Natalie Dormer to play Irene Adler on 'Elementary'

NEW YORK, April 10 (UPI) -- British actress Natalie Dormer is to begin a three-episode arc playing Sherlock Holmes' former lover, Irene Adler, on "Elementary," CBS announced.

Dormer's television credits include "Game of Thrones" and "The Tudors."

"We're moving to the next chapter in our show -- and in some ways, to a previous chapter in Holmes' story," executive producer Rob Doherty said in a statement Tuesday. "Irene Adler is perhaps the most pivotal relationship in Sherlock's life, and I can't think of an actress better suited to the challenge than Natalie."

Dormer's arc is to begin May 9 and will end with the show's 2-hour Season 1 finale.

Based on the 19th century stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "Elementary" is a modern-day drama about private detective and recovering drug addict Sherlock Holmes and former surgeon Joan Watson, a crime-solving duo called upon to help crack the New York Police Department's toughest cases.