[Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Young Sherlock.]From director Guy Ritchie and showrunner Matthew Parkhill, the Prime Video series Young Sherlock follows a Sherlock Holmes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) not yet fully set in his ways as he meets and befriends Oxford student James Moriarty (Dónal Finn). While Holmes has a moral code to live and die by, Moriarty is a bit more fluid in how far he’s willing to go in a tricky situation, or simply just because it’s fun. A murder investigation that takes them on a globe-trotting journey to unravel a conspiracy has got nothing on the Holmes family drama, and when secrets are revealed that cause Sherlock to question everything, he turns to his best friend, only to learn that he has some unexpected secrets of his own.
Collider recently got the opportunity to chat one-on-one with Fiennes Tiffin about how this version of Sherlock Holmes has a knack for getting punched in the face, the potential for him to become the Sherlock in the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, getting to develop and explore a friendship between Holmes and Moriarty, that funny moment when Moriarty flirts with Holmes’ mother (Natascha McElhone), whether he had anything to do with his uncle Joseph Fiennes playing his father, wanting to make his family proud, whether he knows what the mysterious key opens, and that he’s gotten some hints as to where things could go in a possible Season 2.
Sherlock Holmes in ‘Young Sherlock’ Has a Long Way To Go Before Evolving Into the Famous Detective
“He’s always been a bit of a smart ass.”
Collider: I love this series. It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s thrilling, it’s funny. It has some great fights and action sequences. It’s serious at times, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously. So, to start with a bit of a silly question, what do you think it is about this Sherlock Holmes that makes him so punchable, particularly in the face?
HERO FIENNES TIFFIN: Well, he’s always been a bit of a smart ass, hasn’t he? But in Conan Doyle’s works, he’s able to defend himself. It was so funny, knowing that I’d be telling the story of Sherlock with Guy Ritchie, it was my naive understanding that I was going to be similar to Robert Downey Jr. in those scenes where he foresees, mentally, how this fight is going to go, and then he ends up executing it. It’s so fun and just the epitome of cool. I remember watching that when I was young. And then, I flipped through the first few pages of the script and realized I get punched in the face about six times. The kid in me, my ego was bruised.
I was so excited to be doing what Robert Downey Jr. does and be cool in that sense, but I also very quickly came around and understood how much it serves the story. We’re telling the story of young Sherlock, and hopefully we’ve placed him in an area where we believe that he has all the traits to become Sherlock, and we can see that he has the potential to become that Sherlock, but he’s got a long way to go. I do have to say, I think his inability to defend himself is one of many beautiful flaws to explore and one of many areas that he needs to develop and refine to get to the place that we meet him in, in Conan Doyle’s works.
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What’s better than Sherlock and Watson? Sherlock and Moriarty!
I am definitely a consumer of all things Sherlock Holmes. The thing that I thought was particularly interesting about this is the relationship and friendship between Holmes and Moriarty. I almost found it jarring to see them as best friends because we’re not used to that. We’re just so used to him already being the villain. What is your favorite Sherlock and Moriarty moment this season? Is there a scene that really defines their friendship for you?
FIENNES TIFFIN: I do have to completely agree with you. Similar to the fight, when I first read that they were going to be friends, my gut reaction was that this is just simply not the case and someone’s got something wrong. But you really quickly come around. And similar to the fighting, you realize Sherlock needs a counterpart. Usually, it’s Watson. It’s actually really believable that they would become friends because they’re both so exceptional in the Oxford environment. Even in this place that’s a collection of such brilliant minds, they’re still somehow a cut above the rest. And that feeds into the idea of them becoming rivals as well. There’s this idea that when Sherlock is telling Watson about Moriarty, he leaves out the fact that they used to be friends. It adds another layer, a beautifully painful layer, that is really fun to explore. But the most fun I think viewers will have, in terms of watching Sherlock and Moriarty as friends, for me, is all the scenes where they’re on the run and in high-stakes situations but still cannot resist the temptation to rip each other and one-up each other and jeopardize their freedom, as friends do.
One of the best examples is when they’re policemen, and they’re undercover, and they’re literally talking to the detective who’s asking them about Sherlock’s whereabouts, and they cannot resist the temptation to one-up and insult each other. Sherlock is trying to say that he’s extremely intelligent, and Moriarty is trying to say that he’s not and that all the credit should go to his counterpart. That was really fun to do. Maybe my favorite is in the hat shop when Moriarty starts to fabricate a story about a girl he met, and he wants to get her information and address so that he can meet her and develop their relationship. But Sherlock capitalizes on that by having a long speech where he paints Moriarty as a slightly less macho, desirable, smooth sailing flirt. All of that is really, really fun to explore.
I was absolutely delighted by the scene when Sherlock asks Moriarty to stop flirting with his mother, and Moriarty continues to poke at him a bit. How was that moment to play? Because it just was so funny.
