Earlier this week, Sherlock co-star Martin Freeman teased the idea of the show doing a one-off-y special, possibly for Christmas 2015, that would begin shooting early next year. Today, not only did the BBC confirm this special, but it also announced that Series 4 of the show is officially a go.
The BBC has confirmed the sleuthing drama will return for a special, followed by a series of three new episodes. Shooting on the special will start in January 2015, with the series shooting later next year. “We’re ready to unleash the most shocking and surprising series of #Sherlock yet. The only thing is to expect is the unexpected…,” said BBC One today. [Deadline]
So we’re still looking at 17ish months between now and the special (if it is indeed holiday-themed), and probably somewhere in the neighborhood of two more years until Series 4 rolls out. That’s a long time! I mean, the show always takes long breaks between seasons (18 months between 1 and 2, 20 months between 2 and 3, so it’s not like they’re being completely unreasonable. And the long breaks do free-up its stars to do things like appear as sociopaths in critically-acclaimed cable series based loosely on Coen brothers movies, which I wholeheartedly support.
And, like, two years isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, either. Remember that thing from Cosmos where Neil deGrasse Tyson condensed the entire history of the universe into one year and explained that all of human civilization has essentially taken place in the last few minutes of December 31? That was crazy. Two years is nothing. Because of science.
