The BBC found a major hit back in 2010 when it started airing Sherlock. The modern adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner John Watson brought such a perfect mixture of humor, intrigue, and highly quotable one-liners that it was easy to get hooked. Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten too many seasons of the drama. Since the end of Season 3 in 2014, we’ve only had a one-off Victorian special in January of 2016 to whet our appetites. We do know, however, that Season 4 is happening and now the network has made a promising casting announcement regarding the upcoming episodes. Toby Jones is on board to play a villain.
Toby Jones will be playing a legendary villain from Sherlock Holmes lore, according to a release from the network. Details about the character are otherwise scarce, but he will be making his debut in the second of the three episodes of Season 4. Each episode will be ninety minutes, so we should get plenty of time to see how Jones works as a bad guy opposite Sherlock and Watson.
Frankly, it’s lucky that Sherlock was able to nab Toby Jones for a role in Season 4. He’s been a very busy actor on television and in film in recent years. He was a regular on Fox’s sci fi mystery series Wayward Pines for the first season and will return in a recurring capacity during the second season. He also starred in the British sitcom Detectorists, and led a stellar ensemble cast in the mini-series Capital that chronicled life in a British neighborhood during a financial crisis. Marvel fans will know him as Hydra scientist Arnim Zola thanks to his appearances in Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Agent Carter. Even those who don’t know his face may know his voice. He provided the vocals for Dobby the house elf in the Harry Potter film franchise.
Toby Jones clearly has the experience to tackle pretty much any part that Sherlock could have assigned him. He’s worked in just about every genre, and he’s proved that he can pull off both lovable and sinister characters. It should be interesting to see what balance of the two he brings to Season 4.
Season 4 is finally in production, so the seemingly endless hiatus between seasons of Sherlock is coming to an end sooner rather than later. Stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman – both of whom have joined Toby Jones’ in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – found the time to return for another season of three episodes, and it should be fun to see what mystery Jones’ character has for Sherlock and Watson.
The fourth season promises to deal with Mary Watson’s pregnancy. Hopefully for Mary’s sake, Toby Jones won’t be playing an evil obstetrician. Jones may be fantastic as pulling off a solid sinister scientist, but the poor woman already has enough stressors in her life thanks to Sherlock.
In the States, Sherlock is set to return to PBS' schedule at some point during 2017, so check out our summer TV premiere schedule to see what you can watch in the meantime.
