‘Sherlock Creators Remain Optimistic for Season 5 Following Season 4 Cliffhanger; Speculated to Premiere in 2019 Once Renewal Confirmed

‘Sherlock’ creators plan to continue the series for season 5 despite no confirmation of a renewal as of the present. Season 5 is expected to address the preceding season’s cliffhanger and is speculated to premiere in 2019.

According to The Independent, co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss remained optimistic about the crime-drama television series’ continued run on the small screen.

When asked about the possibility of season 5, Moffat revealed, “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… We couldn’t have ended it on any of the previous series because there was what have been great cliffhangers.”

During an interview with Metro, Moffat explained that the finale’s title refers to Sherlock’s problem of succeeding over his siblings. Although Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Mycroft’s (Gatiss) recently revealed sister Eurus Holmes (Sian Brooke) remains an enigma, Moffat explained her existence’s implications on Sherlock’s life.

He said, “Sherlock finally understands he’s stronger and smarter than Mycroft in a way. But not because he is actually smarter, because he’s less smart. Because his emotions, his connections to human beings, the wisdom he has gained from the connections in the world make him stronger.”

Moffat continued, “He sees that partly because the extreme Eurus, who has no connection to anything, is just pure brain, not understanding anything about what it is to be human – that makes him realise that everything he has worked towards, everything he has tried to strip away from himself, and tried to deny about himself, is what makes him the strongest one.”

He added, “He isn’t as smart as Eurus, he isn’t as smart as Mycroft, but he’s always going to win against them because he is better and stronger. That is him becoming the Sherlock Holmes of Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett, the one we’re used to, the wise old man of Baker Street who is still terrifying, who is still cold, but has a heart you never doubt.”

The existence of a third Holmes sibling was teased in season 3’s final episode, “The Last Vow,” when Mycroft Holmes (Mark Gatiss) said that he didn’t have brotherly compassion, and told someone that they "knew what happened to the other one". Eurus was eventually revealed in “The Lying Detective” and was sent back to the high-tech psychiatric hospital Sherrinford facility from where she escaped from.

Although no announcement of a renewal has been made following season 4’s finale aired last January 15, it was speculated that the series may return sometime in 2019 should it be greenlit. According to Digital Spy, the time frame would be enough for production of a fifth season considering the preceding seasons’ time frames.

‘Sherlock’ is a crime-drama television series based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular sleuth and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson.