Cumberbatch: “Sherlock” Return Must ‘Be Better’

Benedict Cumberbatch seems to be done playing Sherlock Holmes. The Emmy, BAFTA & Laurence Olivier award-winning actor has indicated that he has no real plans to return to the role and if he does, there’s some strong conditions.

Thirteen feature-length episodes were produced, with four three-part series and a special airing from 2010 to 2017. As both Cumberbatch and co-star Martin Freeman were in high demand shortly after the success of the early series, even getting them back for the special and fourth season was a task.

Speaking with TV Line as part of a recent feature piece about his career, Cumberbatch was asked what it would take for him to reprise his role to which he responded: “A lot of money”.

He then added that a new season would need to “be better than it ever was. You leave them or yourselves wanting more. There’s always that itch to scratch, but I think it would have to be the superlative version of what we’ve already achieved.”

The show won a Peabody Award, multiple Emmys, and BAFTAs and drew huge ratings when it aired. Reviews were very strong for the first two seasons, but each subsequent one seemed to become weaker, leading to mixed reviews for the fourth season.

Cumberbatch has mostly been sticking to film work in recent years including Marvel’s “Doctor Strange” franchise and smaller films like “The Electrical Life of Louis Wain” and Wes Anderson’s “The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar,” though has returned to TV for limited series like “Patrick Melrose” and “Eric”.

“Sherlock” creator Steven Moffat said in 2023 that he’d love to revive the series and would “start writing tomorrow” if Cumberbatch and Freeman were on board. Series co-writer and co-star Mark Gatiss, who plays Mycroft Holmes, indicated last April that a film based on the property would be a more likely possibility.

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