Amanda Abbington and Martin Freeman
Amanda Abbington was sent death threats over her 'Sherlock' role.
'Sherlock' star Amanda Abbington received death threats over her role as husband Martin Freeman's on-screen wife because fans thought she would come between his character Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes
The actress - who plays Mary Morstan in the BBC drama - is married to her on-screen husband Martin Freeman in real life, and fans worried her character would destroy the relationship between Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes, played by Benedict Cumberbatch,
"When I told everybody that I was playing Mary, there was a small group who wanted me dead.
"I got, 'She should die. How dare she play Mary Morstan? How dare she.' "
Although Amanda wouldn't have been happy with the online abuse, she did admit she could understand the passion the fans have for the characters portrayed on TV.
She added: "They take the John and Sherlock storyline so seriously that they wouldn't want anyone coming between them."
She and Martin have been together since 2007, and together have children Joe, seven, and five-year-old Grace.
Although Amanda joined the cast relatively recently, plans are already in place for the show's fourth and fifth series.
Show boss Steven Moffat recently said: "Rather excitingly, Mark and I, for no particular reason, we just got out of the rain and sat at the top of the production bus ... and we just started plotting out what we could do in the future.
"And we plotted out the whole of series four and five."
Additional material from The Times newspaper:
Tagged in Martin Freeman Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock