'Sherlock' Boss Publicly Begs Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman to Return

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman's lives have changed significantly since the last episode of Sherlock aired in January 2017. It sounds impossible to bring the two together with their myriad of big projects, but Steven Moffat is still hoping to pull that off. Moffat, who created the modern take on Sherlock Holmes with Mark Gatiss, is begging the two Marvel stars to return.

During a stop on BBC's Today Tuesday morning, Moffat said he would "start writing Sherlock tomorrow" if Cumberbatch and Freeman returned. "They're on to bigger and better things but, Martin and Benedict, 'please come back?'" Moffat jokingly begged on the show, reports Deadline.

Since the last episode of Sherlock aired, Cumberbatch has left the door open for returning. "I still say never say never," Cumberbatch told Esquire in November 2021. "You know, I really like that character... it's just, the circumstances need to be right and I think maybe it's too soon now to see it have another life. I think, wonderful as it is, it's had its moment for now. But that's not to say it wouldn't have another iteration in the future."

Freeman said a good script and a good idea for a fifth season would have to come around for him to say yes to more episodes. "I'm a fan of things being finite. I like things ending. I think it's natural for things to end," Freeman said on The Jonathan Ross Show in November 2022. "But I'm also a sucker for a good idea and a good script... If something comes up that persuades us all – it would have to be us all – then my door would always be open."

Sherlock starred Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Freeman as Dr. John Watson. Moffat and Gatiss, who played Sherlock's brother Mycroft, moved Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories from Victorian London to the modern world. Only 13 feature-length episodes were produced over four seasons, between 2010 and 2017. Cumberbatch and Freeman both won Emmys in 2014. The 2016 episode "The Abominable Bride" won the Outstanding Television Movie Emmy. The show helped turn Cumberbatch and Freeman into international stars, especially after the show was made available on Netflix. (It is now streaming on Crackle.) Sherlock originally aired on BBC One in the U.K. and on PBS in the U.S.

Cumberbatch is a two-time Oscar nominee for his roles in The Imitation Game and The Power of the Dog. He plays Doctor Strange in the Marvel movies, recently reprising the role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Freeman plays CIA Agent Everett Ross in the Black Panther movies and stars in the FX comedy Breeders.