It's been a while since "Sherlock" aired the last episode of season 4. But while co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss expressed that the show is far from canceled, work on the new season has been temporarily halted because everyone in the set is busy with other projects.
But an unlikely source has hinted that production for "Sherlock" season 5 might come earlier than expected. Speedy's Café owner Chris Georgiou said in an interview with Time Out that the show would be back for a new season.
Well-informed "Sherlock" fans will recognize Speedy's Café for its familiar door on the front side of the store, which has the marking 221B. This property served as the facade of Sherlock Holmes' fictional residence for the last four seasons.
Georgiou has also worked closely with the cast and crew on "Sherlock" because, aside from the use of the property, the Speedy's Café also served the meals on the set. It's possible that Georgiou has remained in touch with the show's producers and might have a really good sense of when his site will be needed for filming yet again.
However, Moffat and Gatiss revealed in October that they are working on a new period series also for BBC and in co-production with Netflix. The duo will do a new version of "Dracula" with Claes Bang in the titular role.
The plan is to present three feature-length episodes for this new. Moffat and Gatiss have not yet finished the scripts, but filming is slated to begin in late 2019. With "Dracula" taking up much of their time, the duo also said that they couldn't work on new episodes of "Sherlock" until filming for "Dracula" is completed. Thus, any chance for the start of work on the detective show may not happen until 2020.
Meanwhile, Cumberbatch is slated to have a pretty busy schedule next year with his work on movies like "Ironbark," "Rio" and "Rogue Male." He'll also likely be booked for the summer season for the promotions of the highly-anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, "Avengers 4: Endgame."
Cumberbatch's "Sherlock" sidekick Martin Freeman, on the other hand, is also working on two television shows for next year. "Breeders," a comedy for FX, will begin filming in late 2019 for a 2020 debut and the crime drama "A Confession" will also be airing in the U.K.
