Mark Gatiss, known for his role as Mycroft Holmes in the BBC's Sherlock, has revealed he would turn down an appearance on the popular game show Taskmaster to avoid damaging his perceived intelligence. The 59-year-old actor shared his reasoning during a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Friday, responding to a fan who suggested he would be "brilliant" on the show.
Gatiss cites intelligence concerns in Taskmaster refusal
In the AMA, which promoted the second season of his series Bookish, Gatiss was asked by user TyrannosaurusSbex whether he preferred "a good ghost story or a good mystery," with the fan adding, "You'd be brilliant on Taskmaster! Would you consider it?" Gatiss answered "Both!" to the first question but explained his hesitation regarding the show.
"Taskmaster is one of my favourite shows – but like David Mitchell I would like to preserve the general impression that I'm intelligent and have no wish to disabuse people of that notion," he replied. The comment echoes a similar stance taken by comedian David Mitchell, who previously admitted to turning down an invitation to appear on the programme.
David Mitchell's similar stance on Taskmaster
Mitchell, winner of Would I Lie To You? and Last One Laughing UK, had earlier explained his refusal, saying, "It's a very good show but I don't want to be on it. My feeling is that I'd be s**t but not in a funny way." He added, "People think maybe I'd be a good sport about it and I don't think people thinking that will increase if I'm on it. It's like I've been asked to be on Celebrity Mastermind because people think I'd be quite good at that. So why would I do it then?"
Mitchell continued, "All I can do is ruin it by going on it and turning out to be considerably more ignorant than people expect." Both actors appear to share a common fear that the show's unpredictable challenges could expose gaps in their knowledge, despite their public reputations for intellect.
Gatiss compares writing for Sherlock and Bookish
During the same AMA, Gatiss also addressed a question about the differences between inventing crimes for his Bookish character Gabriel Book and for Sherlock Holmes, a role he co-created with Steven Moffat. He noted, "With Sherlock – we always went back to Conan Doyle and you're writing for an existing character. Bookish is period specific so a lot of the inspiration for the mystery of the week comes from the setting."
"If they share anything it's that I didn't want Book to be omniscient. Just as in our version of Sherlock he has big gaps in his knowledge, Book relies on other people's expertise at times and obviously the books which surround him. But like Holmes he is able to make big intuitive leaps," he added.
Bookish season 2 premieres on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, at 8pm on U&Alibi.
