Who plays Professor James Moriarty in the BBC series Sherlock?

Andrew Scott plays Professor James Moriarty in the BBC series Sherlock.

Scott’s Moriarty is introduced as Sherlock Holmes’s criminal counterpart and intellectual equal. Although he appears intermittently, his influence extends across several stories through threats, manipulation, and carefully arranged crimes. His rivalry with Holmes forms one of the programme’s longest-running conflicts.

The character first appears openly in “The Great Game,” the third episode of the first series. Scott’s performance is notably energetic and unpredictable, presenting Moriarty as charming, theatrical, and dangerous rather than simply as a conventional criminal mastermind.

Andrew Scott received the BAFTA Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2012 for playing Moriarty. The series adapts the role from Conan Doyle’s Professor Moriarty, who was described as the “Napoleon of crime” in the original Holmes canon.