As the cunning Moriarty he was no stranger to lies and deceit, so we think Sherlock star Andrew Scott is on to a winner with his next small screen adventure, Legacy.

The Dublin-born BAFTA and IFTA winner will trade his maniacal mantle for what we presume will be a weapon, when he takes on the role of a Russian spy in the 90-minute BBC Two drama, which will be adapted from Alan Judd's Cold War thriller of the same name. And to make things even more interesting, the tale is set in 1970s London: That Bee Gees ringtone of Moriarty's wouldn't exactly be out of place then eh?

Last time we saw Mr Scott he was cracking us up in Channel 4's Dates, starring opposite Sheridan Smith: It turns out he can do a bit of awkward comedy with ease. This time around he'll be working with Charlie Cox (playing a young lad who discovers that his daddy may have been a double agent), Romola Garai and Simon Russell Beale to bring Judd's tale to life. The script is being adapted by award-winning writer Paula Milne, who brought us the smashing White Heat (which just so happened to feature Catching Fire star Sam Claflin), and The Politician's Wife.

"Legacy falls well within the genre of the British spy thriller but has an extraordinary personal twist." she said. "For what is espionage if not betrayal at the most fundamental level of human interactions? When that occurs within a family it's dynamite."

We'll keep our eyes peeled for this one so.