It’s been nearly a year since we last saw Sherlock, and even that was just a Christmas special. You would have to go back to January 2014 to find the last actual episode in a normal TV season for the acclaimed BBC show. But I guess that’s what happens when your lead becomes one of the most celebrated actors around who has now made a very literal magical transition to movies, and his co-star goes off on a reaaaaaaally long trek to do some draconian housebreaking. But in between Benedict Cumberbatch racking up all the awards and becoming Marvel’s Doctor Strange and Martin Freeman wrapping up The Hobbit trilogy, they also found the time to finally record a fourth season of Sherlock. Oh and get pregnant.
Not from each other, clearly, but as a new batch of pics (via Mashable) for the upcoming fourth season shows, enough time has passed since we last saw Holmes and Watson, that the then recently married Watson has become a daddy. Which, as you can see in the pic above, is turn of events that may just stump the unflappable Holmes.
This season, which has been rumoured to be the show’s last, will see the duo returning back to their old London haunts after their last few adventures had them crossing borders all over Europe. And this return is intentional, according to what co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss told Masterpiece:
Whatever else we do, wherever we all go, all roads lead back to Baker Street, and it always feels like coming home. Ghosts of the past are rising in the lives of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson and terror and tragedy are looming. This is the story we’ve been telling from the beginning and it’s about to reach its climax.
Gatiss of course also plays Sherlock’s smug brother Mycroft, and you can see him down below, along with Amanda Abbington as Mary Watson and Una Stubbs as housekeeper Mrs. Hudson. Along with the ladies in the lives of Holmes and Watson, we also get at veteran actor Toby Jones as the season’s new baddie Culverton Smith, whom Moffat and Gatiss previously described to /Film as “the most evil villain we’ve had”.
He’s completely different. It’s a completely different character. He’s the darkest villain we’ve had. There was always something charming and engaging about Moriarty. There was something fascinating and actually amoral, rather than immoral, about Charles Augustus Magnussen. This guy is the purest evil. Sherlock is actually appalled by him. He’s the most evil villain we’ve had. I don’t think that when you see it, you will disagree. He’s horrific.
It’s an interesting thing to chart. We made our Moriarty very different to [Sir Arthur Conan Doyle]’s. He’s Irish, and he brings all his charm, his twinkle and his humor to it while he’s also terrifying. Magnussen was a very blank, chilling business man. He doesn’t see what he’s doing as evil. Toby is doing something very interesting. She’s an avuncular, funny seeming man with terrible teeth. We’ve given him terrible teeth, which are symbolic of the rot inside him. It’s a great complex, shaded character. You’re not quite sure what the relationship is with him.
You can probably check out more about Culverton and baby Watson – and also how the hell Moriarty is back when he’s supposed to be suffering from an acute case of death – when Sherlock season 4 kicks off in just a little over a month’s time on January 1, 2017, with the episode titled “The Six Thatchers”. I can’t wait.
Last Updated: November 29, 2016
