The third series of Sherlock is still agonisingly far away. No firm release date has been announced by the BBC but it is expected to arrive in the spring of 2014. If this wait seems too much then hopefully your 'Cumberlust' can be satiated by this rundown of the best supporting characters seen in the show so far. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman shine as the shows lead characters, Holmes and Watson, but they have been joined by a whole host of supporting characters. Very few actors or characters could claim to surpass Holmes and Watson but here, in no particular order, are a few who come close. This article clearly carries a spoiler warning for both series of Sherlock.
Honourable mention - Mycroft Holmes
Mycroft Holmes gets an honourable mention purely for the performance of firm geek favourite Mark Gatiss. Gatiss has a real skill for making normal characters, who are generally nice guys, seem shadowy and evil. When we first meet Mycroft in the first episode, he has abducted Watson in order to make a monetary offer to him in return for information on Sherlock. It is a testament to gatiss' performance that even now that we know Mycroft is (mostly) harmless it is still difficult to trust him entirely. Mycroft does not make the full list due to his differences from the source materials. The BBC significantly softened his character for the show. In the short stories, he is described as possessing even greater deductive abilities than his brother but lacks the energy to use his skills for detective work. The Mycroft of the show is definitely intelligent but, as seen in The Reichenbach Fall, he seems to be Sherlock's intellectual inferior.