With perhaps the exception of those that love Twin Peaks, it’s very possible that Sherlock fans are the most patient fans in history. Season 3 of the drama, created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, ended way back February 2014. Since then, audiences have had only a 2016 Christmas special – titled The Abominable Bride – to keep them going. Understandably, anticipation was high when the fourth season of the show finally arrived on screens on January 1st, 2017.
Fans were then rewarded for their patience with a significantly darker, shocking Sherlock premiere – titled The Six Thatchers and directed by Rachel Talalay – and Mark Gatiss has explained to TVLine that the tone he set for that first episode will only grow more intense over the coming fortnight.
“There is quite a lot of action. Episode three is probably more action-packed than we’ve done for a long time, if ever. Definitely more fighting.”
The premiere episode itself had a far higher level of action than previous seasons of Sherlock, so to hear that this is only set to increase is an intriguing prospect indeed – and begs the question of whether Gatiss and Moffat are in danger of turning their beloved-yet-flawed detective into something of a superhero.
Speaking of which, every superhero needs a supervillain, of course, and the writers/creators look set to deliver a brilliant one this season in the shape of Culverton Smith – a modernized version of the character of the same name from the source material penned by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle – a character with whom Gatiss is very pleased.
“He’s a very 21st century villain, and without hyperbole, one of the scariest things we’ve ever done. Toby is absolutely terrifying,” said Gatiss.
It’s notable that the second episode of this fourth season of Sherlock is titled The Lying Detective, since the short story in which Culverton Smith features is titled The Adventure Of The Dying Detective, published in the Sherlock Holmes series His Last Bow. While Gatiss and Moffat have never claimed to be faithfully adapting the iconic literary source material, they are renowned for their deeply layered references to the original texts. Quite how their use of the Smith character will play out is currently unknown, but all will be revealed when episode two airs on January 8th, and the Sherlock finale follows, on January 15th, 2017.
