‘Sherlock’ season 4: Martin Freeman on joys of ‘intermittent’ nature
“Sherlock” is one of the reasons why both Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch have found themselves a whole new level of fame, and thanks to that, they have a line of offers for other roles that they will never be able to fit in their schedule.
Ironically, it is in many ways their schedule right now that makes being on this show so particularly appealing. Unlike American dramas, there is no need to come back every year and do another 10-13 episodes. Instead, they have three episodes a season traditionally, and if you want to consider that these episodes are typically 90 minutes long at least, you could say that they do the equivalent of six 45-minute episodes a season … and they only do a season every two years. That’s a light load compared to other shows.
It is this level of commitment that actually makes this show so appealing in the first place. As Freeman says to the Independent, this schedule allows the two of them to keep enjoying the show, while being able to tackle other projects:
“It’s so intermittent. That’s what for me makes it doable … I don’t know about [Benedict Cumberbatch], but certainly for me it would soon lose a lot of its appeal if we were schlepping that around for eight months of the year, every year. A bit of the sheen would have gone off it.”
With this being said, Freeman did add that the level of on-set commotion due to the series’ popularity does make it a little more difficult for him to do his job than it would otherwise:
“It’s like trying to act at a premiere. … I wasn’t in The Beatles. But I’ve never seen anything like it. There’s such a heightened sense of excitement, so every time we come out, there’s applauding — and it’s like, ‘No, can you n—.’ Or, if we do anything — ‘Cut!’ — applause. … It’s like, ‘No, this isn’t a gig.'”
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