Sherlock: Moriarty Is Gone

The show needs new villians, says Moffat.
Well, this is...unexpected. Perhaps it was just me, but I couldn't help get an inkling that Jim Moriarty might have somehow survived his gunshot to the head in much the same way that Sherlock clearly did his fall in the finale of Sherlock Series Two, The Reicenbach Fall. Colour me surprised, then, as executive producer Steven Moffat has revealed that Andrew Scott's incarnation of the villain was as much of a one-shot wonder as Conan-Doyle's original penned version (who only appeared in the parallel short story The Final Problem). "We need to find new villains," he says, "We need to find new ideas, otherwise the show doesn't keep growing. Moriarty's a one-shot deal in the original novels. I don't want Sherlock to turn into a show that's about one villain and one hero. Moriarty was great because he was a surprise. Every time you bring him back he won't be as big as a surprise. We have to keep the show growing other it won't surprise you. Once you get the measure of it you'll just get critical- if we keep surprising you and keeping you off balance, you won't, [so we'll introduce] other great villains." It's a daring tactic by Moffat and co, considering Andrew's portrayal of the famed antagonist was quite possibly my favourite of the show, but if anyone can pull it off, it's these guys! Sherlock is back in 2013.