It's official: Sherlock, will be back for a fourth series, as well as a one-off special. Unsurprisingly, Sherlockians (and BBC1) have been expressing their considerable excitement on Twitter already, not least because it looks as if somehow, in some fashion or other, Moriarty will be back.
Non-Sherlockians: OMG TODAY THE SHERLOCK FANDOM IS GOING NUTS! Sherlockians: http://t.co/OSbzrf8aBm
— #221back (@TheDeductionGod) July 2, 2014
People: I'm not in any fandom's I don't like Sherlock I don't like Doctor Who Fandom: http://t.co/OoEmvJBSJ1
— ❄CLUEING FOR LOOKS❄ (@SherlockianDW) July 1, 2014
*Dons deerstalker in anticipation* #Sherlock #221back pic.twitter.com/VhFNqIrLSx
— Sherlock - #221back (@BBCOne) July 2, 2014
Filming doesn't begin until 2015, which means it's unlikely to return to the air for at least a year, but that gives us plenty of time to consider which original stories the writers could turn to for inspiration this time. They've already done the big ones – series two alone picked off A Scandal in Bohemia, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Final Problem – but there are plenty left to plunder.
The Boscombe Valley Mystery, in which a son appears to have murdered his father, is "one of those simple cases which are extremely difficult", and we could see Rupert Grint or Eddie Redmayne as the hapless son, James McCarthy. The Adventure of the Speckled Band has a creepy stepfather and spooky twins Miss Stoner and Julia (Romola Garai or Clemence Poesy would be fantastic here), and could lend itself to a flashback episode nicely. Or how about The Man with the Twisted Lip, set in London's slums, concerning the mysterious murder and absent body of Neville St Clair – Peaky Blinders' Cillian Murphy has just the right about of pinched menace to suit that role.
But what should Sherlock do next? And who would you like to see as a guest star in the forthcoming new episodes? Let us know your thoughts below.
