Cumberbatch Wants to Continue Playing Sherlock Beyond Season 3 and Much More!

That’s right in a recent interview with TVLine Benedict Cumberbatch says he wants to continue portraying the great detective in Mark Gatiss’ and Steven Moffat’s excellent TV show Sherlock and a whole hell of a lot more besides! Check it out!

It seems with the growing popularity of Sherlock both Benedict Cumberbatch and his co-star Martin Freeman are becoming hot properity in the world of entertainment. Indeed, season 2 of BBC’s fantastical show Sherlock was delayed so that BOTH actors could go film Peter Jackson’s upcoming epic The Hobbit (the first part set to hit our cinema’s this coming December) and since then Cumberbatch particularly has been hitting our screens in a whole range of roles ranging from a spy in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to a Major in War Horse and to the Villain (possibly Khan – there are conflicting rumours) in the upcoming Star Trek movie.

So where does that leave Sherlock?

After the second season aired back in January of this year, the ending left no doubt in anybody’s minds that the show would return for a third outing and this was confirmed by show co-creator Steven Moffat via twitter soon after.

We already knew that the third season would begin in early 2013 and Cumberbatch himself confirmed as much in the afore mentioned TVLine interview by answering: “January. That’s the plan.” So it sounds as though the actors have been with a specific date then!

But with both the primary actors being snapped up for variousw Hollywood productions, when will they fit Sherlock in or is that effectively the end of the great detective’s BBC outing? When asked, Cumberbatch responded: “Oh, no. No, not at all. I’ll always do Sherlock — it’s something I’m not going to give up on. I love it too much. It’s hard work, but it’s so rewarding and such a lovely bunch of people who do it. We love our fans and we love what it’s created. It’s an incredible thing to be part of; it doesn’t happen that often. Don’t worry; it’s not going to disappear.”

Be still my beating heart! Seriously, as a massive fan of the show this puts to rest – to a certain degree at least – a few fears I had about the show. Sound good? Wait! There’s more!

When asked whether he’d do the show beyond the third season, his answer was nothing less than fantastical: “There’s no reason for us to stop if it’s still being adored and we still enjoy doing it. We only do three [episodes] at a time, so I think the normal fear of over-stretching the mark and just doing too many [doesn’t apply]. It’s good to leave people wanting more. I’d like to see [Sherlock] getting older. We’re starting quite young. It’s rare to see Holmes and Watson at the beginning of their relationship; we usually join them in their mid-to-late 40s or 50s. I’ve got a way to go. I mean, I’m only 35.”

So Cumberbatch would love to play Sherlock for the forseeable future and would also love to see the Sherlock/Watson relationship last until they’re well into their middle ages! Awesomeo!

Long live Sherlock, I say! What about you? Would you like to see Cumberbatch play Sherlock Holmes well beyond the upcoming third season of the show? If so, which of Holmes’ famous villains would you like to see him pit his wits against? Do you believe the call of Hollywood won’t force the star to call time on this breath-taking series? Please let me know what you think in the comments section below – I’d love to hear from you!

Looking to catch up or own the show on DVD or Blu-Ray? Check out the below options!

For US readers:

• Get Sherlock Season One on DVD for $19.99!
• Get Sherlock Season One on Blu-ray for $28.99!

For UK readers:

• Get Sherlock Series One on DVD for £5!
• Get Sherlock Series Two on DVD for £12.99!
• Get Sherlock Series One and Two Box Set on DVD for just £17.99!

Catch the full interview over @ TvLine