Fremantle Develops Moriarty Crime Procedural Series

A new television series is in development that will center on Professor James Moriarty, the iconic criminal mastermind from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. The project, currently using the working title Moriarty, is being produced by Fremantle and Archery Pictures, with writers Chris Cornwell and Oliver Lansley attached.

The series is described by its producers as a modern reinvention of the crime procedural. It will reimagine James Moriarty as a professor of criminal psychology at Durham University who secretly orchestrates sophisticated crimes across Northern England. The plot is set in motion when a rival criminal faction attacks his underground empire. In response, Moriarty joins the police as a consultant, aiming to use the law as a weapon against his foe while concealing his true identity.

He will be paired with Detective Imogen Burrows, characterized as a stoic Yorkshire detective. While they form an effective team, the narrative will explore how the greatest threat to Moriarty may not be the rival criminals, but Burrows's own growing suspicions about her unconventional partner.

No casting announcements have been made for the lead roles. The series does...