I love Sherlock. You love Sherlock. Millions of viewers across the world love Sherlock. Yet the show isn’t just a hit with the public, it is also massively loved within the industry, as well. Messrs Moffat and Gatiss have previously said that over the years they have been inundated with requests from big name actors who want to appear on the show. Here are five such famous fans of Sherlock. 

Robert Downey Jr.

Yup, Iron Man himself Robert Downey Jr is a fan of Sherlock – well, naturally one Sherlock Holmes is going to be a fan of another. When asked what he thought of the other Holmes, Downey said he was: “very impressed with Benedict. Such smart writing on that show. I have screen envy.”

What’s more, when he and Benedict met for the first time they had a good old chat about the character.

“I sat down on the sofa with Robert Downey Jr last night,” Cumberbatch has said. “And we had our first conversation and shared notes on playing Sherlock Holmes.”

Ted Danson

TV star Ted Danson – he of Cheers and CSI fame – has the honour of being Benedict Cumberbatch’s weirdest fan encounter.

When asked “What’s the weirdest encounter you’ve had with a fan?” on a Reddit AMA, Cumberbatch responded: 

“Ted Danson at a pre-Oscar party screaming across a floor of people like Leonardo DiCaprio, Ray Liotta, Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst, et al while pushing past them and knocking their drinks. “OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! IT’S F*CKING SHERLOCK HOLMES!”

Playing it cool, eh, Ted? Nice one…

Steven Spielberg

If there is anyone in the filmmaking industry you would like as a fan, it is Steven Spielberg. The acclaimed director of Indiana Jones, E.T, Jurassic Park and countless others is pretty much the king of films and he is known to appreciate the show and Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance as the character, specifically.

Cumbers was cast in Spielberg’s War Horse, after only one reading, on the back of his role in Sherlock. Spielberg has also expressed this publicly, saying the actor was “the best Sherlock Holmes on screen.” Which is some compliment when you consider the fact that the character has been adapted hundreds of times over the past century!

Calista Flockhart

Most known for her role in Ally McBeal and currently starring in Supergirl, Calista Flockhart has previously spoken about her – and her famous husband’s – love for binge-watching Sherlock. 

“Right now, my son [Liam, 14], my husband and I can’t stop watching Sherlock,” she told Radio Times. “It’s such a good show… As a family, we were very interested in Agatha Christie’s Poirot. In fact, we were slightly addicted to it and that segued into Sherlock.”

So who is Flockhart’s famous husband? Why, it’s…

Harrison Ford

That’s right – Indiana Jones, Han Solo, Mr Harrison Ford himself is a fan of Sherlock. So, yes, I suppose you can now go around saying you have something in common with Harrison Ford.

Apart from his wife Calista’s comments, we know that Harrison is a big fan of Benedict Cumberbatch’s as he expressed as much when he met the actor on The Graham Norton Show. A massive Star Wars and Indiana Jones fan himself, Benedict is clearly wowed by the moment. Have a watch of it below:

Fast forward a few years and maybe one of us will have Cumberbatch come up to us and say he’s a big fan of our work? Hey, it could happen…