'Sherlock' Season 5 Update: When Will the Show Return?

“Sherlock” season 5 has been shelved for more than a year now since airing its last episode “The Final Problem” back on Jan. 15, 2017. Since then, avid fans of the show have been relentlessly asking whether the world-renowned sleuth will be coming back onscreen.

As of the moment, the possibility for a “Sherlock” season 5 is highly unlikely. There are multiple reasons for this, with one of them being the tight schedule of the show’s two main stars, Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes) and Martin Freeman (Dr. John Watson).

When asked about his prediction when the crime-solving series will return, “Sherlock” producer Steven Moffat said that it would take at least two years for them to pick up the show again. The 56-year-old said that he’s currently got his hands full doing his “Dracula” project, which he is developing along with co-creator Mark Gatiss, OtakuArt reported.

”We’re not going to do Sherlock whilst we’re doing Dracula. So it’s not going to happen in the immediate future. Never say never, but no – we don’t have an idea [right now],” Moffat said.

Low the chances may be for a possible “Sherlock” season 5, but fans are still hoping that production for it will pick up again. And Moffat is among these hopefuls as he said they haven’t completely shut the door on a fifth installment of the series.

“Nobody has ever closed the door on Sherlock – we just say the same thing all the time and it gets quoted different ways,” Moffat said. He went on to say that he assumes they’ll be back.

Martin Freeman said that another reason for shelving the hit series is the reception that season 4 received. Fans and critics alike didn’t exactly like where the show went with its latest installment. Season 4 received a 59 percent rating score from critics, while fans gave it 40 percent on RottenTomatoes.

But even if this is the case, others still want a “Sherlock” season 5. When that will be, however, remains unknown.