Jonny Lee Miller to play Sherlock Holmes in US series He also starred alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, who cut a lovable Sherlock in Series Two of BBC Two's Sherlock Holmes series, in the National Theatre's stage production of 'Frankenstein' last year. Elementary will be a direct challenge to the BBC series, also set contemporary world, which has a popular following in North America. According to copyright laws, the concept of Conan Doyle's Sherlock is unprotectable. However, this new series is under a legal obligation not to recreate too closely anything that is particular to the BBC series, including costumes and sets. Sue Vertue, Sherlock Executive Producer at Hartswood Films, told the Independent in January that she was aware of the American version: We understand that CBS are doing their own version of an updated Sherlock Holmes. It's interesting, as they approached us a while back about remaking our show. At the time, they made great assurances about their integrity, so we have to assume that their modernised Sherlock Holmes doesn't resemble ours in any way, as that would be extremely worrying.