“Sherlock” follows a peculiar production schedule, releasing in a small number of episodes with a longer duration, and the producers usually like to take their time between each season as well. Because of this, fans of the show have gotten used to the idea of waiting longer than usual for new seasons, but there are also certain benefits to running things in this way. For example, the longer delays allow the showrunners to be much more creative with the structure of the show and we usually see them experimenting more bravely than other producers with each new season.
For a while now, we haven’t heard anything about the next fourth season of the show, and while fans were eager to discuss it at first, that excitement has somewhat died down in recent months. Recently however, a picture posted by Mark Gatiss on Twitter revived those discussions and gave fans a little something to talk about.
The picture shows a skull with a pair of glasses, accompanied by the message “I spy Series Four…” – and while many were just happy to get some news on the new season, it didn’t take long for some fans to start digging deeper into the picture and trying to guess if it might be hiding something more. And while there are some interesting theories brought up on forums related to the show, we don’t expect the producers to be so quick to explain any hidden messages behind the picture.
In any case, it’s good to see that the show is at least moving forward, as there were some worrying rumors about possible issues behind the scenes previously. The situation wasn’t very clear, but it was implied that the schedules of some actors were conflicting with the plans of the producers – and with each other too – complicating the filming process for the season. It seems like this has been resolved now, so hopefully we are going to get some more news about the season soon enough.
On the other hand, there were some worrying claims that the popularity of certain actors – namely Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman – has raised their salary expectations significantly, making them too expensive for the budget of “Sherlock”. However, some publications report that the actors have decided to come back for the fourth season out of their love for the production, although we don’t know if the issue with their paychecks was ever resolved.
If filming for the new season is already underway, it’s not out of the question to expect more hints posted on social media soon. The producers of “Sherlock” have a very intimate connection with their community, despite the long periods of inactivity between seasons of the show, and whenever they have an opportunity to get people hyped up they usually make use of it in some creative way. With that in mind, we would expect more shots from behind the scenes to come out in the coming months leading up to the release of the season.
When exactly is the big date though? While no specific date has been confirmed, most reports point towards 2017 as the most likely year for the release of the season. That’s surely at least a little disappointing for fans who were hoping to see the show continued in 2016, as there is still a lot of time left in this year, but as we said above, “Sherlock” has always had a more unusual production schedule and this is actually perfectly normal for the show.