Sherlock love is still at a fever pitch, especially now that work has finally begun on Season 4 of the super popular BBC/PBS series. Fans are greedy, though, and we all want to know if there will be more after that. Well, Steven Moffat has an answer for you.
I don't know how long we can keep it going. I'm personally willing but I'm hardly the main draw. I would be moderately surprised if this was the last time we ever made this show. But it absolutely could be.
OK. Dammit, Steven! This information is too important! Give a real answer, already! As you can see, Steven Moffat's response when asked by a reporter at The Telegraph if fans could expect to see Season 5 of Sherlock was typically non-committal. This is the kind of answer that TV stars and showrunners like Moffat love to give when asked if the show will go on. It does make a certain amount of sense to hedge bets; there's never really any guarantee that the actors involved will want to continue or that there'll be enough interest in the network to keep a series going. But, uh, answers like this are really frustrating for fans.
Honestly, though, at this point there's no reason for Sherlock to be cancelled or for the cast and crew to decide not to go on. The BBC and PBS co-production is one of the most popular programs to come along in a long time. The series has produced three seasons and one special (in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016), for a total of only 10 episodes, but it's still been nominated for a whopping 108 awards in its time on the air. The show is also responsible for launching Benedict Cumberbatch into a stratosphere of actors who are beloved for both their talent and their immense appeal to womenfolk (the Cumberbitches are not to be trifled with, people). And, as you can see from the fact that seasons of the show only come about every two years, Sherlock is quite adept at working around the schedules of their movie star leading men. Meaning that if everyone can get on the same page about when to start Season 5, it's possible that it could happen. Steven Moffat does seem to think that the way they've run the show so far lends itself to more seasons. He also had this to say:
There's never going to come a time when we do a longer run, because this is what the series has become. It's an occasional treat where you get three movies. It's how it works. That's why I think it's unlikely that we've completely finished it. There would be nothing strange in stopping for a while. It could go on forever, coming back now and again.
Moffatt is certainly right that Sherlock has become "an occasional treat." When you spread 10 episodes across three season that are each two years apart, it's easy to keep audiences wanting more. Season 4 of Sherlock will debut some time in 2017, until then you can check out our summer premiere schedule to see what you can catch up on in the meantime.
