Benedict Cumberbatch Backed Rafe Spall in The Death of Sherlock Holmes
benedict cumberbatch now has a new Sherlock-era rival on the schedule: Rafe Spall will star in The Death of Sherlock Holmes, a European drama series set for a 2027 premiere. Production has begun on the project, which starts with Holmes's apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls and then moves into the three mysterious years before his return in 1894.
Rafe Spall in the lead
Rafe Spall will front the series as it follows an Englishman found barely alive in an icy mountain stream by local woman Alma and her young son, Franz. When the village doctor is found murdered, the villagers turn on the boy, and the amnesiac stranger becomes his only hope.
That setup gives the production a clean commercial hook: a familiar literary name, a built-in mystery and a long gap in the character's timeline that the series intends to fill. For viewers, the draw is not a remake of the obvious beats; it is the space between them.
The Swiss Alps setting
The Death of Sherlock Holmes is set against the Swiss Alps, with flashes of razor-sharp deduction betraying the stranger's hidden past. The series will reveal what happened between 1891 and 1894, the years after Holmes disappeared following the apparent death at Reichenbach Falls and before he returned in 1894.
Deleila Piasko joins Spall in the cast, while Claudia Bluemhuber, André Küttel, Pierre Monnard and Simone Schmid are attached as the creative team behind the project. Silver Reel, Sky Switzerland, SRF, ARD Degeto and Umedia are co-producing, giving the drama a broad European footprint before it reaches viewers.
2027 rollout and rights
Sky will broadcast the series exclusively in the UK and Ireland, stream it in Switzerland and Germany, and hold the broadcast rights in Switzerland alongside SRF. ARD Degeto has broadcast rights in Germany, and Sphere Abacus is handling international distribution.
The rights split points to a series being built for multiple territories rather than a single-market launch, with production already underway and a 2027 premiere on the books. If the show lands, it will do so by selling the gap in Holmes's history as the story, not just the backdrop.
