Series 4 Rumors

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh, thanks -- I do believe y'all are right about that shot being from the pilot.  You can see John's undershirt!  (I didn't recall the Christmas decorations, but am now willing to believe that I was simply too distracted to notice them.)

 

T.o.b.y, the only problem I see with your "satisfying finale" idea (other than the massive withdrawal symptoms that would follow) is the question "Satisfying to whom?"  I suspect "whom" would translate into Steven Moffat, and you can see where that line of reasoning is headed, so I won't bore you with the rest of it.

 

With an indefinite number of future series in store, however, there's always hope.

 

[T.o.b.y]

Very good point Carol. I meant, of course, satisfying for me... Which probably wouldn't work for many other people. Of course, if I get really upset by what is next, I can always stop after series 3, anyway. Heck, I could have stopped after The Sign of Three! That had a near-perfect ending. For me!

[Slithytove]

I'm hoping for the opposite - that there are more series lined up, and that they get on with it as soon as possible. (I can't wait forever - I'm old!). I know that shows sometimes dip in quality after several series, but it isn't inevitable when the people involved have talent, imagination and a passion for their subject. I think there is still a huge amount of unexplored potential in these very strong and complex characters.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle -- hoping that there will be more series for a good long while, but that they won't sacrifice quality for rapidity.  Also hoping that future episodes will make a bit more sense than "His Last Vow."  (Well, I can hope, can't I?)

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Well of course you can. What good is it if one cannot hope. I'm just hoping for more episodes. If even their worst is on par with TBB....it's all good.

[by the sea]

Oh yes, please ... I want more !  I'm new to this fandom and have watched all of the series in relatively fast time ... starting series one and two late last year thanks to Netflix.  The whole concept of that being it ... over and done, goodbye ... is terrible to me !     I love these characters and fervently pray for new episodes ... even one a year would do me if it had to !  Even a Christmas episode, although I gotta admit Christmas episodes are not usually my favourite things .

 

Debbie

[John Cartney]

I'm hoping for the opposite - that there are more series lined up, and that they get on with it as soon as possible. (I can't wait forever - I'm old!). I know that shows sometimes dip in quality after several series, but it isn't inevitable when the people involved have talent, imagination and a passion for their subject. I think there is still a huge amount of unexplored potential in these very strong and complex characters.

 

This is pretty much my stance, too. I know everyone involved is very busy but, as Martin Freeman so eloquently put it, "it's one of those things where you have to at some point just go, 'We're going to do it now' - otherwise we could be having this conversation in three years. There comes a time where you've got to piss or get off the pot"

 

Also, Gatiss confirms Sherlock unlikely to return until 2016:

https://uk.tv.yahoo.com/gatiss-no-more-sherlock-until-2016-110714647.html

[Carol the Dabbler]

Yes, Mr. Freeman put it very succinctly (and somewhat more delicately than that expression is usually phrased).

 

Hello, John Cartney -- welcome to Sherlock Forum!    Thanks for jumping right in with your observations!

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Hello and welcome to the Forum, John Cartney!  So glad you found us and thank you for the link. That means they have plans to start filming in 2015, with any luck.

[Caya]

Hello John Cartney and welcome to the forum!  

 

Thank you for the link and the info. Mr Freeman is, as always, the master of driving the point home in, er, direct words .

[John Cartney]

Hello Carol, Bakerstreet Irregular and Caya. Thanks to you all for the welcome.

 

The Martin Freeman interview on Alan Carr's show just aired here in the UK. No new info regarding S4 unfortunately, only what had already been reported in the radiotimes article a couple of days ago (that Gatiss has a great idea for a one-off special, Freeman would love to do it but no idea when). Fun interview though.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Regarding that idea for a single episode -- Alex and I discovered that we were each (separately) wondering whether perhaps it's already in the can, and perhaps Freeman was appointed to "leak" the idea in order to gauge public interest.  Alex thinks they might have had time to film it last December.  Not meaning to start any rumors, just wondering if it's possible.

 

[T.o.b.y]

Oh Carol, don't get my hopes up...

[Arcadia]

I'm more worried that Freeman has caught "Moftiss disease", and is lying thru his teeth just to torment the fans....

[Carol the Dabbler]

I assume he's telling the truth about a great single-episode idea being batted around.  But he's quite clear that who knows when (or, one assumes, even if) it'll ever be made.  So it still comes down to a big question mark.

 

[Convict13]

Do you think that they will continue to make Sherlock for many years to come?  So that we can watch Sherlock and John grow old?  I would love to think that they will, but if they do then I think it will mean that we would have to wait perhaps years (many years) between series.  

