Is a fifth series of Sherlock in the works? Well, if the original stars are open to it, so is creator Steven Moffat.
While promoting his latest project, the West End play The Unfriend, in a new interview on BBC Today, the writer and showrunner said he’d be open to doing more Sherlock if stars Benedict Cumberbatch & Martin Freeman were availablee.
The creator says he’d “start writing tomorrow” if stars Cumberbatch and Freeman would return. “They’re on to bigger and better things, but Martin and Benedict, ‘please come back?’” joked Moffat.
Sherlock last aired around four years ago with a fourth series finale titled The Final Problem. In that now-iconic episode, we saw an ending in which Holmes (Cumberbatch) confronted his evil sister Eurus and mortal enemy Jim Moriarty.
Since Sherlock, both Cumberbatch and Freeman have made quite a splash in film and television. Both recently appeared in 2022 Marvel Studios films, with Cumberbatch starring as Doctor Strange in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Meanwhile, Freeman rounded out the supporting cast of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
As for Moffat, he’s fresh off Inside Man, starring Stanley Tucci and David Tennant, on Netflix. He said, “we’re looking at the enthusiastically-nodded-about graphs, and apparently, [Inside Man] performed quite well.” The success of that could be a critical factor in seeing more from Sherlock.
Moffat is currently working on The Unfriend, where an awkward British couple struggling to connect with their children who are rocked by the arrival of an American guest. “It’s about the exquisite agony of bringing up difficult subjects,” added Moffat. “How do you do it?”
