Steven Moffat would “start writing Sherlock tomorrow” if Cumberbatch and Freeman were available

Screen OD staff

It has been some time now since the last episode of Sherlock broadcast, indeed it’ll be six years in just a few weeks’ time since The Final Problem aired, the last episode of Sherlock season 4.

And ever since that show was screened, one question continues to be asked about the detective series starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as modern-day imaginings of Sherlock Holmes and Watson… will there be any more of the show?

And the answer it turns out is, yes – but only if the two leads are available to be in it.

Steven Moffat, co-creator of the hit show alongside Mark Gatiss, told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme that he’d “start writing Sherlock tomorrow” if the two key stars were signed on for a return.

But the problem is, the two key stars are incredibly busy these days enjoying hugely successful acting careers, so it may be easier said than done to get them both in the same place at the same time.

“They’re on to bigger and better things but, Martin and Benedict, ‘please come back?’,” added Moffat jokingly.

Sherlock, which is a modern-day reimagining of the classic Arthur Conan Doyle detective stories, began in 2010 and quickly became one of the BBC’s most popular dramas and attracted a huge fanbase across the globe. Season two of the show aired in 2012, followed by a Christmas mini-episode in 2013. A third run of the show aired in 2014, before another special in 2016 and the final series in 2017.

Moffat, who was on the radio to talk about his new West End play The Unfriend, also hinted that there may be more from recent crime drama Inside Man in the future. Speaking of the future of the show, which starred Doctor Who star David Tennant and Stanley Tucci, he said “we’re looking at the enthusiastically-nodded-about graphs and apparently [Inside Man] performed quite well.”