 2010 – did you ever expect it to be such a hit?

Mark Gatiss: No.  We were always extremely confident that we had a very strong idea and a brilliantly realised programme but the extent to which it has been taken to people’s hearts has blown us all away.  The most exciting thing is that people have now totally forgotten that the idea of bringing Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson to the 21st century was in any way controversial.  We were confident from the start that it was the best way of restoring the original brilliant characters. 

hmv: Did you feel more pressure writing the second series compared to the first? The avid fan-base with great expectations must have added extra stress… 

Mark Gatiss: To be honest, there’s more stress if you feel things haven’t worked out than if they have.  And once everyone knew that they weren’t going to get 3 new films five minutes later, there comes a kind of enjoyable anticipation in waiting for them.  Also you should never give people what they think they want so we didn’t feel any pressure to do what the fan base was demanding.   We were just happy to go with the stories we just felt best suited the show.

hmv: When the first series was announced, there was some initial scepticism over ‘modernising’ such a classic character. How did you set about writing Holmes into the present day? Do you think the fact that you’re both great fans of the books helped ensure that you kept true to the character?

Mark Gatiss: The entire genesis and point of doing Sherlock arose from us being such huge fans of Conan Doyle.  There have been so many brilliant Holmes and Watson, we just felt it was time to try and literally ‘blow away the fog’ because it seemed to us that the adaptations had become more about the period trappings than about the fantastic relationship between Doyle’s characters.   It’s also been a very exciting opportunity to dramatise things from the original stories that have scarcely if ever been touched. For anyone who knows their Sherlock Holmes, our series is peppered with references and nods to the original stories.  It is worth stressing that it’s beating heart is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that runs through it.

hmv: Did you always have particular actors in mind when it came to casting the show or was it a usual casting process?

Mark Gatiss: Benedict was our first and only choice – he just seemed to fit exactly what we were looking for, with just the right age  look and gravitas (but according to his mother, too cute a nose!).  Casting John Watson was a slightly longer process because we needed to find the chemistry, but we knew as soon as we had  Benedict and Martin  in the same room together we had our show. 

hmv: How do you feel the characters and relationship of Sherlock and Watson have evolved from the first series to the second?

Mark Gatiss: Right from the start, we decided that we had joined the story just at the right time.  Sherlock Holmes is a genius on the verge of being dangerous to himself, Doctor Watson is a damaged war hero who has lost his mojo.  Together they make a completely unlikely but completely unbreakable relationship.  For series 2, we knew we wanted to build on this, so Sherlock has become slightly more human and John a bit more comfortable in his skin.  But it’s early days still in their relationship and that is the most exciting part of this.   We’ve not yet got to two middle -aged bachelors sitting either side of a fire, completely comfortable in each other’s company. 

hmv: We’ve seen Sherlock tackle love and fear in the first two episodes of this series, what can we expect him to face in the final episode?

Mark Gatiss: Death.

hmv: Do you have a clear plan as to where you’d like the story of Sherlock to head? Can we expect a series 3?

Mark Gatiss: Everything depends on whether they survive ‘The Reichenbach Fall.’

hmv: We see that Sherlock has a taste for classical music in the series, often composing music on his violin. Are there any artists from today’s charts that you think Sherlock might take a liking to?

Mark Gatiss: This is an HMV question isn’t it?  He’s particularly fond of the Sherlock soundtrack music from series one which is soon available! .  Otherwise I think he’d have a great time deducing what exactly is going on inside Lady Gaga’s head.

hmv: Have either of you drawn any inspiration from particular music or films during the creative process of writing Sherlock? Is there any artist or director in general that has inspired you in the past?

Mark Gatiss: The Rathbone and Bruce films from the 40’s are a direct inspiration and we urge anyone  who loves Sherlock Holmes to indulge themselves in these films.    There’s a moment in Reichenbach that we’ve stolen from ‘A Woman in Green’ which is utterly brilliant.  But the most direct template for our films is the Billy Wilder masterpiece ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes which is the most brilliant mix of comedy, melancholy and thrills.  Interestingly, Billy Wilder  and Izzy Diamond wrote the film to the music of Miklos Rozsa.  We have not yet got to the stage of writing to music but if we did, it would probably be to this (or the Series one soundtrack, soon available!).    

hmv: As well as the online ‘code-breaking’ activities last year, you’re both avid twitter users and Sherlock seems to be trending every Sunday during and after the show. How do you think the use of online & social platforms such as twitter has enhanced the audiences viewing experience? Do you find it a good or bad thing to be able to keep up with audience’s reactions and feedback in real-time? 

Mark Gatiss: It’s always nice to have extra content,  it’s a bit like getting DVD extras.  To see that people have gone on to John Watson’s block is very exciting.  It’s also funny to see that Irene Adler’s twitter account thewhiphand has more followers than the actress that played her .  It’s great to see such positive reaction to the show so quickly but you have to take these things with a pinch of salt otherwise they drive you mad.  In the end, it’s all about making the show itself that’s important. 

The final episode of Sherlock Series 2 is showing this Sunday at 9pm on BBC ONE. Pre-order Series 2 on DVD & Blu-ray at hmv.com