In the BBC series Sherlock, who plays Culverton Smith?

In the BBC series Sherlock, Toby Jones plays Culverton Smith.

Culverton Smith is the principal villain of “The Lying Detective,” the second episode of series 4. He is a celebrated philanthropist and businessman whose public image hides his activities as a serial killer. Sherlock becomes determined to expose Smith despite his own physical and emotional crisis.

The character is adapted from Culverton Smith in Arthur Conan Doyle’s story “The Dying Detective.” The television version keeps the name and the threat of deliberate infection, while placing the case in a modern setting shaped by celebrity, media attention, and public reputation.

Toby Jones’s role is sometimes mixed up with Lars Mikkelsen’s Charles Augustus Magnussen, another prominent businessman antagonist. The two characters belong to different series: Magnussen appears in series 3, while Culverton Smith appears in series 4.