That’s why I think it’s unlikely that we’ve completely finished it. There would be nothing strange in stopping for a while. It could go on forever, coming back now and again.
Most actors would give their eye teeth to land a part in Sherlock, such is the kudos of being associated with BBC’s world-beating updating of the Arthur Conan Doyle detective stories, not to mention the fabulous lines they get to utter. So how amazing would it to be told that the show’s creators had written a major role as the new chief villain – and Sherlock baddies tend to get the best lines – with you specifically in mind?
But then Toby Jones is that sort of inspirational performer. The immensely versatile 50-year-old British thespian’s roles have included Alfred Hitchcock (The Girl) and Truman Capote (Infamous) along with Captain Mainwaring in this year’s Dad’s Army film, while also popping up in blockbusters such as Captain America and The Hunger Games. Mackenzie Crook wrote the role of Lance for him in his Bafta-winning BBC4 comedy Detectorists, and now in the new series of Sherlock, due in New Year 2017, Jones plays the successor to arch fiend Moriarty, Culverton Smith.
“I know Mark Gatiss a bit and he texted me to say, ‘we’ve written this part for you and I think you’re going to like it’,” says Jones in his usual understated manner. “So I was excited to read it and he’s written such a fantastic character, it was kind of un-turn-downable really.”
Culverton Smith, an expert in tropical diseases turned poisoner, appears in the Conan Doyle story The Dying Detective, but Jones, who finished filming his scenes with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman last month, has signed a confidentiality agreement about disclosing any details of the updating of a story originally written in 1913. He does however offer an opinion on the popularity of the BBC series.
“I know everyone talks about the genius of Mark Gattiss and Steven Moffat, but the updating and the adaptation of the stories is so cleverly and wittily done, and the audience is flattered into understanding”, he says. “It’s the opposite of being patronised, they’re being told that they’re clever enough to understand very complicated things and I think the audience loves that. Even if they don’t understand, they’re being expected to.”
Toby Jones interview: The versatile actor on Sherlock and Brexit
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