EXCLUSIVE: Guy Ritchie‘s Young Sherlock series has cast the title character’s older brother. Max Irons (Condor) is set as a series regular on the Prime Video show, playing Mycroft Holmes opposite Hero Fiennes Tiffin’s Sherlock. Speculation about Irons’ casting started last month when he was snapped on the set of the series; his character had not been revealed until now.
Inspired by Andy Lane’s book series, Young Sherlock is described as an irreverent, action-packed origin story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved detective in a re-imagining of this iconic character. At age 19, Sherlock Holmes (Fiennes Tiffin) is disgraced, raw, unfiltered, and unformed, when he finds himself caught up in a murder mystery at Oxford University which threatens his freedom. Diving into his first-ever case with a wild lack of discipline, Sherlock manages to unravel a globe-trotting conspiracy that will change his life forever.
In addition to Fiennes Tiffin, Irons joins Dónal Finn, who plays James Moriarty, Joseph Fiennes (Silas Holmes), Natascha McElhone (Cordelia Holmes), Zine Tseng (Princess Gulun Shou’an) and Colin Firth (Sir Bucephalus Hodge).
Ritchie will be directing and executive producing. The series is being written and executive produced by showrunner Matthew Parkhill with executive producers Simon Kelton, Ivan Atkinson, Simon Maxwell, Dhana Gilbert, Colin Wilson, Marc Resteghini, and co-executive producer Harriet Creelman. Physical production is running through Motive Pictures.
Over the years, the role of Mycroft Holmes has been played in film and TV by such actors as Mark Gatiss, Sam Claflin, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Christopher Lee and Richard E. Grant.
Irons is known for his lead role as Joe Turner in MGM’s spy thriller series Condor, as well as BBC/AMC’s The Little Drummer Girl and features The Wife and Margot Robbie’s Terminal. He also starred in Julian Fellowes’ adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Crooked House for the BBC, ITV’s Tutankhamun, and Simon Curtis’ Woman in Gold. Irons, who will next be seen in Masterpiece’s four-part series Miss Austen, is repped by UTA and Markham, Froggatt and Irwin in the UK.