Benedict Cumberbatch has addressed whether a return to Sherlock could ever be on the cards in the future, giving a succinct – but hopeful – response.
The acclaimed actor is starring in a new series on Netflix called Eric, in which he stars as a puppeteer called Vincent in 1980s New York whose world is shattered when his nine-year-old son goes missing.
The drama goes in a surreal direction, as his son’s design for a monstrous-looking puppet called Eric comes to life, following Vincent around as he struggles with substance abuse, a broken marriage and the prospect of never seeing his child again.
During a recent conversation with Metro.co.uk, we had to ask him about his past role as Sherlock Holmes in Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s acclaimed BBC show, which also starred Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson.
It’s now been seven years since the finale of season four left fans on tenterhooks and desperately hoping that Sherlock could still return again one day, whether for a fifth season or a film adaptation.
So is there a chance that Benedict might fancy throwing back on Sherlock’s trench coat and scarf get-up one day?
‘You won’t hear it here first if there is,’ he answered with a wry smile.
And then, a glimmer of hope, as he added: ‘But we never say never.’
Never say never… those three words are going to surely fire up Sherlock fans around the globe!
This isn’t the first time aficionados of the mystery crime drama have heard that there’s a chance it could return in some form one day.
Just last month, co-creator Mark – who also played Sherlock’s older brother Mycroft Holmes on the series – addressed the possibility of a comeback.
When asked about the prospect of a fifth season by Deadline, he replied: ‘Don’t know, you’ll have to ask Benedict and Martin. Are they here?’
The 57-year-old then added: ‘We’d like to make a film but it’s just very… Trying to get everyone together is very difficult, so we’ll see.’
Last year, co-creator and former Doctor Who showrunner Steven stated that he would ‘start writing Sherlock tomorrow’ if Benedict and Martin were to return for another season.
‘They’re onto bigger and better things but, Martin and Benedict, please come back?’ he said on BBC’s Today programme, as reported by RadioTimes.com.
While Benedict’s fans might be waiting with bated breath for him to don his Sherlock cap once more, in the meantime, the actor is starring in the gripping and harrowing new Netflix series Eric.
While speaking to Metro.co.uk, he opened up about what it was like to play a character enduring every parent’s ‘worst nightmare’, when his on-screen son Edgar (Ivan Morris Howe) disappears, given he is also a father in real life.
He discussed how as ‘storytellers’, actors will often do ‘deep dives’ into the narratives that they’re depicting.
‘You carry that as work rather than a reality, and going home is obviously the real thing. So that does help,’ he explained, referring to how he’s able to distance himself from the subject matter when filming is done for the day.
He continued: ‘For me, it’s also just this character is so sort of… it’s a very peculiar particular odyssey he goes on and his own struggle and failures and loss of his own child within him that again – it was shedding that as much as the horror of losing your offspring.’ (Metro)