Once upon a time, Sherlock was the hottest thing on television. The debut season breathed new life into Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic detective, dragging him into the 21st Century with a series of smart and stylish updates on his classic mysteries. Along the way, it made Benedict Cumberbatch an international star and sex symbol, which is pretty impressive given that he’s beating a corpse when we first meet the actor’s spin on Baker Street’s most famous resident.
Sadly, Sherlock couldn’t sustain its momentum, and by the time the fourth season rolled around in 2017 it was clear that something had been lost over the years. Since then all’s been quiet: Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman have settled into the MCU, while creators Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss moved on to the critically-acclaimed Dracula.
Now, it’s sounding like Baker Street’s finest could have a few more cases to crack. Speaking to the BBC’s Today program, Moffat said that he’d “start writing tomorrow” on new episodes so long as Cumberbatch and Freeman would return: “They’re on to bigger and better things but, Martin and Benedict, ‘please come back?’”.
Both Cumberbatch and Freeman have expressed an interest in reprising their roles, with Freeman saying that Sherlock is “never a completely shut door,” but that the episodes would have to be something special to get them back.
We don’t think the world is exactly crying out for new Sherlock at this point, but if they could recapture the magic of the first two seasons we’d be tuning in on day one. Let’s hope the game will one day be afoot once again.