‘Sherlock’ season 4 debate: Could one-off specials be the new way of the future?

Is it wrong for us to even think about “Sherlock” in terms of seasons anymore? There are recent suggestions out there about what the future of the BBC series could be, and maybe that means transitioning the show over to what it could be now with everyone so busy versus just what it has been to date.

In case you missed the recent headlines, Martin Freeman suggested recently that the show could to a one-off special in the future, and an idea had been discussed for that since there doesn’t really seem to be a window to do a fourth season anytime soon. There were initial plans to maybe sort one out sooner rather than later, but a number of other things ended up coming up.

These comments had us wondering: Why not just switch to a one-off model permanently? It could be almost like those TV movies starring Tom Selleck, but actually compelling? If you produce one TV movie a every year or two, then you are only spending a few months on the project, and therefore allowing everyone to still pursue some of their other opportunities. You could question whether or not there’d be enough time to have a mystery and keep up with the characters’ lives, and our suggestion would just be to shoot for a two-hour special rather than a 90-minute one.

TV movies are also growing increasingly popular these days, and “Sherlock” has proven to be a moneymaker for all parties involved. Benedict Cumberbatch and Freeman can use these to promote their other products, and for the BBC, they sell the series well worldwide and also draw enormous ratings for it.

What do you think about the idea of “Sherlock” going more into TV movie territory, and do you believe that this could work? Share your thoughts below, and to get some further clues and TV updates from us at CarterMatt, be sure to visit the link here.

Photo: BBC One