Sherlock Star Benedict Cumberbatch Debunks End of Show Misquote

Benedict Cumberbatch made some comments about future of Sherlock a few weeks back that snowballed into a narrative he apparently did not intend. While some forms of his provocative words stating, “It might be the end of an era,” was widely twisted into a narrative implying that Sherlock was set to end altogether after the upcoming Series/Season 4, Cumberbatch attributes the communication breakdown to what he calls “a bit of irresponsible journalism.”

In an interview with Associated Press, Cumberbatch clarifies his comments and debunks any notion that he used a platform such as British GQ to stick a fork in his beloved Sherlock show. The magazine did fully publish Cumberbatch’s quote stating, “It might be the end of an era. It feels like the end of an era, to be honest.” However, it was placed under the context-altering sub-header, “Benedict Cumberbatch on the last series of Sherlock.” As Cumberbatch explains:

“What I talked about very clearly to a journalist who tried to make something sensational out of it and create click-bait and sell his magazine was a farmed-out headline to the Associated Press and everybody else that was a complete distortion of what I actually said which was, ‘It is the last one for now.’ There’s a big difference and he just went, ‘it’s the last one’ and left the paragraph hanging in the air which every other person then jumped on.”

Cumberbatch reiterated that the “end of an era” to which he was referring centered on the idea that Sherlock would not be a series that could be feasibly produced in any regular kind of interval. He was only conveying was already apparent to anyone who has been paying attention to the workload that both Cumberbatch and his co-star Martin Freeman are tackling. Cumberbatch continues, stating:  

"We love doing the show and all I'll say about it is that we're all very busy, we're all doing other things now and you have to see the fourth season to realize why, for now, it's not going to happen again in the same regularity that it has been happening. But, we’ll see. We’ll never say never and when it’s right and if it’s right we’ll do more.”

Indeed, that seems to be the final word on the “rumor” about Sherlock Series 4 being the show's swan song. This does seem to be an example of what happens when the news cycle reflexively grabs onto a few key words in the belief that an occurrence some consider imminent – such as the end of Sherlock– was happening, when it wasn’t. Thankfully, we at Den of Geek can say that our original piece on the Cumberbatch quote ran under the proper context of what was said.

Our original story below as it appeared on October 3, 2016:

Sherlock Star Benedict Cumberbatch Hints End of an Era in Series 4

For some time, the topic of the BBC’s long-awaited Sherlock Series 4 has been connected to rumors of the show’s impending coda. It’s certainly an understandable narrative, seeing as Benedict Cumberbatch has rocketed to global superstardom since the show launched in 2010, only spitting out sporadic series outings due to his busy schedule. However, the latest rumor might be the most potent, coming straight from the horse’s mouth.  

In an interview with British GQ, the titular detective of Sherlock himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, made some provocative comments that might be a harsh harbinger regarding the show’s future. At best, it implies that it could be an extremely long time after the recently-wrapped Series 4 until we see him reprise the role. At worst, it might be an indicator that he's outgrown the role. However, what is clear is that Series 4 will be a bellwether moment for the show. According to Cumberbatch:

“It might be the end of an era. It feels like the end of an era, to be honest. It goes to a place where it will be pretty hard to follow on immediately.”

Sherlock is certainly no stranger to the practice of artful cliffhanger endings poetic enough to serve as the show's finale. Even with the 2012 Series 2 finale “The Reichenbach Fall” – a radical reimagining of author Arthur Conan Doyle’s original story in which he famously “killed off” Sherlock Holmes – the episode ended in a place of closure that was ambiguous enough to serve as a premature series finale; something that felt especially ominous, since Cumberbatch’s film career was taking off at the time with prospective prestige roles in Star Trek Into Darkness, 12 Years a Slave and The Fifth Estate looming. Of course, he returned for Series 3, albeit two years later. Likewise, Cumberbatch isn’t quite putting a definitive stamp of finality after Series 4, stating:

“We never say never on the show. I’d love to revisit it, I’d love to keep revisiting it, I stand by that, but in the immediate future we all have things that we want to crack on with and we’ve made something very complete as it is, so I think we’ll just wait and see. The idea of never playing him again is really galling.”

It does seem encouraging that there’s still a palpable level of passion present in Cumberbatch’s words. Indeed, despite the actor’s growing fame and awards circuit accolades, Sherlock still seems to be an artistically rewarding experience, especially with this past New Year’s hybrid retro-Victorian-era murder mystery “The Abominable Bride” recently garnering Cumberbatch a Golden Globe win. However, it is all but certain that a prospective Series 5 will necessarily arrive far, FAR down the road, should it even happen at all, due not only to Cumberbatch’s project-stacked stardom, but the busy schedule of co-star Martin Freeman, as well.

Sherlock Series 4 is expected to broadcast on the BBC in the U.K. and PBS in the U.S. sometime in 2017.