SHERLOCK fans, rejoice! While the wait for the next new episodes of the acclaimed BBC mystery series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman is still over a year away, now we have confirmation as to when they will hit the airwaves. The BBC confirmed via their Twitter feed that filming will take place in early 2015 on a Christmas special (very common on British television) followed later in the year by production on the three episodes that will make up the fourth season of SHERLOCK.
For those unfamiliar with SHERLOCK, it is a modern retelling of the classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle mystery stories. Unlike the CBS series ELEMENTARY, SHERLOCK takes each movie-length episode directly from Conan Doyle’s writings and twists it for a modern tale. The incredibly short seasons are primarily due to the quality put into the feature film caliber episodes as well as the high demand for both leading actors on the big screen.
Show creators Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss have big promises for the next round of mysteries.
Co-creator, writer and executive producer Steven Moffat said today, “A special, plus a new series of three episodes — it’s a record-breaking run!! Of course, it’s far too early to say what’s coming, but we’re reasonably confident that the very next thing to happen to Sherlock and John, is the very last thing you’d expect…” Co-creator, writer, exec producer and co-star Mark Gatiss added that the three new eps will take Sherlock and John “into deeper and darker water than ever before.”
As a big fan of the series, I am very excited to know we will get the further adventures of this incarnation of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, along with the mysteriously teased return of Jim Moriarty. While the fourth season does not have a release date yet, I would expect it to follow the prior runs of the show and air in early 2016. Until then, we can countdown to the Christmas return of SHERLOCK on December 25, 2015.