'Sherlock' Planned To Continue Into A Fourth Season

Yesterday the news came out that the third season of BBC's Sherlock is about to go into production, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman reprising their lead roles as modern day versions of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

There was some question as to whether the third season might be the show's last. Scheduling the long shoot is difficult, as each of the three episodes per season is basically structured like a mini-movie, and Cumberbatch and Freeman are increasingly busy with movie careers.

But now Cumberbatch has confirmed that a fourth season is planned. 

Speaking to RadioTimes, Cumberbatch said,

We've agreed to two more series but I could 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.

That's great news, and frankly is more than I ever expected we'd get. I love the vision of Sherlock created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, but always assumed that it would have a pretty limited life on TV, for the reasons mentioned above. Moffat is pretty busy as well, so a fourth season seems like a bonus.