Recently on BBC Newsnight, Steven Moffat talked about two characters he’s spent a lot of time with over the past year, Sherlock and Doctor Who. Moffat called Sherlock Holmes, not the traveling Time Lord, the “single best fictional character ever created.” In describing the difference between the two characters, Moffat said:

“They’re also sort of opposites. I always think of the doctor oddly enough, strangely enough, as more human. He’s like an angel who aspires to be human, whereas Sherlock Holmes is a human being who aspires to be a god. He’s rejecting the very things that the Doctor embraces. But they sort of meet in the middle, ’cause neither succeeds in their aspirations.”

More from Moffat and playwright Mark Ravenhill from BBC Newsnight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rqWN6mGBWE

Just a reminder that Sherlock premieres on PBS’ Masterpiece on public television stations nationwide on Sunday, October 24 at 9pET/8pCT. Set the DVR now.