 Moffat and Vertue became interested in casting Cumberbatch as the title character after watching his performance in the 2007 film Atonement . The actor was cast after reading the script for the creative team . " Cumberbatch " , says The Guardian , " has a reputation for playing odd , brilliant men very well , and his Holmes is cold , <unk> , slightly <unk> " . Cumberbatch said , " There 's a great charge you get from playing him , because of the volume of words in your head and the speed of thought — you really have to make your connections incredibly fast . He is one step ahead of the audience and of anyone around him with normal intellect . They can 't quite fathom where his leaps are taking him . " Piers Wenger , Head of Drama at BBC Wales , described the series ' rendering of Sherlock as " a dynamic superhero in a modern world , an arrogant , genius sleuth driven by a desire to prove himself cleverer than the perpetrator and the police — everyone in fact " . Addressing changing social attitudes and broadcasting regulations , Cumberbatch 's Holmes replaced the pipe with multiple nicotine patches . The writers believed that Sherlock should not talk like " a completely modern person " , says Moffat , but were initially intent that " he never sounded like he 's giving a lecture " . Moffat turned the character " more Victorian " in the second series , capitalising more on Cumberbatch 's " beautiful voice " to make it sound like " he 's giving a lecture " . 