FIENNES TIFFIN: Good. Dónal [Finn] was brilliant. Dónal is such a sensational actor, and I knew this from two seconds into our chemistry read. I was very aware that if I didn’t bring my A-game, he was going to make me look bad because he is incredible at what he does. That’s one of many brilliant examples of it. Natascha [McElhone] is so good too. I love working with her. We all had so much fun there, but I reckon them two more than me. I felt Sherlock’s pain in that situation so much that I even found it uncomfortable as Hero. It’s so unfair. It’s so unfair, but hilarious to watch.
It Wasn’t Hero Fiennes Tiffin’s Idea To Have Joseph Fiennes Play His Father in ‘Young Sherlock’
“It never crossed my mind.”
Was it your idea to have your uncle, Joseph Fiennes, play your father, Silas Holmes. Did that ever feel at any point like you were breaking the space-time continuum in some way by doing that?
FIENNES TIFFIN: It wasn’t my idea. It never crossed my mind. I remember the day that (showrunner) Matthew [Parkhill] told me, and I have to say, I was so excited. Since I started really taking acting seriously, I’ve always loved the idea of working with Joe or Ralph or anyone else in my family who’s in the industry because there are quite a few of us. To work in this capacity, after I’ve managed to have some time to develop my acting skills and find my feet, and I’ve got some experience behind me, that was really important for me. I feel like this came at the right time, in that sense. But then, also, to play father and son when we have a relationship of being obviously uncle and nephew, that felt perfect.
If there are any familiarities that we have that we almost can’t control, it’s a luxury. It’s a currency that is really, really valuable for us. For example, the first time I see his character, Sherlock sees his dad, and he’s been absent for a while, at the end of episode four, I believe. Sherlock opens the doors to see him, and I just remember opening the door to see Joe when he’d come to visit my mum and dad, at multiple ages throughout my life. I was always excited about that. I did feel like a little bit of a shell of myself during our first scenes because I was very conscious of how I look up to the guy. It’s not just Uncle Joe, but it’s this incredible actor who I aspire to be like in my career. Matthew Parkhill, our showrunner, said that you could identify that in me. I was just there like, “Please think I’m half-good at this. Please be proud.” But Joe is so supportive and brilliant at what he does that we very quickly got that confidence back and enjoyed every minute of it.
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When I asked Matthew Parkhill about it, he said that we will learn what the key Sherlock Holmes found actually opens. Do you know what the key opens? Were you told anything about that? Have you been given hints as to what comes next?
FIENNES TIFFIN: I don’t. I love the key. Whatever the lock is that it unlocks, the metaphor that leaves, the temptation, the cliffhanger, the symbolism of this continued journey, and even with Moriarty, the way that Sherlock keeps it to himself is so powerful. Matthew Parkhill is a genius. He deserves so much credit for the potential success of this show. He’s floated some ideas around for where the story is going to go, but I’m yet to have that really in-depth conversation with him about what his plans are. The end of every episode, and specifically the end of the season, thanks to him, is such a beautiful balance of tying loose ends, but also tempting new mysteries and things to explore. I don’t know how he does it, but every time I got a new script, I was just flying through it and so happy to be telling the story.
Hero Fiennes Tiffin Believes Holmes’ Moral Compass in ‘Young Sherlock’ Might Cause the End of His Friendship With Moriarty
“He knows that he’s going to potentially have to make a really tough decision and maybe cut Moriarty off one day.”
Do you think Sherlock would have told Moriarty more about the key if Moriarty had been more forthcoming with him? Do you think he got more cryptic about that because Moriarty was not forthcoming, or do you think he was always going to be that way about it?
FIENNES TIFFIN: I think Sherlock definitely really wants to share this with Moriarty. As his mom says, [Sherlock] never had many friends. But Moriarty is actually a really good friend to him. He gives so much of his time and risks his life at times for him and really helps Sherlock see the truth in a number of scenarios where he’s blind to it because of the emotional connection to his family members involved. I think it’s really sad, actually, and painful. Playing the character of Sherlock is fucking sad. It’s really sad. I think he really wants to share it with Moriarty, but he’s got a good moral compass. I realized, playing the character, how driven he is by justice and wanting to find the truth. He’s got such a strong sense of morality that he knows that he’s going to potentially have to make a really tough decision and maybe cut Moriarty off one day, if he continues to go down that path and make what Sherlock sees to be wrong decisions.
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As someone who is a fan of Sherlock Holmes stories, I very much appreciated how this was unexpected in so many ways. It kept me on my toes. I didn’t know what to expect from these characters and their relationships, and that’s not easy to do with a character who’s been the center of so many retellings. I really appreciated that.
FIENNES TIFFIN: Honestly, thank you, but I think that’s credit to Matthew Parkhill. The writing is incredible, and honestly, the cast that (casting directors) Rory Okey and Dan Hubbard put together are just exceptional and exceed themselves. It was the same for the heads of departments. The team they’ve put together are so good at what they do and have proven that but have somehow managed to exceed themselves. I feel so lucky to take on such an iconic character with one of my favorite directors and just with an abundance of incredible talent in every department.
- Release Date
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March 4, 2026
- Network
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Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Matthew Parkhill
Young Sherlock is available to stream on Prime Video.
