Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic character has seen several versions and adaptations throughout the years. British heartthrob Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes portrayal is currently the hottest and sexiest version.
Cumberbatch's career relatively rose to epic proportions ever since he gave his own twist to the fictional character. He has become an internet sensation thanks to his portrayal of Sherlock.
But what made the 38-year-old actor so popular and irresistible as Sherlock?
According to the BBC show's executive producer Mark Gatiss, Cumberbatch "made Sherlock Holmes sexy."
"We all are extremely proud of Benedict Cumberbatch. Sherlock turned him from a respected actor into a star," Gatiss, who plays Sherlock Holme's older brother Mycroft in the series, told Big Issue in an interview.
"That happens very rarely, and he is keen to keep playing the part because he knows how much it has done for him, how much people love him playing it, and he loves it as well."
How has the Academy Award-nominated actor been portraying his role since "Sherlock" premiered in 2011?
"There is something very Mr Darcy-esque about his Sherlock. He is unattainable," the "Game Of Thrones" actor observed about Cumberbatch's portrayal. "He explicitly claims no interest in either sex, therefore he becomes very desirable."
"But the way Ben plays him and the way he looks is quite Byronic."
"Sherlock" will reportedly return for a fourth season in 2016. It will be preceded by a Christmas special, which will take place in the original time period of the stories instead of the modern adaptation that Gatiss and Steven Moffat created.
"We have just filmed the Special, which as you may know, is set in 1885," he revealed. "I swear to God I couldn't answer this for laughing for fully five minutes, but Steven and I were asked: 'How can Sherlock Holmes exist in an era without iPhones?' He just said: 'There is some history of that.'"
"We are answering all the same questions we were asked five years ago, but upside down," Gatiss added. "Our version has so fundamentally become Sherlock Holmes that people have trouble thinking it could be Victorian."
Is Mark Gatiss' explanation of how Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes portrayal has made him a huge star and sex symbol agreeable?
