Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock Series Finally Returning?
Steven Moffat would restart the Sherlock Holmes series if Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman agreed to do it.
According to Deadline, writer/creator Steven Moffat would “start writing Sherlock tomorrow” if Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman agreed to return to the series. The last episode of the series aired five years ago when the season finale of the fourth season concluded with Sherlock Holmes fighting against Moriarty and his evil sister Eurus Holmes. The episode was titled “The Final Problem,” but the creator would love it if that finale wasn’t actually so final.
“They’re on to bigger and better things,” Moffat says about Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman before adding jokingly, “but, Martin and Benedict, ‘please come back?’”
While Benedict Cumberbatch may be working on other projects, another Sherlock star is still connected to Moffat. Amanda Abbington, who played Mary Watson, features in Moffat’s new play, The Unfriend. So maybe it’s possible to get the whole band back together?
With Benedict Cumberbatch’s busy schedule, the answer to this is unclear. Aside from Sherlock Holmes, the star is most famous for portraying Doctor Stephen Strange in the MCU, a role that he most recently reprised in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
He also appeared in multiple movies in 2021, including Spider-Man: No Way Home, in which he played Doctor Strange, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, where he played Louis Wain, a 19th-century artist who was thought to be descending into madness, and The Power of the Dog, in which he portrayed a fearful cowboy with ambiguous motives named Phil Burbank.
Benedict Cumberbatch has been nominated for two Oscars, one for his performance in The Power of the Dog and another for his performance in 2015’s The Imitation Game. He has been nominated for many other awards as well, such as a BAFTA TV Award for his work in Sherlock. All in all, he has been nominated for 159 awards and has won 72 of them.
Although he has been acting since he graduated college with a master’s degree in Classical Acting, Benedict Cumberbatch didn’t become a household name until he starred as the titular Sherlock in the British television series. It is one of many revamps of Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved mystery stories, but it is unique in that it portrays Sherlock Holmes as a modern-day detective solving crimes in London in the 21st century.
In this version of the story, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock is more arrogant and cockier toward everyone, especially Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Lestrade, but this is because he is less confident in himself and his abilities. Another change is that Doctor Watson, played by Martin Freeman, is a young war veteran who recently returned from Afghanistan and who is a much more active participant in the pair’s crime-solving adventures.
The show was a great success, not just in Britain, but around the world. Fans have been clamoring for more seasons ever since the last one ended, but it seems to be up to Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman whether this will ever come to be. The creator of Sherlock would be more than happy to give it another go if the timing and the story are right, but it all depends on the actors.
