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The nemesis of Oxford Yard’s resident detective is getting his own series. James Moriarty will receive his own modern retelling at the behest of Fremantle, producers of Poor Things, and Archery Productions, who produced Operation Mincemeat. The series is set to be written by Chris Cornwell, known for the show A Discovery of Witches, and Oliver Lansley, Where’s Wanda?.
According to Deadline, this iteration of Moriarty will be a professor at Durham University, leading a double life as a mastermind behind the series of intricate criminal activities plaguing Northern England. Moriarty joins the police as a consultant to take down a rival criminal mastermind who is threatening his criminal enterprise. Sherlock Holmes’ arch villain must keep his true identity hidden while partnered with Yorkshire detective Imogen Burrows and discover a real threat that isn’t his fellow law-breaking rival.
So far, that is all that is known about this upcoming series. Despite numerous Sherlock adaptations in recent history, including Prime Video’s Young Sherlock earlier this year, which stars Dónal Finn as the young, edgy James Moriarty, this new project represents the first time that a story focusing on Moriarty’s perspective has been adapted into a live-action TV series or film. The only other time in recent history that the criminal mastermind’s perspective has been told on screen was in the 2020 anime Moriarty the Patriot.
Moriarty the Patriot provided an in-depth look into the motivations and backstory of the iconic villain, giving the professor’s criminal behaviors and cold-hearted approaches fresh perspectives. That project made him less of an enigmatic figure, and more of a killer radical who believes that violence is necessary to stop crime.
The character of Professor Moriarty was first introduced in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1893 short story The Adventure of the Final Problem. Nicknamed “the Napoleon of Crime” by Sherlock, Moriarty is based on the real life international thief and German-American crime boss of the same moniker, Adam Worth.
Worth famously stole Thomas Gainsborough’s portrait of Georgiana, the duchess of Devonshire, from the London gallery Agnew and Sons in 1876. An alluring young woman, the duchess is the ancestor of another alluring and impactful figure of the British aristocracy, the people’s princess, Princess Diana.
Moriarty has seen many faces over the years in the numerous adaptations of Sherlock Holmes. Andrew Scott played the professor in BBC’s Sherlock (2010-2017) which earned him a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor. Jared Harris played Moriarity in 2014’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows opposite Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock.
Alongside the traditional takes on the character, there have been a few female adaptations as Natalie Dormer played Jamie Moriarty in Elementary alongside Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson. Sharon Duncan-Brewster played Mira Troy a.k.a. Moriarty, in Enola Holmes 2.
The character of Moriarty has been both a traditional character and a mantle to be passed to a successor. Who will play the captivating thieving mastermind in the new series? It appears, for the showrunners, a new game is at foot.
The post A Moriarty Series Could Change the Sherlock Franchise Forever appeared first on Den of Geek.
