'Sherlock' season 5 renewal update: show's return a possibility

How "Sherlock" season 4 ended felt like there won't be a season 5, but it looks like fans have not seen the last of Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch).

While creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss and even Cumberbatch himself said in the past that "Sherlock" season 5 is unlikely to happen, they also dropped hints that it could.

In a special preview of the "Sherlock" season 4 finale held last week, Moffat commented on the possibility of Sherlock's return to the small screen.

"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," he admitted.

"We couldn't have it ended it on any previous series because they always ended on walloping, great cliffhangers," Moffat went on to say.

In the past, Moffat said that it will be surprising if "Sherlock" season 5 did not happen, although he noted that it is always a possibility.

During the same screening, Gatiss revealed that the way "Sherlock" season 4 was put together actually allows for a possible new chapter for the greatest detective in the world.

"I think what has actually happened is we have now done the story of how the Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson that you've always known became those men," he explained.

"It's actually a backstory and we never intended it to be, but the reason to leave it at that place is that actually if we do come back — and we'd love to come back — then we could have it absolutely start with a knock on the door and Sherlock saying, 'Do you want to come out and play?'" he continued.

Cumberbatch, on the other hand, also believes that "Sherlock" season 4 is yet to be the BBC drama's end and that he would be willing to reprise his role.

He did say that with his hectic schedule, it might be a while before "Sherlock" season 5 hits the small screen.