Casting sticks to traditional roots with Hero Fiennes Tiffin as a dashing white male Sherlock and Dónal Finn as James Moriarty, avoiding any race or gender swaps. While there is minor incidental diversity like Zine Tseng as a Chinese princess who teaches kung-fu and anachronistic female students at 1871 Oxford, these elements are background set pieces that do not influence character arcs, subplots, or the core premise, and men remain competent and central without emasculation.

No LGBTQ+ representation, pronouns, identity politics, systemic oppression critiques, or social justice lectures appear; any perceived bromance between Sherlock and Moriarty is light fan speculation, not plot-central. Creator interviews emphasize fun and spectacle over activism, and reception is broadly positive with negligible backlash, confirming the show's commitment to pure entertainment and traditional Sherlockian adventure.