Production on Season 4 of Sherlock is officially underway in the UK, and series co-creator Steven Moffat is marking the occasion by releasing a customarily cryptic, mildly spoilery preview of the three new episodes.
In a statement, Moffat enthused, “Sherlock series four — here we go again! Whatever else we do, wherever we all go, all roads lead back to Baker Street, and it always feels like coming home. Ghosts of the past are rising in the lives of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson and terror and tragedy are looming. This is the story we’ve been telling from the beginning and it’s about to reach its climax.”
It’s unclear what Moffat meant by “climax,” although it’s worth noting that he has previously said that he sees the franchise carrying on “for a long while.” When reached for comment, a Masterpiece rep argues that the word climax can “mean many things” and notes that Moffat “likes to tease.”
Meanwhile, per the press release, Season 4 “begins with the mercurial Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch), back once more on British soil as Doctor Watson (Martin Freeman) and his wife Mary (Amanda Abbington) prepare for their biggest challenge yet: becoming parents.”
There’s no official word about when the new Season 4 installments will make their PBS debut, but the prevailing theory has them unspooling in early 2017. The recent 90-minute standalone movie Sherlock The Abominable Bride, which found Sherlock and Watson doing their mystery-solving thing in 1890s London, was intended to tide fans over during the long wait between seasons.
