Sherlock

Drac fights back in a new Netflix miniseries.

It could be some time before we learn if Benedict Cumberbatch ever gives us another 90 minutes of Sherlock, but Masterpiece and BBC have another way to fill the void. Cumberbatch will star in and executive produce new drama The Child in Time, based on Ian McEwan’s 1987 novel.

Sherlock producers were careful to walk back Benedict Cumberbatch’s statement that Season 4 might end the series, though anyone watching Sunday’s “Final Problem” finale likely picked up on the sense of completion. Now, Steven Moffat addresses whether Sherlock even needs to come back for Season 5.

Sherlock may not have ended its second Season 4 installment with a major death (at least not one we saw), but boy, if “The Lying Detective” didn’t re-contextualize the year’s major threat. Our first trailer for Season 4 finale “The Final Problem” confirms [SPOILER]’s survival, but does our new big bad mean [OTHER SPOILER] is gone for good?

Both Sherlock and Watson were dealt quite a blow in Season 4 premiere “The Six Thatchers,” so why is the world’s greatest detective the only one sporting a sadness beard? We may yet find out, as a full photo set from next week’s “The Lying Detective” sees the investigators reluctantly re-teamed to face a cackling Toby Jones.

The time between Sherlock seasons generally ensures that each installment will go big, and few gut punches hit like the major death in the climax of Season 4 premiere “The Six Thatchers.” Once the shock wears off, showrunner Steven Moffat has an explanation for why the show needed to spell out something the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels never did.

Sherlock dealt Season 4 quite a blow with January 1 premiere “The Six Thatchers,” but will the world’s greatest detective and Watson recover in time to deal with Toby Jones’ Culverton Smith? That’s the question posed by next week’s “The Lying Detective,” as the first trailer teases that Sherlock will be adding to the kills under his belt.

Sherlock will get back into the swing of things on New Year’s Day, but Season 4 may need another week or so for things to really hit the fan. Our first synopsis for Season 4 midpoint “The Lying Detective” has arrived, as Benedict Cumberbatch’s high-functioning sociopath comes to tangle with Toby Jones’ ominous Culverton Smith.

Just a few days’ time will see Sherlock making a long-awaited return with “The Six Thatchers,” but fans still feel a certain unease with Season 4's air of finality. We’ve heard Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Steven Moffat weighing in, and now star and writer Mark Gatiss says Sherlock could run another decade … but probably won’t.

Sherlock Holmes isn’t generally pop culture’s go-to for a dashing hero, but once upon a time, neither was Benedict Cumberbatch. Now, Sherlock creator Steven Moffat jokes that even Cumberbatch’s mother thought he was wrong for the part, also providing an update on those ever-swirling final season rumors.