8. He Was Almost In Sherlock...
...but as John Watson, before the Tumblr hounds go into an unprecedented meltdown! Dammit. Too late. Matt was one of the hopeful auditionees who put himself forward for the part of Holmes' able assistant during the BBC's rigorous casting process but he was ultimately deemed "too Sherlocky" for the contemporary remake (yes - believe it to not but sometimes being "too Sherlocky' is a bad thing!). Still, it brought him to the attention of Steven Moffat, who subsequently cast him as the Eleventh Doctor, and John Watson became Martin Freeman which is widely cited as one of the greatest TV castings of the modern era. So it worked out well for everyone in the end, and something tells us that Matt isn't too perturbed about missing out on the chance of appearing in a flagship BBC drama written by Steven Moffat since, you know... he went onto to star in another one. He never got to work with Benedict Cumberbatch, though, which makes him one of the few people in the industry who hasn't. It's only a matter of time...
Dan Butler
Doctor Who Editor
Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.
See more from
Dan