Star Hero Fiennes Tiffin and showrunner Matthew Parkhill crack the case of how Sherlock Holmes became the deerstalker-wearing sleuth we all know and love.

Young Sherlock team reveals a new take on iconic sleuth, teases ‘incredible’ Moriarty friendship (exclusive)

Star Hero Fiennes Tiffin and showrunner Matthew Parkhill crack the case of how Sherlock Holmes became the deerstalker-wearing sleuth we all know and love.

By Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff

Lauren Huff is an award-winning journalist and staff writer at ** with over 12 years of experience covering all facets of the entertainment industry.

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December 16, 2025 11:00 a.m. ET

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Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Sherlock Holmes on 'Young Sherlock'. Credit:

Daniel Smith/Amazon Studios

There's a wall in London's Sherlock Holmes Museum that features the faces of all the actors who have tackled the iconic detective, which Hero Fiennes Tiffin came across while doing research for his own turn in *Young Sherlock*.

"Daunting is a good word — there was definitely a bit of that," the *After* star tells *Entertainment* *Weekly*, before correcting himself. "I mean, there still *is* a bit of that, because it's not even out yet."

Don't get him wrong — he says he's immensely proud of and can't wait for the world to see the series, which hails from director and executive producer Guy Ritchie — it's just that the weight of such a beloved character is not lost on him. He is, after all, a fan himself. "I've always been a fan of Sherlock, from my dad saying, 'No s---, Sherlock,' every time I said something obvious, all through Guy's film installments," he says, referring to the Robert Downey Jr.-starring *Sherlock* movies, which Ritchie also directed. "I've been obsessed with the character and Guy's work. I feel like I'm peaking way too early because this is what dreams are made of for me."

The cast of 'Young Sherlock'.

Daniel Smith/Amazon Studios

Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Sherlock Holmes.

Daniel Smith/Amazon Studios

One person who wasn't daunted was showrunner Matthew Parkhill, also a longtime fan of the IP, who said he lived by one major rule when crafting the series. "I had a rule to myself, which was, I'll never touch anything that is in the canon, right?" he says. "Meaning, I'll never touch anything that starts after that first Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story. I felt that anything that happened before that, for me, it felt like a blank page. So I tried not to be too daunted, but I was respectful."

To that end, *Young Sherlock* is best described as an explosive, action-packed re-imagining of the sleuth's early days. It starts with a raw and unfiltered 19-year-old Sherlock, who is a bit disgraced after landing himself in jail for stealing wallets — not for the money, mind you, but out of sheer curiosity if he could pull it off. When his brother Mycroft (Max Irons) lands him a lowly job at Oxford, Sherlock finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery which unravels into a globe-trotting conspiracy.

Max Irons as Mycroft Holmes in 'Young Sherlock'.

Daniel Smith/Amazon Studios

With Ritchie's signature style and wit, the series essentially begs the question, *Why is Sherlock the way he is*? It attempts to answer that by taking a deep dive not only into his first mysteries, but also by picking apart his family dynamics. In an ironic twist of fate — we won't call it a coincidence, because the universe is rarely so lazy, as Sherlock would say — Fiennes Tiffin's real-life uncle, Joseph Fiennes, plays his onscreen father, Silas.

Fiennes Tiffin says he's always wanted to work with the various members of his Hollywood family, which also includes his cinematographer father, writer-director mother, and actor Uncles Ralph and Joseph, but he "always was conscious of the importance of that coming about in quite a natural way" — which may or may not be the case with *Young Sherlock*.

Joseph Fiennes as Silas Holmes in 'Young Sherlock'.

Daniel Smith/Amazon Studios

"I don't know if I believe Matthew when he says this, but when they were looking to cast the role of Silas Holmes, I think they went out to Joe, and Matthew said shortly after, 'Oh yeah, that's Hero's uncle. I forgot,'" Fiennes Tiffin recalls. "And I call bulls--- on that, sorry. But nevertheless, it did feel really organic. And when he said, 'Would you mind that? How would you feel about that?' I said, 'I would love nothing more.'"

