Steven Moffat has given his reaction to Elementary, the American “retelling” of the Holmes novels.

The Sherlock writer told the Insider: “What we did with our Sherlock was just take it from Victorian times into modern day. They’ve got three big changes: it’s Sherlock Holmes in America, it’s Sherlock Holmes updated and it’s Sherlock Holmes with a female Watson. I wonder if he’s Sherlock Holmes in any sense other than he’s called Sherlock Holmes.

He added: “It’s almost like they should have made Watson a woman but kept the show in Victorian times. Actually … that would actually be quite interesting.”

Back in March, Moffat was concerned the show could damage the BBC hit: “The bigger problem for us with Elementary is, what if it’s terrible? What if it’s awful? Then it degrades the brand,” he said.