Sherlock’s co-creator and co-writer has hinted at a potential fifth series of the BBC drama
Sherlock bosses have shared an update on the shows potential return(Image: BBC)
With hit detective drama Sherlock now nearing a decade-long hiatus, bosses have offered an update.
Co-creator and co-writer Steven Moffat has teased the possibility of a fifth series of the immensely popular BBC programme.
The modern-day adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic literary works starred Benedict Cumberbatch as the legendary detective, with Martin Freeman as his faithful sidekick Dr John Watson.
After four three-episode series, plus a one-off special – The Abominable Bride – in 2016, the show entered a break in 2017 following the transmission of The Final Problem, leaving its fate up in the air.
Steven, who co-created and co-wrote the show with Mark Gatiss, has expressed hope about bringing the team back together, and has a definite plan should that wish materialise.
“If I can persuade everybody else, of course I’d revisit it,” he disclosed during an appearance on the Half the Picture podcast, reports Digital Spy. “Can you ever say that you’ve run out of Sherlock Holmes stories? There are 60 originals. We’ve done, what is it, 13 or 14?”.
“There’s loads more you could do with Sherlock. I’d quite like to revisit it simply because they would now – our two leads – be the normal age for Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson,” he explained.
“We were conscious that we were doing the beginning of the story… So I’d quite like to see them as their more middle-aged, settled versions.. I don’t think it’s used up,” the writer remarked, who also co-created and co-wrote the BBC’s Dracula alongside Gatiss, reports the Express.
Steven also cast his mind back over his “extraordinary” stint with the beloved detective drama, which overlapped with his time as showrunner on the BBC’s iconic science fiction series Doctor Who.
He described it as a “manic time”, admitting he never “stopped working”.
“I loved that show. I look at it now and I watch it, and I think all of it is excellent,” he said of Sherlock. “I just think it’s really well made, beautifully acted, and dare I say it, [a] beautifully written show. I think it’s cracking. And I’m massively proud of it. And I miss it.”
While Moffat is clearly eager to return to the world of 221B Baker Street, a comeback looks unlikely any time soon, as Gatiss confirmed in June 2025 that Cumberbatch and Freeman “didn’t want to do any more” episodes (via RadioTimes).
Sherlock aired on BBC One and streams on BBC iPlayer.