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"There are very, very few people who can play Sherlock Holmes, and there have been so many and so few good ones," Moffat tells Fresh Air's TV critic David Bianculli. "In truth, you've got the mighty Basil Rathbone, the mighty Jeremy Brett and a few others. There are just not that many who transcend the role and change the role."
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On the importance of Dr. Watson

"If you look at any good version of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson is every bit as important as Sherlock Holmes, and some would argue more so, because he's our conduit to Sherlock Holmes. He's the person to whom, in a way, the story happens. We are more emotionally resonant with Dr. Watson than with Sherlock Holmes because Sherlock Holmes is a hard man to empathize with."

(Source: NPR interview; you can read the highlights and listen to the full audio HERE