When Sherlock returns on January 1st, 2017 for its fourth season, we’ll only be getting three episodes of the hit BBC series (which airs on PBS Masterpiece in the US). That’s better than nothing though, especially when you take into account Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman’s manic schedules.
Things kick off with “The Six Thatchers” before being followed by “The Lying Detective” on January 8th, and then the finale – “The Final Problem” – on January 15th. That’ll clearly be a big outing for Sherlock as it’s been announced today that the episode will screen in US theatres on the 16th and 18th. Now, that is after it’s already been shown on television, but as an added incentive, fans who attend these showings will apparently get to see fifteen minutes of extras.
So far, only one other episode of Sherlock has received a theatrical release (the standalone instalment, “The Abominable Bride”), so what makes this one so special? Past comments from Cumberbatch may shed some light on that.
“It might be the end of an era. It feels like the end of an era, to be honest. [Season 4] goes to a place where it will be pretty hard to follow on immediately.”
It’s possible then that “The Final Problem” will serve as a series finale to Sherlock, and that it could bring the show to a close. That makes sense given the Hollywood commitments of the two leads, and temporarily closes the door on the adventures of Holmes and Watson until the actors possibly get some time to reprise their roles a few years from now.
We’ll just have to wait and see if that’s the case, but expect more to be revealed about Sherlock over the next few weeks as we get closer to season 4.
