There’s been a fair amount of hullaballoo today about Benedict Cumberbatch’s oblique comments to DigitalSpy about his potential future involvement in Doctor Who. You can see the clip here:

Personally, I’m rather unhappy about this for several reasons — first, this was press for Sherlock, and Cumberbatch’s response to the question undercuts the very reason he was being interviewed to begin with. Cumberbatch may be excited about the prospects of taking on a new, bigger role, but why admit that before Sherlock has even aired? Additionally, count me among those who find the specific tenor of his statements to be more than a little arrogant; sure, after playing Sherlock Holmes, it might be hard to be a guest star on Doctor Who, but excellent, more established actors (Derek Jacobi, Bill Nighy, Timothy Dalton, Toby Jones, David Morrissey, and now Michael Gambon, to name but a few) have all stepped into the guest-starring role.

Finally, I’m a huge, huge fan of Matt Smith’s performance as the Doctor — in one series, he’s proven himself to be the equal of any of his predecessors. Perhaps this is confirmation that Smith truly is on the way out, as has been rumored (I certainly hope not); if so, this isn’t the way for this news to be revealed. If Smith’s days in the TARDIS are not numbered, then Cumberbatch’s excited, anticipatory smirk at the end of the interview seems astoundingly presumptuous. Regardless, I ain’t happy about this either way you cut it.

Update: And, just to be clear, there’s no evidence yet that Cumberbatch is actually being pursued for the role. From more recent press today by BBC News:

Wouldn’t Benedict Cumberbatch make an ideal Doctor Who?

“There is no vacancy,” said Moffat. “Matt Smith is the Doctor and he’s been an astonishing success and – who knows – maybe he’ll never regenerate again.”

Hopefully, that’s that.

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There is great piece on Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch in today’s Guardian, including his thoughts on playing Holmes, some of his other roles, and the recounting of a rather traumatic carjacking in South Africa. An excerpt:

Sherlock Holmes, Cumberbatch says, “makes you look at the world in the way you do anyway as an actor – as a rich canvas for observation. One of the fears of having too much work is not having time to observe. And once you get recognised, there is nowhere for you to look any more. You can’t sit on a night bus and watch it all happen.”

Until now, Cumberbatch has never been a household face. He has had small parts in big films – he played Paul Marshall (confectionery magnate and rapist) in Atonement – and big parts in small films, notably as the young Stephen Hawking in a BBC2 drama about the physicist, and in 2008 starring as a troubled mathematician sucked into a global conspiracy in the mini-series The Last Enemy. But Sherlock, created by two Doctor Who writers and probably destined for a larger primetime audience, could propel him into street recognisability.

Here’s hoping that last sentence is true — in what little we’ve seen so far of his performance in Sherlock, Cumberbatch looks fantastic.

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Well, it looks like we might have to wait for a bit to see Sherlock…

The Times Online (scroll down) has listed the new series starring Cumberbatch and Freeman as starting in “autumn,” though as of yet we haven’t been able to find any other verification of when the new series might be broadcast. We’re excited but a bit disappointed that it probably won’t be on our screens sooner.

Of course, Mr. Moffat and Mr. Gatiss are both busy with other projects (including a little series called Doctor Who), so it’s understandable. On New Year’s Day, Steven Moffat’s first official scene written as show-runner was finally broadcast:

… and it’s now been confirmed that Mark Gatiss has, in fact, written an episode for Matt Smith’s first series as the Doctor. Busy times for everyone involved with Sherlock.

Best wishes to everyone for a happy 2010, and we’re looking forward to the broadcast of Sherlock, whenever that might be!

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Seriously, does Mark ever sleep?

We’ve just read on Kasterborous (one of the best Doctor Who blogs) that Mark Gatiss, executive producer for Sherlock, will be starring at the Hampstead Theatre in Darker Shores, written by Michael Punter.

Here’s a description from the Hampstead’s website:

Christmas 1875. Professor Gabriel Stokes retreats to The Sea House, an old childhood haunt on the desolate Sussex coast. No sooner has he arrived than his peace is disturbed by mysterious goings on. He enlists the help of an American spiritualist, Tom Beauregard. Together the two embark on a terrifying journey to discover the true history of the house.

Following the traditions of the finest ghost stories, Darker Shores is a gripping and shadowy tale of suspense.

Michael Punter has written extensively for theatre and radio. His play The Wolves, was successfully produced by Paines Plough, and was shortlisted for the George Devine Award. Recent works include Upstart Crows, a play about Christopher Marlowe and Edward Alleyn, produced at the Edinburgh Festival. For the BBC, Michael has written Come to Me and The Glad House.

Cast includes Mark Gatiss (Dr Who, The League of Gentlemen) and Julian Rhind-Tutt (Green Wing, Oliver Twist).

Looks to be entertaining, and yet another excellent example of Gatiss’s predilection towards ghost stories. Nice to see Julian Rhind-Tutt (of Green Wing, but also The Rotter’s Club and last year’s Gatiss-written/produced Crooked House) as co-star.

Darker Shores runs from 3 December 2009 through 16 January 2010.

UPDATE: Looks like Mark’s had to pull out of Darker Shores, due to a serious illness in his family. Very sorry to hear, and we extend our best wishes to Mr. Gatiss and his family.

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The BBC’s announced that Mark Gatiss, executive producer of Sherlock will be making a version of H. G. Wells’s First Men in the Moon for broadcast on BBC4 next year. Here’s the Guardian‘s report:

Gatiss, who has also written two episodes of Doctor Who, said: “I’m completely delighted to have the chance to bring this wonderful, funny, charming and scary story to BBC4. It’s very rare to be able to adapt a genius like HG Wells for the small screen and we hope to do full justice to his extraordinary vision.”

BBC4 controller Richard Klein added: “The First Men in the Moon is a thoroughly modern classic, a witty and satirical piece of writing by one of Britain’s foremost and original science fiction writers.

“It shines a light on man’s natural desire to always get it wrong. I am delighted that Mark Gatiss has decided to bring this forgotten and yet wholly timely work to our screens.”

It looks like it really is going to be a busy year for Mr. Gatiss!

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… for Doctor Who, that is. Sherlock executive producer Steven Moffat is, of course, also the producer and chief writer for BBC One’s Doctor Who. With new series starting in 2010 (featuring Matt Smith as The Doctor and Karen Gillen as his companion, Amy Pond), they’ve reinvented the logo for the series yet again. This time, they’ve brought in a new TARDIS-stylized DW insignia, as well as harkening back to the Troughton (and McGann) eras of Doctor Who with a futuristic, block logo.

Read about it for yourself here, or just look at the pretty logo:

Moffat had this to say about the new logo:

The eleventh logo for the eleventh Doctor–those grand old words, Doctor Who, suddenly looking newer than ever. And look at that, something really new–an insignia! DW in TARDIS form! Simple and beautiful, and most important of all, a completely irresistible doodle. I apologise to school notebooks everywhere, because in 2010 that’s what they’re going to be wearing.

We here at Sherlocking like this new logo very much — equally futuristic and retro, with a hint of darker, more ominous storytelling to come. Here’s hoping the logo for Sherlock is equally impressive!

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