Just before the holidays, BBC director general Tony Hall hosted a reception and preview of season four in London's Soho. This was followed by a Q&A with the cast, writers and other crew members. Their comments were under embargo until Dec. 29.
Back in the fall, star Benedict Cumberbatch discussed whether or not a season 5 would really happen. “We never say never on the show. I'd love to revisit it, I'd love to keep revisiting it, I stand by that, but in the immediate future we all have things that we want to crack on with and we've made something very complete as it is, so I think we'll just wait and see," he said. "The idea of never playing him again is really galling."
At the Q&A, writer Mark Gatiss was asked the same question. “We would love to do more, but — we are genuinely not lying ... — we absolutely don't know," Gatiss said. "It's up to all kinds of factors, scheduling and willingness to do it. We are just not sure."
Regarding season 4, Cumberbatch said, “… It's important for us to keep confounding the expectations of audiences and fans so that we can evolve rather than sitting on laurels." Wonder what might be totally unexpected to the audience and challenge these talented actors into evolving? Hmm, me too.
Playing off of that idea, Gatiss stated, “I think Sherlock Holmes always strives best when people don’t treat it as a monument," he said. "The stories are meant to be lurid and strange — that's why we love them. … We always try to find the stories we love and little bits and pieces of stories which are very familiar. We always go back to Doyle, but equally we are not treating it as a sacred monument."
“We are absolutely, I think, loyal to the storytelling principles of Arthur Conan Doyle, which are utterly brilliant,” said writer Steven Moffat.
So if season 4 stays true to Doyle’s brilliant storytelling style and stays lurid and strange in a Doyle-tastic fashion, but the writers are not afraid to tweak and change things to tell their story…. Wonder what they might be tweaking and changing? What story are the writers going to reveal in Season 4 that’s so complete, Cumberbatch finds it good enough to move on? I wonder. Don’t you?
Season 4 of Sherlock consists of three 90-minute episodes. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington, the new episodes hit PBS in the US and BBC One in the UK on Jan. 1.
Are you looking forward to Sherlock season 4? Do you think this talk of season 5 holds any water? Feel free to let us know in the comments section below.
