Eleanor Matsuura has just joined the cast of The Walking Dead, but she wouldn’t remind reprising her role on another one of the biggest TV shows in the world at some point in the future.
The English actress plays Yumiko on the AMC zombie series, one of a group of characters introduced in season 9×06, but back in 2017, she played a role on BBC’s Sherlock. If you’ll recall, she starred in season 4 opener “The Six Thatchers” as D.I. Stella Hopkins, a detective who consults with Sherlock on a few cases in the episode. When asked by Digital Spy if she’d like to return to the series if the show were ever to make a fifth season, Matsuura made it clear that she would.
I totally would! I love that show. I’ve always been a huge fan of the show. I think it’s phenomenal. The actors, the writing, how it’s shot is so beautiful, and I had such a great experience. If [Sherlock] went again, I would be delighted to step back into it. I would.”
Assuming for a moment that there will be more Sherlock, it’s possible – maybe even likely – that Hopkins could return. Greg Lestrade’s Sherlock’s usual friend at Scotland Yard but a reference in season 4×02 “The Lying Detective” suggested that Greg and Hopkins were dating. What’s more, she’s a gender-flipped version of Stanley Hopkins, a fairly prominent character in the original Sherlock Holmes stories. In those, Hopkins is a favorite of Holmes’, as he’s another practitioner of the science of deduction.
But, the big question is, will Sherlock come back? Showrunners Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss are currently busy with their new Dracula series and we probably don’t need to tell you that stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are enjoying humongous success on the big screen (specifically, the Marvel universe). Still, we’ve often been told that there’s every chance a season 5 could happen eventually, just not anytime soon.
In the meantime, Matsuura has got plenty to occupy her as Yumiko on The Walking Dead, which returns to AMC this Sunday, February 10th.