When Sherlock first aired in 2010, its stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were hardly household names. That all changed in just a few short years, with Benedict Cumberbatch starring in Star Trek Into Darkness and Martin Freeman landing the coveted role of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy (where Benedict Cumberbatch voices the dragon Smaug). And he currently stars in FX's Fargo. While fans impatiently await the arrival of Sherlock's fourth season, Martin Freeman teased in a recent interview that there may be a Sherlock one-off special coming in the near future.
"Mark Gatiss may beat me up, but there is an idea for this one-off special that's such a good idea, and as I was listening to it I thought 'We've just got to do this.' And I don't know when we are going to be able to do it, unfortunately. It's a fantastic, really mouth-watering idea. But I really don't know when we are going to get to do it."
In a separate interview with The Guardian, the actor revealed that he also isn't sure when the new season of Sherlock will be shot either. There were plans to start shooting this fall, but that isn't happening anymore.
"I don't know. Really. I wish I did. I thought the plan was to do it in the autumn but apparently that's fallen away. We're all busy. But I'm ready. I'm there. It depends if you want to make time for it. I hope we do. I love it."
It isn't known if the fourth season episodes have even been written yet, but creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have previously revealed that they have Season 4 and Season 5 already mapped out.
Back in January, Steven Moffat teased that they weren't ruling out the possibility of a Sherlock movie, although, Steven Moffat recently noted that, since the show's episodes are already 90 minutes apiece, it's possible that their regular episodes could be shown in theaters.
Since the new season likely won't be shot until 2015, it seems that fans may not get their next glimpse at Sherlock until 2016, unless this one-off special gets off the ground.