‘Sherlock’ season 3: Why Steven Moffat, others see the show lasting for many years

Is it possible that we could end up seeing that “Sherlock” on the air for many seasons to come? Typically when you are three seasons in to a British TV show, there are all sorts of questions regarding just how long a show can really last. When you consider that this show in particular has a pair of rising stars on it in Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, you have to wonder all the more just how much more these two want to do this rather than continuing to work on some other things.

But, here’s the thing about this show: It’s far from an ordinary one. As Steven Moffat tells TVLine, it is very well possible that this show could have a life that extends far beyond the fourth season, which hasn’t even been officially ordered yet:

“I don’t suppose there’s an official commission for it yet, but of course it will happen. It’s inordinately successful. Assuming everyone was willing to turn up for it, which everyone apparently is, then we’ll carry on making them.”

The interesting thing about this show, and what may actually allow for it to have a longer life than the average show, is simply due to the way in which it is constructed. There’s no need to do a season every year, and even when the gang does get back together, they only film three 90-minute installments. This means that they can go do whatever they like, come back together, film a few more episodes, and then go off again. This is the sort of flexibility that most others in the TV industry dream of, but can never afford to have. (Much of the reason for that is because few other shows aren’t nearly as awesome as this one.)

Photo: BBC One