Benedict Cumberbatch believes that the upcoming Sherlock series 4 may be a good ending point for the detective drama.
Uh oh.
Speaking to GQ this week, the Sherlock Holmes actor had some interesting words when describing the new episodes, which are expected to premiere late this year or early next.
“It might be the end of an era,” Benedict Cumberbatch said about Sherlock series 4. “It feels like the end of an era, to be honest. It goes to a place where it will be pretty hard to follow on immediately.”
That said, Cumberbatch isn’t ruling out season 5 and beyond.
“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.”
But what does “the end of an era” mean, Benedict?! Does someone significant die? Does series 4 simply end on a very good note? Did Steven Moffat proclaim at the end of filming that the show’s end is nigh?!
‘Sherlock’ series 4 episode titles
In related news, the BBC recently unveiled the titles for the first two episodes of series 4: Episode 1 is titled “The Six Thatchers” and episode 2 is called “The Lying Detective.”
These titles are likely references to the Sherlock stories The Six Napoleons and The Dying Detective. The former story actually made a cameo in an episode of Sherlock, appearing on Watson’s blog.
Sherlock fans know that the wait between each season has been painful due to the busy (and only-getting-busier) schedules of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. These comments make it sound like busy schedules will continue to be going a problem in the years ahead.