Sue Vertue, the producer of BBC's Sherlock, on the casting of Jonny Lee Miller in CBS's upcoming Elementary...
It’s fair to say that yesterday, the Internet was not impressed. News filtered through that not only was CBS still pressing ahead with its own contemporary take on Sherlock Holmes, but that it had also cast Jonny Lee Miller in the lead role.
Miller, ironically, shared the lead role in Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch at the National Theatre. The pair were both rewarded with a Best Actor prize for their work.
Cumberbatch, of course, has also won his fair share of praise for the title role in Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and Sue Vertue’s Sherlock for the BBC. And, having apparently initially enquired about a US version of Sherlock, CBS has ordered a pilot for its own version, going by the name of Elementary.
Reacting to the news, Sherlock producer Sue Vertue hinted once more at potential action, should CBS stray uncomfortably close to her show. “Jonny is a very fine actor, who I saw recently in the theatre when he and Benedict played alternative roles in Frankenstein”, she told The Independent. “Let’s hope their pilot script has stayed further away from our Sherlock than their casting choice”.
She added that “We have been in touch with CBS and informed them that we will be looking at their finished pilot very closely for any infringement of our rights”.
There’s obviously nothing stopped CBS from doing its own contemporary Sherlock Holmes-based series. But if its approach veers too closely to that of Sherlock? Then it sounds like legal action might be, and arguably should be, in the offing.
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