Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat reveals when the show will end

When Cumberbatch is done, the show's done

If you thought Sherlock might go the way of Doctor Who or James Bond, with different actors stepping into the classic role, then think again.

"Once Benedict Cumberbatch gives up Sherlock, what are we going to do? We are going to stop, that’s what we are going to do,” Moffat told Variety fairly definitively.

He noted that "most shows have a built-in mortality” and that Doctor Who is an exception because it “will carry on forever, because you can replace every part of it”.

Fear not though, even though scheduling is always an issue with Cumberbatch and co-star Martin Freeman, the former doesn’t plan to leave the show anytime soon.

“If we can keep the quality up, I can’t imagine that I will ever get tired of being Sherlock. I’d love to play him as an old man," he told Vogue.

Elaborating to USA Today, he added: "I'll keep doing [the show] as long as [Sherlock] grows, as long as I feel he's developing and there's stuff we're all being challenged by and that's being loyal to the original stories as well."

Sherlock is to take a time-jump this Christmas, with a special episode set during the Victorian era. Season 4 is expected to follow sometime in 2016.

(via Mashable)