Steven Moffat On ‘Sherlock’ Season 5: ‘It Is Possible That We Could End It’

Fans of Sherlock are eagerly awaiting news about Season 5, but so far there hasn’t been any definitive answer forthcoming. The main reason it is thought to be uncertain is due to the busy working schedules of both Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, although both actors have said that they would be pleased to return for another season of Sherlock, as the Independent reports.

There have been some concerns about Season 5 of Sherlock not happening after Steven Moffat said that it was certainly possible that they could end Sherlock now. Moffat’s reasoning for this was because at the end of previous seasons, it could never have been wrapped up as neatly as it could now as there were always cliffhangers waiting to be addressed in previous seasons.

“If this is the last time, and I’m not planning on it to be, but it might be, it is possible that we could end it. We couldn’t have it ended it on any previous series because they always ended on walloping, great cliffhangers.”

Back in July, Steven Moffat also spoke similarly about how there could be no Season 5 of Sherlock, although Moffat made that sound fairly unlikely.

“I would be moderately surprised if this was the last time we ever made this show. But it absolutely could be.”

When Benedict Cumberbatch was asked, however, he only hinted that perhaps future seasons of Sherlock may not be as regular as they had been in the past, but he did sound optimistic in saying that if the show felt right they would keep making it.

“We love doing the show and all I’ll say about it is that we’re all very busy. For now, it’s not going to happen again at the same regularity that it has been happening. But we’ll see, we’ll never say never and when it’s right, and if it’s right, we’ll do more.”

1. The Cro-Babies! @BenBatched‘s beautiful woollen John and Sherlock who will melt your heart with their adventures. https://t.co/uPiD4b54Is pic.twitter.com/RQG6aMmnKU

— Sherlock of Baker St (@DetectiveShezza) January 19, 2017

Martin Freeman, on the other hand, seemed slightly pessimistic when he was asked about what the future holds for Sherlock and Season 5.

“Truly, I don’t know how long it will go on. But these days we want everything yesterday, we’re never sated, we want what’s next, what’s next, what’s next. And I think, ‘Wow, there’s hours of telly you haven’t watched yet,’ you know? So let’s just enjoy them.”

From what the BBC has said, it looks as though fans of Sherlock may have to wait until 2019 to see what happens next in Season 5. While the BBC sounded optimistic, they did say that they didn’t think it would be very likely that the show would resume again next January, but they are hopeful that Sherlock will be out again in the following year.

It could be that the BBC are thinking over their strategy for Season 5 of Sherlock as the final episode of Season 4 saw their viewers drop to an all-time low, with just 5.9 million people watching “The Final Problem,” as the Independent reported. But this is easily understood as a Russian copy of the last episode was leaked online before the season finale aired, and many viewers may have watched the leaked episode online rather than watch the official airing of “The Final Problem” on the BBC.

Even though the official Twitter page for Sherlock politely asked fans not to watch the leaked final episode and asked those that did not to spoil it for others, it seems difficult to believe that this leaking of the last episode of Sherlock wouldn’t have affected the final ratings.

For all the fans of Sherlock out there, are you holding out hope that perhaps in 2018 we may see Season 5, or do you think it will be more likely to happen in 2019?

[Featured Image by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images]