Sherlock fans are in for another long wait before their next mystery-solving fix.
The cast has already filmed a Victorian-era special episode, scheduled to air this winter. However, the show’s fourth season won’t air until late 2016 at the earliest.
At this weekend’s BAFTA Awards, Sherlock showrunner Steven Moffat confirmed that the crew begins filming the next season in spring 2016.
In his typical spoiler-free style, Moffat said that the fourth season will involve “Consequences. It’s consequences. Chickens come to roost. It’s dark in some ways – obviously it’s great fun and a Sherlock Holmes romp and all that – but there’s a sense of things coming back to bite you.”
Since Moffat and his writing partner Mark Gatiss habitually describe each new season of Sherlock and Doctor Who as darker and more tragic than the last, this tells us basically nothing. All we really know is that season four will carry on where the third season left off, with this year’s special episode taking place outside regular Sherlock continuity.
Luckily, Sherlock fans are used to enduring a long wait between episodes. Speculating about the next season is all part of the fun.
Photo via BBC One/Tumble