"Sherlock' fans who have been looking forward to seeing Benedict Cumberbatch and the rest of the cast sooner may be disappointed in the news that series co-creator Steven Moffat recently announced.
Speaking with producer Sue Vertue at the press conference for BAFTA winners, Moffat made it clear that filming of the BBC drama will not begin until the spring of 2016.
Nonetheless, fans can still get a glimpse of Sherlock and Watson, played by Martin Freeman, as a one-off Victorian special has been scheduled to air this year.
At the BAFTA awards, Cumberbatch was unable to bag an award for the fifth consecutive time. He did come home with the Radio Times audience award, the only honor given to performers based on the votes of the public.
Although there have been no announcements on the official release date for "Sherlock' season four, it has been speculated that January 2017 will be the earliest time that the series returns to TV screens.
It has also been confirmed that, aside from Cumberbatch and Freeman, regular cast members who will be coming back include Amanda Abbington as Mary Watson, Louise Brealey as Molly Hooper and Jonathan Aris as Anderson.
According to "Sherlock' producer and actor Mark Gatiss, the upcoming special episode for the fourth season will be a retelling of "The Red-Headed League' by Arthur Conan Doyle.
In a report by Digital Spy, Moffat mentioned that fans can "expect tragedy as well as adventure" in the new season and that it will have a darker tone.
"I do think our plan is devastating. We've practically reduced our cast to tears telling them the plan"¦ we're probably more excited than we've ever been about Sherlock," the director shared in an interview.
Moreover, Moffat also explained that the production team aims to steer the series towards a direction that has never been undergone in past seasons.
"It will be challenging place to go. We always start with a re-introduction that builds toward a darker climax "” we might just be going darker [from the outset]. We got a very, very good set of ideas," Moffat teased.
Interestingly, the director has also dropped the news that he and Gatiss have already been planning for future seasons. He also added that there will be no plans for a "Sherlock' movie as every episode can be recognized as a feature length itself.
