"Sherlock" showrunner Steven Moffat is a huge fan of the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle while growing up, so it comes as no surprise that he is now sharing his deep love for Sherlock Holmes to the rest of the world.
His love for the books started when he was prohibited by his parents to watch "The Hound of the Baskervilles," which was then being shown in television.
"I was sent to my room because it was too scary for me. I realized then this must be something good. I eventually got my dad to buy me 'A Study in Scarlet' and then I read all of the books," he told the Los Angeles Daily News.
After devouring all of Doyle's works, Moffat can honestly say that they are "among the best works in fiction."
He and co-creator Mark Gatiss were working on their other television show "Doctor Who" when they began talking about their favorite version of Holmes. Both gentlemen agreed that they liked the Basil Rathbone-Nigel Bruce movies because "they were good fun."
It was then that they got the brainstorm to bring Holmes to modern times.
"We thought maybe someone should do that again and started to work it out. There was a new war in Afghanistan; so that we could make Watson an Afghan veteran like he was in the books," said Moffat. "In the movies, they always send a telegram. Now we send texts. We started keeping journals again only this time they're called blogs. It mapped out perfectly."
What Moffat appreciates about their new setting is that it feels more relatable to the audience - Holmes' world is their world.
"I think when you put it in the modern day, it recreates what people felt like when they read the original stories. It wasn't some musty piece from yesterday. It was this story of a slightly scary young man doing things in a world utterly familiar to you," he said.
Holmes is actually referred to as "the young man" in the books, but because the novels were written in the past, Homes felt like an "older and grander and more distant" character.
"We automatically did what the James Bond films do: We put him in the modern day," shared Moffat.
The showrunner is amazed how well the show got on, not to mention how high lead star Benedict Cumberbatch's fame got after he took on the role.
"Benedict was a highly respected actor but wasn't a star at all. He was the first person we looked at, and there wasn't any point in going beyond that. He was brilliant and looked to me like Sherlock Holmes. In the 90 minutes it took to broadcast the first episode, he went from being fairly unknown to one biggest stars in Britain. He was everywhere instantly," said Moffat.
