There have been numerous incarnations of Sherlock Holmes over the decades from Basil Rathbone’s classic take on the sleuth on the big screen to Benedict Cumberbatch’s award-winning contemporary version in Sherlock. But there hasn’t been a Holmes quite like the one on show in Netflix’s powerful period thriller The Irregulars.
Played by Killing Eve’s Henry Lloyd-Hughes, the famous resident of 221B Baker Street is a dishevelled and ailing shadow of his former self following a mysterious trauma in his past. But when his tough business associate Dr John Watson (The Witcher’s Royce Pierreson) calls on a group of streetwise tearaways, led by spirited Bea (Us and Cursed’s Thaddea Graham), to help them with a case, the youngsters soon discover that a dark supernatural force is threatening Victorian London.
We caught up with Henry Lloyd-Hughes to find out more…
Henry Lloyd-Hughes on his version of Sherlock Holmes
“Sherlock’s a mysterious and malevolent presence in the shadows to begin with. It’s a version of him people haven't seen before. There are flashbacks and we see someone who was a genius, but is now clutching at straws. He’s like a ghost. There are no traces of anything you’d regard as Sherlockian. His faculties, wit and wisdom are gone. I'm drawn to characters who are flawed and crumble under the pressure, because it's very human.”
Henry on playing such an iconic role
“It’s challenging but interesting. He has a recognisable name so there's a historical legacy that adds another layer to an already complex character. But if you take the icon and smash it on the ground, that's where our story begins and we're putting those pieces back together.”
Henry on the supernatural twists
“It’s set in a London that has fallen into chaotic disarray. It has a nightmarish, apocalyptic quality, you get the sense of things unravelling. But this isn’t a hack and slash gorefest, neither is it a traditional period drama. It’s an interesting, unusual mishmash.”
Henry on working with the cast
“As Holmes I am mainly confined to some kind of bed or desk or curled over somewhere! But I have worked with some of the charismatic, young cast, who are the heart of the show. I've had a lot of scenes with Royce too. And that relationship [with Holmes and Watson] because of the time jump, there's a sense of what it was and what it is now. This is not a show where those guys are nailing it and slapping each other on the back and saying, ‘We’re amazing at what we do’...”
Where can I watch The Irregulars?
All eight episodes of The Irregulars will air from Friday March 26 on Netflix.