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Watching the two ultimately work together was "so sweet" for Parkhill, who fondly recalls his first meeting with Fiennes, where he told countless memories about his nephew. Apparently, Fiennes used to do magic tricks for Fiennes Tiffin when he was little, a story which Parkhill loved so much he wrote into the show. "It was so interesting watching them work together," Parkhill says of their dynamic. "Sherlock is incredibly smart, incredibly capable, incredibly verbose. He can talk the legs off a donkey, but when he's around his dad, somehow it strips him back to being 13 again every day. There's something of that with Sherlock and his dad, and there was also something of that watching Hero and Joe. It was funny."

Donal Finn, Zine Tseng, and Hero Fiennes Tiffin in 'Young Sherlock'.

Daniel Smith/Amazon Studios

Both Parkhill and Fiennes Tiffin also took great enjoyment in a different dynamic in the show, between James Moriarty (Dónal Finn) and Sherlock. Unlike in other versions of the characters, here, the two develop a great friendship after meeting at Oxford... at least, for now. "I always imagined what it would be like: How did they end up such mortal enemies? And I always thought, what if he had this incredible friendship?" Parkhill says.

During development, he and Ritchie were strongly influenced by the dynamic between Paul Newman and Robert Redford's titular characters in *Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid*, and used that as a comp for their Moriarty and Sherlock relationship. "You kind of get two origin stories for the price of one," Parkhill teases. "Moriarty gets in hot water as well. And I think if these two hadn't met, it's sort of like a pinball and a pinball machine, if they hadn't met, Sherlock wouldn't have become the Sherlock that we know, and Moriarty wouldn't have become Moriarty."

Donal Finn as James Moriarty and Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Sherlock Holmes on 'Young Sherlock'.

Daniel Smith/Amazon Studios

Fiennes Tiffin admits that given how in later life Moriarty and Sherlock seem to know each other better than they know themselves, it makes perfect sense that they would have started out as friends. Nevertheless, he jokes that he secretly "struggled" with the twist a bit. "I was kind of like, because I love the character and the stories, I'm like, can we just hurry up and not be friends already?" he says with a laugh. "And I have to remember, this is what makes our show so fun is that people know where they're going to go, but we're not going to get there *yet*. And it's all about teasing the audience with and giving them just enough to be fed, but stay hungry when it comes to Sherlock and Moriarty's relationship or Sherlock's skills as a detective or in fighting. And I think that's going to be really fun for people to watch."

Parkhill promises the series should be just as fun for longtime fans and those who don't know Sherlock from a bucket of paint, but for the former, there are plenty of Easter eggs — from the appearance of a young Inspector Lestrade to the origin of Sherlock's classic deerstalker cap to the beginnings of some of his classic sayings, and more.

Colin Firth and Guy Ritchie on set of 'Young Sherlock'.

Daniel Smith/Amazon Studios

Silas Holmes (Joseph Fiennes) is a face in the crowd on 'Young Sherlock'.

Daniel Smith/Amazon Studios

As for a possible appearance of Sherlock's classic sidekick, Dr. Watson, well, Parkhill says "never say never," but, "I still have that golden rule to myself, which is I can't rewrite anything that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote."

That said, Parkhill feels he and Ritchie had the legendary author's posthumous blessing to make their version of the detective completely unique to anything that came before (and, yes, that includes Ritchie's films). He cited the well-known tale of actor and playwright William Gillette, who wrote to Doyle about liberties he could take with the character, to which Doyle famously replied, "You may marry him, murder him, or do what you like with him."

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"I interpret that as a kind of... I took that as his blessing," Parkhill says. "So I think it's a show that Sherlock fans will love. I just tried to have fun with it and I tried to be respectful, and I hope we've done him justice. I think we've done him justice."**

In addition to Fiennes Tiffin, Irons, Fiennes, and Finn, *Young Sherlock* also features Natascha McElhone as the sleuth's mother, Cordelia; Zine Tseng as enigmatic Chinese Princess Gulun Shou’an; and Colin Firth as Oxford's Sir Bucephalus Hodge.**

Zine Tseng as Princess Gulun Shou’an in 'Young Sherlock'.

Daniel Smith/Amazon Studios

Natascha McElhone as Cordelia Holmes and Donal Finn as James Moriarty.

Daniel Smith/Amazon Studios

The *Young Sherlock* game is afoot starting in March on Prime Video.

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Source: “EW Mystery”