Steven Moffat says Sherlock "might be too sad" to do without Una Stubbs
"If we reassemble that set, and she didn't magically appear, we might all be too sad to make a show."
It’s been over a decade since BBC drama Sherlock took the world by storm.
And while there's no plan to revive the show for the time being, Steven Moffat, who launched with series with Mark Gatiss, has said they'd be delighted to write more if Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were available.
Well, if it wasn’t for "one big problem", that is: the tragic death of Mrs Hudson star Una Stubbs, who passed away at the age of 84 last summer.
"I'd do Sherlock again tomorrow. Why ask me?" Moffat remarked in an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com at the Radio Times Covers Party, with his co-creator Gatiss and their producer Sue Vertue close by.
"Mark would do it tomorrow and Sue would do it tomorrow, we'd all just do it again! It's down to Benedict and Martin. No, you know, they were very loyal to that show over a very long life when it definitely became their lowest paying job. And I don't think that's necessarily what they want to do now."
He continued: "Fair enough. Absolutely fair enough. But if anyone thinks I'm the one getting the way, I will confidently tell you, I would start writing it tomorrow. If everybody else did, too."
Moffat added: "There's just one little problem. And it's one little problem. It's actually one big problem that none of us might be able to get past. Where's Mrs. Hudson? Where's Una Stubbs? And maybe if we reassemble that set, and she didn't magically appear, we might all be too sad to make a show.
"So those are the things. We would do it. I'd do it, Mark would do it, Sue would do it. We might be too sad to get through it. And we'd need our leading men, and quite understandably they may well feel they've done their time. Fair enough!"
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In a separate interview, Gatiss said they've "not shut the door" on Sherlock, reiterating that he, Moffat and Sue Vertue would all "very much like to do some more" but that, ultimately, it comes down to the cast.
"You may have noticed, the cast are very busy," he said. "So that's where we are at the moment really. I mean... who can say?"
Cumberbatch and Freeman have certainly had pretty busy schedules over the past few months, with the former earning a Best Actor nomination at this year’s Oscars for his turn in Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog, and the latter starring in recent BBC One drama The Responder.
Both actors are also now part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though in quite contrasting roles, with Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange and Freeman as Everett K. Ross. Sherlock fans should not hold their breath, then.
Enjoy more chats with the stars at the Radio Times Covers Party 2022 in the new issue of Radio Times magazine, on sale Tuesday 5th April – subscribe now to get each issue delivered to your door. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey.
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