Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington To Star In Sherlock Creator’s Adaptation of Another Arthur Conan Doyle Classic

Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss, who is also known for playing Mycroft Holmes in the series, is returning to the world of Arthur Conan Doyle for his annual Christmas ghost story for the BBC. According to Deadline, Gatiss has written an adaptation of Conan Doyle’s Lot No. 249, which will star Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) and Freddie Fox (Slow Horses). The special comes after Gatiss adapted The Tractate Middoth in 2013, The Dead Room (2018), Martin’s Close (2019), The Mezzotint (2021), and Count Magnus (2022). Filming on Lot No. 249 recently concluded in Hertfordshire, UK, and it is expected to air this winter on BBC.

“It’s a serious delight for me to delve once again into the brilliant work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this time for the Christmas Ghost story,” Gatiss shared. “Lot No. 249 is personal favourite and is the grand-daddy – or should that be Mummy? – of a particular kind of end of empire chiller: a ripping yarn packed with ghastly scares and who-knows-what lurking in the Victorian closet.”

Harington will play Abercrombie Smith and Fox will play Edward Bellingham. The cast also included Colin Ryan (Boundless), John Heffernan (Dracula), James Swanton (Stopmotion), Jonathan Rigby (Father Brown), and Andrew Horton (Slotherhouse). 

Will Kit Harington Play Jon Snow Again?

The first official Game of Thrones fan convention took place in Los Angeles last year with many stars from both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon in attendance. During the event, HBO released a recap video about Jon Snow while Harington was attending the con, which had many fans thinking he would officially announce the spinoff series that was revealed to be in development in 2021. While Harington did not announce his return to the role, his comments about the series finale raised some eyebrows.

“I think if you asked him, he would’ve felt he got off lightly. At the end of the show when we find him in that cell, he’s preparing to be beheaded and he wants to be. He’s done,” said Harington (via EW). “The fact he goes to the Wall is the greatest gift and also the greatest curse.

“He’s gotta go back up to the place with all this history and live out his life thinking about how he killed Dany, and live out his life thinking about Ygritte dying in his arms, and live out his life thinking about how he hung Olly, and live out his life thinking about all of this trauma, and that, that’s interesting,” Harington added. “So I think where we leave him at the end of the show, there’s always this feeling of like… I think we wanted some kind of little smile that things are okay. He’s not okay,” he said.

Harington said back in 2020 that he was done playing characters like Jon Snow. In an interview with The Telegraph (via Uproxx), Harington spoke about how he feels that men have an emotional “blockage” which isn’t something he wants to keep portraying in his work.

“I feel that emotionally men have a problem, a blockage, and that blockage has come from the Second World War, passed down from grandfather to father to son,” Harington said. “We do not speak about how we feel because it shows weakness, because it is not masculine. Having portrayed a man who was silent, who was heroic, I feel going forward that is a role I don’t want to play anymore. It is not a masculine role that the world needs to see much more of.”

Stay tuned fore more updates about Lot No. 249.