‘Sherlock’: Benedict Cumberbatch open to season 4

While we spend the vast majority of our British TV coverage here at the site talking about a stellar slice of programming in “Downton Abbey,” we would ultimately be doing another certain series quite the disservice if we were to not give them a little bit of love right now: “Sherlock.” It’s a show that manages to do so much in just a tiny episode count, but unfortunately, it is also a show that keeps us waiting time and time again. It is going to be 2014 before new episodes of the show come to America, though it will be one BBC One in Britain a little later in the year.

You’ve likely heard the news now that the actors are now in the process of doing some pre-production work on the show, and we now have some other fantastic news to go along with that: there will very likely be a season 4, depending on if everything goes according to plan. As a part of a new interview at an awards show this past week, Benedict Cumberbatch (one of the best Holmes actors ever, by our estimation) admitted that depending on scheduling, there is another batch of three episodes that should be filmed in addition to the current ones:

“We’ve agreed to two more series but I’m probably going to get into trouble for saying that … All I know at the moment is I’m doing these three [episodes of the upcoming series] and another three … It just depends on Martin [Freeman]and I’s availability, how long we can keep it going. It depends on Steven [Moffat]’s ability. I’d love to keep it going.”

Ultimately, this update hardly surprises us in that “Sherlock” is really a rather nice thing for Cumberbatch and Freeman to add to their resumes. It does not require the same time commitment as a massive season of 22 episodes (think “Grey’s Anatomy”) or even 8-10 (like “Downton Abbey”), but it allows them to continue forward with an established property that critics cannot get enough of.

Are you thrilled by this news? If you want to read more on the “Sherlock” season 3 delays, you can do so over here.

Photo: BBC One