[Convict13]

Hello Carol, Bakerstreet Irregular and Caya. Thanks to you all for the welcome.

 

The Martin Freeman interview on Alan Carr's show just aired here in the UK. No new info regarding S4 unfortunately, only what had already been reported in the radiotimes article a couple of days ago (that Gatiss has a great idea for a one-off special, Freeman would love to do it but no idea when). Fun interview though.

 

I have to catch that interview online.

[sherlockandjohn]

Mofftiss keep saying that they want to keep doing the show for as long as possible (with regard to the schedule of the actors). Who knows? For the moment, it's looking okay. Cumberbatch has said that it works for now because they are only filming for about three months with nearly two years in between. And he apparently likes coming back to it. After the latest filming he said he felt "sentimental about letting him (Sherlock) go." So that's positive. Freeman seems to like coming back to it as well, and I should assume even more now that his partner is also included in the cast.

[Convict13]

Mofftiss keep saying that they want to keep doing the show for as long as possible (with regard to the schedule of the actors). Who knows? For the moment, it's looking okay. Cumberbatch has said that it works for now because they are only filming for about three months with nearly two years in between. And he apparently likes coming back to it. After the latest filming he said he felt "sentimental about letting him (Sherlock) go." So that's positive. Freeman seems to like coming back to it as well, and I should assume even more now that his partner is also included in the cast.

 

 

It would be brilliant for say 20 to 30 years from now we were in Season 10, I would be willing to wait a year or so inbetween.  If they did that it would make it a unique series.

[Alex the Dabbler]

I like seeing a new series filmed every two years because it allows Carol and me to save up for future UK trips to witness North Gower Street filming.

[sherlockandjohn]

I like seeing a new series filmed every two years because it allows Carol and me to save up for future UK trips to witness North Gower Street filming.

 

I would really love to go next time myself. Do you know how long in advance they usually announce the filming?

[Alex the Dabbler]

In 2013 for Series 3, I think we knew they would be filming about 3 months in advance (which is pretty good advance notice for getting good airfares).  We also knew that Martin Freeman had to go back to New Zealand for more Hobbit filming in late May.  We scheduled our three week trip so that we would leave London to return to the USA on May 22, which turned out to be one day after they did exterior filming at North Gower Street for The Sign of Three and exterior scenes they previously didn't have time to finish (I believe a car that parked in front of Speedy's had to be towed on the day of the March filming, which delayed their filming that day) for The Empty Hearse.  So we got breakfast and had our luggage put into storage at our London hotel on the morning of the 21st, walked over to North Gower Street and witnessed the filming, then picked up our luggage and took the tube to go to our Heathrow area hotel after filming was completed.  It was an exciting and memorable last day in the UK for us!   If you haven't seen this video link posted by Carol in the Series 3 North Gower Street filming thread, here's a link to a fan video of the filming that day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUFVRMQwqk-B7yVJMDR6pq4g&v=ORWSrG3LisY#t=11 . We are planning to return to the UK to try and witness Series 4 filming after they announce when they will be doing that and Carol said that some other forum members are also going to try to be there.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Our being there was about equal parts careful planning and sheer dumb luck.  It generally takes them a little over a month to film each episode, and they generally seem to do their North Gower shoot toward the end of that time.  They had announced that they would start filming Series 3 in mid-March and (as Alex said) we had read that Martin Freeman would leave for NZ "at the end of May" (whatever that meant).  If we'd scheduled our return flight just one day earlier, we'd have missed it!

 

If you happen to be in London at basically the right time, though, knowing the exact date of a North Gower shoot is very easy.  Whenever parking will be restricted (as it is for filming), the city posts bright yellow signs up and down the street something like ten days in advance.

 

[sherlockandjohn]

Excellent, thank you both for the great tips! I will definitely try to be there, but of course I know there is some luck involved. Also, shoots can be postponed for various reasons. I'm also starting school hopefully this September, so I don't know how well that will work with a trip to London Probably not very well, but nothing's impossible, right?!

[Carol the Dabbler]

We hope we get a chance to meet you there, Sherlockandjohn!

 

Even when they're not filming, a trip to North Gower is lots of fun.  One can take pictures (including a self-portrait at the famous door), get lunch from Speedy's (we recommend the Watson Wrap), and sit at one of the tables out front in nice weather.  It's somehow amazing that the street really looks like that!

 

And there are other location sites in London, especially Bart's Hospital of course, but lots of others as well.  If you'd like a semi-guided tour, we'd love to show you around if we're in town -- or you can do a self-guided tour (as we did) based on Sherlockology's location write-ups.