'Sherlock' season 4 news: Release date scheduled for 2017, Tom Hiddleston to join cast as Sherrinford?
BBC's well-loved television series "Sherlock" has garnered a wide following during its three-season run. However, fans aching to see yet another season of Sherlock Holmes' mystery solving skills along with Dr. John Watson will have to wait until 2017, which is when the fourth season is expected to premiere.
In an American press event held last January, PBS boss Paula Kerger mentioned that "we do have the next Sherlock announced, that is coming up about a year from now," as reported by Den of Geek. A January broadcast makes perfect sense since it was the pattern followed by season 2, season 3 and "The Abominable Bride."
Sherlock cocreator Steve Moffat sat down in an interview with Entertainment Weekly last year and said that no guest stars have been booked yet. "But as Mark [Gatiss] always says, it's better to be a star-maker. We found all these people, Benedict, Scott, Lara Pulver. These people launched careers on the basis of doing the show. It's tough because we got Benedict and Martin—they're probably the two biggest British film stars. If you pay extra money to cast somebody famous, are they actually going to provide you with one single extra viewer?" he said.
However, the rumor is currently buzzing about Tom Hiddleston making an appearance in the show, specifically to portray the role of Sherinford Holmes. Series co-creator Mark Gatiss said that as much as he wants Hiddleston to be a part of the show, his schedule might be too tight. Recently, the actor took on lead roles in "Kong: Skull Island" and "The Night Manager." He is also rumored to be next in line to play James Bond. However, as noted by UnrealityTV, Gatiss revealed in another interview that he would be "willing to go to extreme lengths" just to have Hiddleston in the show, adding that it's not an impossible feat.
The fourth season of "Sherlock" is expected to return to PBS on January 2017.
