Sherlock in focus at TV festival

THE star of the BBC’s Sherlock series is to appear at the Edinburgh Television Festival.

Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the detective in the TV show, will join a Sherlock 
Masterclass panel, which includes show creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, producer Sue Vertue and director Paul McGuigan.

The masterclass will examine the success of the show, which critics have hailed as the significant break-out hit of recent years.

Participants will look at how it appeals to fans of Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories as well as contemporary TV viewers. There will also be revelations about the show’s forthcoming third series.

The 2012 Festival, which takes place from August 23 to 25, includes masterclasses on other popular TV programmes, such as Modern Family, Homeland, Educating Essex and Horrible Histories.

Advisory festival chair Kenton Allen said: “Together with a much more user-friendly Thursday-Saturday schedule and the team behind Sherlock spilling the beans behind the drama of the year, it’s already shaping up to be a very special event.”