‘Sherlock’ season 4 spoilers: No guarantee first episode will be Christmas Special

Just in case the future of “Sherlock” was not confusing enough for you, we have now added an additional layer of ambiguity on the top of everything in regards to what the first episode of season 4 would be.

For a good while, it appeared at least fairly apparent that we were going to be looking at an episode featuring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman that would be airing at around Christmastime. Now, however, nothing is entirely so set in stone. Speaking per the Radio Times, co-creator / actor Mark Gatiss (Mycroft) explained that the overall placement of this episode will be up to the folks at the BBC:

“It will be finished, of course, by the end of spring,” Gatiss tells me, “[but] when they show it is entirely down to the schedulers. It would fit as a Christmas special but there’s no guarantee of that – they used to show the Mike Yarwood [Christmas] Show in the summertime.”

Regardless of whenever this special airs (we still feel like Christmas 2015 is the most likely option for it, mostly because it just fills that spot so well), the story will probably be the same regardless and focus very much on what happened at the end of season 4. Is Moriarty really back from the dead? It’s the question on just about everyone’s mind, and we feel like it will have to be answered for anything else to move forward.

What do you want to see when “Sherlock” does return to the air, regardless of whenever that may be? Share some of your thoughts with a comment, and to get some other fun scoop right now when it comes to Cumberbatch, you can do so here! You can also sign up today if you want to secure some further TV news and clues on everything we cover right now via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo via BBC One.)