Sherlock creators share plans for dark Columbo reboot as they brand character ‘sadistic’
THE Sherlock creators have shared plans for a dark Columbo reboot - and brand the character a "unprepossessing sadist".
Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss were the brains behind the hit BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.
The duo have admitted they have no current plans to bring the show back, but they would like to write a series around fellow detective, Columbo.
The character was originally portrayed by Peter Falk in the hit American crime drama from 1971 until 2003.
Speaking to the , Steven said: "I really tried with Columbo. I did have a decent go at it, but the rights are really tied up.
“I think it’s a devastatingly brilliant format. My plan was to put Peter Falk to the back of my mind and start again from the beginning. Maybe just go madly different.
“But the one thing Columbo has to be is the most unprepossessing, seemingly unimpressive sadist you’ll ever meet.
"All that ‘Oh, just one more thing’ stuff isn’t absent-mindedness. He’s such a sadist.”
While the Columbo reboot has stalled, fans of the pairs' writing has the new Dracula series to look forward to.
However Steven previously warned potential viewers the series will give them "nightmares".
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Speaking again to the , Steven, 57, said: "I hope people have nightmares and jump and all that, but it is actually funny.
"It’s not the kind of horror that harrows you and makes you feel that the world is a miserable, wretched place or whatever."
The comments from Steven - who co-wrote Dracula with his fellow Sherlock scribe Mark Gatiss - come as the trailer for the show sparked a backlash from some frightened viewers.
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