Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed he was offered the role of Doctor Who, but turned it down.Cumberbatch admitted he was given the opportunity to replace David Tennant as the Time Lord when he left last year, but decided he didn't want to be part of such a huge franchise.
Matt Smith was eventually cast as David's replacement, and has become one of the most successful Doctors in the show's history.
Cumberbatch said: 'David and I talked about it but I thought it would have to be radically different.
‘And anyway, I didn’t really like the whole package - being on school lunch boxes.'
The 34-year-old star was offered the role after coming to BBC bosses' attention through his friendship with Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat, who is also behind Cumberbatch's new show Sherlock.Sherlock stars Cumberbatch as legendary sleuth Holmes, and Martin Freeman as his sidekick Watson.
And thanks to the huge success of the show's debut on Sunday night - gaining 7.5million viewers, more than BBC Two's Top Gear, which featured a race between Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz - bosses are now said to be considering making more than the three episodes of Sherlock originally planned.
A BBC source told The Sun: 'To say the top brass are made up by the Holmes ratings is an understatement.
'They really want to do more, so the question is not really if, but how and when we can do them.'
Talking about his role as Holmes shortly before the first episode aired, Cumberbatch said: 'There are some great chase scenes, the odd explosion, some Kung Fu sequences, and a fight with a Chinese war lord - I shoot a human giant who strangles people with his bare hands, chase a taxi cab through the streets of London, so it's definitely a rollercoaster ride.'
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