Although we didn’t know it, for a small time there was a plan to shoot Sherlock series 4 at the end of this year.

Sadly, those plans have already been thrown out, according to Martin Freeman in a new interview with Digital Spy.

The actor says that they were aiming to begin filming after he wraps up his new role as Richard III on London’s West End this August.

It’s not clear why the plans had to be thrown out or when they were hoping to air the new episodes if they were to shoot at the end of 2014.

Tight schedules for Freeman and Cumberbatch are the culprit behind the long wait between each new series of Sherlock, and Freeman admits that their game plan for this series is to jump right into it as soon as they see an opening.

“It’s very hard to get together,” he said. “But it’s one of those things where you have to at some point just go, ‘We’re going to do it now’ – otherwise we could be having this conversation in three years.

“There comes a point where you’ve got to piss or get off the pot.”

Making the planning even more difficult is the fact that Cumberbatch also has plans to hit London’s West End in 2015. Thank goodness there are only three (albeit 90-minute) episodes to film per series, or planning would be impossible for the two lead actors.

Exactly one week ago Cumberbatch, who plays the show’s titular character, said apparently without jest that he “genuinely” doesn’t know if Sherlock series 4 will happen or not.

We’ll continue to keep an eye on any and all developments concerning Sherlock series 4’s shooting schedule. Despite Cumberbatch’s comments, it’s safe to assume that a new series will happen… one day.