Sherlock producer says Benedict Cumberbatch show will return – on one condition

’There is a future for it,’ acclaimed drama’s producer said

The producer of Sherlock has shared her views on the possibility of a new series – and her comments will undoubtedly excite fans of the BBC show.

Sherlock starred Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington, who has this year been embroiled in a Strictly Come Dancing scandal.

The show drew to a close with a divisive fourth series in 2017 – but it seems there has always been hope it would return as producer Sue Vertue revealed the set is “still in storage somewhere”.

Speaking at Amazon Prime Video’s Trailblazers event on Monday (1 October), Vertue was asked about the fate of the show, which was created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.

“We love that show and there is a future for it,” Vertue told Deadline, adding: “One day. Maybe. If everyone wants to do it.

“I’ve still got the set in storage somewhere, which is probably rotten, to be honest with you. It’s just getting everybody aligned – it’s getting the actors to want to do it.”

Cumberbatch plays the literary detective, created by Arthur Conan Doyle, with Freeman playing his partner Doctor John Watson.

In all, there have been 13 episodes of the hit show, including four series and a special. While the majority of the show’s episodes were acclaimed by fans, a shock twist in the series four premiere was branded “inherently bad” by long-time viewers.

*Spoilers follow – you have been warned*

“The Six Thatchers” saw the show’s female lead Mary Watson – who was played by Abbington – dramatically killed off.

Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘Sherlock’ (BBC)

Her character was seen leaping in front of a bullet aimed at Cumberbatch’s protagonist, and fans watched on as she died begging her husband, Watson, to look after their newborn baby.

Speaking about her character’s death at a press conference, Abbington revealed she’d known about the twist for some time. “Steven and Mark told me. It was either going to be something like that, or being hit by a bus... just something quite random.”

She continued: “It’s a dream for an actor. You can kind of just be completely self-indulgent and think, ‘I can go to town with this!’ – and I probably did a bit.”

​Cumberbatch himself stated that “it was a very upsetting scene to film. It’s a big moment – two became three, and then this incredibly important part of what Sherlock is suddenly is no more, in the most violent way imaginable”.

Gatiss said: “Mary’s been dead for 100 years, so it’s hard to surprise people in those circumstances. The only thing we could do was do it earlier than people expected, so that it would happen as wrenchingly and as horrifically as such things happen in real life.

‘Sherlock’ has ‘a future’, according to its producer (PA Media)

“We’ve obviously been very true to [Arthur Conan] Doyle and also very untrue,” he elaborated. “So we didn’t necessarily have to do this. But it just felt absolutely right for us to do it.”