Fremantle and Archery Pictures are developing a new Sherlock Holmes universe series titled Moriarty (working title), a modern reinvention centered on Holmes’ famous nemesis, Professor James Moriarty. The project comes from writers Chris Cornwell, known for A Discovery of Witches, and Oliver Lansley, who created Where’s Wanda?. It is being positioned as a crime procedural with a fresh twist, reimagining Moriarty as a Professor of Criminal Psychology at Durham University who secretly operates as the mastermind behind sophisticated crimes across the North of England.
In the series, Moriarty’s hidden criminal empire comes under threat from a rival faction, forcing him into an unusual alliance with the police. To protect his double life and destroy his enemy, he becomes a consultant for law enforcement, using official channels as a weapon while keeping his true identity concealed. He is paired with Detective Imogen Burrows, described as a stoic Yorkshire detective, and together they form an effective but uneasy team. The story will also explore the deeper dangers Moriarty faces, with the real threat extending beyond the rival criminal group.
Casting has not yet been announced, but the role of Moriarty has long attracted major actors in previous adaptations. Andrew Scott portrayed the character in Steven Moffat’s BBC series Sherlock, while other actors who have played Moriarty include Ralph Fiennes, Jared Harris, Eric Porter and Dónal Finn. Finn currently appears as Moriarty in Prime Video’s Young Sherlock, one of several recent Holmes-related projects on television. Another is CBS’s Watson, where the character is played by Randall Park.
The new series is being produced by Fremantle and Archery Pictures, the company founded by Kris Thykier in 2014. Archery’s past credits include Operation Mincemeat, Netflix’s Fate: The Winx Saga, and the Bradley Cooper romantic comedy Is This Thing On? Fremantle is handling worldwide sales for the project, which does not yet have a network or platform attached.
Thykier said the series is designed as an original, character-driven spin-off from the Sherlock Holmes universe and will explore the psychology of villainy through a blend of genre thrills and dark humor. Fremantle’s Rebecca Dundon said the company had been looking for a project to develop with Archery and saw strong commercial potential in a returning franchise built around one of the most elusive figures in the Holmes mythology.
The announcement adds to the growing number of Sherlock Holmes-related adaptations in development and on screen, showing continued appetite for new stories inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective universe more than a century after the original novels and short stories were published.
