Last summer CultBox visited the Sherlock set in Cardiff during the filming of the second series and chatted with star Martin Freeman, who plays Dr. John Watson.

Series 2 continues at 8.30pm tonight on BBC One with The Hounds of Baskerville.

> Order the Series 2 DVD on Amazon.

 

Martin Freeman discusses how he approached Series 2…

“There are changes anyway in coming to a second series, in my experience, especially if it’s something that’s been successful in the first run. One of those is that you don’t complacent.

“It’s a mental change; you have to treat as coming to it for the first time. It’s a big show now, but you have to be wary not to treat it like a big show. You have to try to remember what you played and not try to play what people’s perception of your character was.

“The characters’ relationship has developed. Already by the end of the first series you saw John and Sherlock’s relationship move on. So from my point of view I went from just being purely agog at everything he did to being quite pissed off – and that happened quite quickly!

“That road is even further explored in this series, but as is the symbiotic relationship between them. It is a partnership with [Sherlock] as the main thrust of it, I guess. But John’s being only half a step behind as opposed to six steps behind!”

Martin Freeman discusses the relationship between Sherlock and Irene Adler…

“[Watson] doesn’t really feel too much ownership of Sherlock. John thinks it’d be much healthier if Sherlock did have a relationship with a human being, as opposed to just with a book or a theory.

“John, in the interim – according to the writers – he’s had some fun, so I think he would like Sherlock to do the same. I think it makes Sherlock a bit more human in John’s eyes.

“It’s just that [Sherlock] happens to be falling in love with someone who’s as insane as he is. So for John, it’s like ‘Christ, there’s two of them now. It’s not the ‘girl next door’, it’s someone who’s brilliant analytical and very, very clever and cold and ruthless – like him, she tries to keep emotions under control and at bay, lest they undo her.

“It’s very interesting watching those two who are essentially the same animal get attracted and repelled and attracted and repelled, because they don’t want to admit that they are being attracted.”

Martin Freeman discusses Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes movies…

“We all went to see the [first] film, which we all enjoyed. We all came away going ‘we wanted to hate that but we didn’t’. We really liked it and it was very entertaining.

“Well, I love Jude [Law] and obviously he has the misfortune of not being very good-looking so he has to watch us, jealously looking at me.”

What do you think of Series 2 so far? Let us know below…