Fremantle and Kris Thykier’s Archery Pictures are joining forces on a new drama series inspired by Sherlock Holmes’ arch nemesis, Professor James Moriarty.
Moriarty (w.t.), written by Chris Cornwell and Oliver Lansley, will be co-produced by Archery Pictures and Fremantle, which will also handle distribution. Billed as a modern reinvention of the crime procedural, it centers on Moriarty, a professor of criminal psychology, who becomes a police consultant when a rival criminal launches an assault on his underground empire.
“We are thrilled to be working with Fremantle to bring to life the original and character-driven spin-off from the Sherlock Holmes universe that Chris Cornwell has created,” Thykier said. “Moriarty will show audiences what it takes to be a criminal genius, combining genre thrills with a playful, dark, and thrilling dive into the psychology of villainy.”
Rebecca Dundon, SVP of scripted content at Fremantle, added, “We’ve been looking for a project to work with Archery on for a while, and when Kris brought this to us, we instantly saw huge potential for a commercial, returning franchise that brings to life one of the more elusive characters in the Sherlock world: Moriarty. It’s exciting to collaborate with Kris and the team at Archery to bring a premium, propulsive, contemporary drama to screen that will not only be clever and hooky, but also give us a fresh spin on the procedural crime format with an unconventionally brilliant protagonist at the heart who will constantly surprise and frustrate viewers in a highly entertaining manner!”
