Hot Picks: Sherlock & Daughter

All the buyers are looking for IP right now.” Federation Studios co-head of distribution Guillaume Pommier is frank in his assessment of the scripted distribution landscape. But when you have the latest screen iteration of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective on your slate, demand for IP is no bad thing.

“Buyers often say period drama isn’t working for them, but when it’s Sherlock, it’s different,” Pommier says.

And this show does have an edge of reinvention that sets it apart from countless previous takes on the Sherlock Holmes stories. The drama finds the detective at a low ebb. Older and less confident than the assured sleuth of his past, Holmes – played by David Thewlis (Harry Potter) – finds himself mysteriously unable to investigate a case without risking the lives of his closest friends.

Simultaneously, Amelia (Blu Hunt), a young American coming to terms with the shocking and inexplicable murder of her mother, learns that the esteemed detective may be her missing father.

The drama plays out as Sherlock struggles to crack the case while battling emotions and personal demons. All the while, his nemesis Moriarty (Dougray Scott) is keeping an eye on proceedings.

Sherlock & Daughter is an original from The CW commissioned in association with Discovery+.

While unscripted specialist Discovery+ has never ventured into drama before, The CW is continuing its reinvention under new-ish owner Nexstar, broadening out from its previous focus on youth-skewing programming under WBDParamount ownership, largely fed by DC Universe superhero characters.

“The CW’s vision was to address less of a YA audience than a mix of young and adult audiences. They wanted to make it broader,” Pommier says. “What I love is that you have two generations working together in Sherlock and his presumed daughter. So you can try to address two audiences that don’t usually watch the same show.

“It could have been an edgy version of Sherlock, but it’s not too dark – it’s for everyone. That’s why it’s good that it’s coming from The CW – it has a bigger audience in mind. It’s not like the Sherlock of an FX or Showtime. It’s light enough to be in primetime around the world.”

“Crime but light”, as Pommier describes the drama, is what free TV buyers are calling for, he says.

Sherlock & Daughter has already sold to SBS (Australia), YLE (Finland), SVT (Sweden), NRK (Norway), DR (Denmark), RUV (Iceland) and streamer Amedia in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Pommier says that major countries in western Europe, such as France and Italy, as well as Latin America, are also on the agenda.

He is acutely aware that there are other series based on Sherlock IP in the marketplace, along with other detective dramas and period crime series. What sets Sherlock & Daughter apart, besides the cast and well-known IP, is the fact “it’s available” to wider buyers and not caught up in any output deals.

“The rights are available in all territories remaining, and our expertise is selling on first, second and third windows,” Pommier says.