'Sherlock' season 4 spoilers: showrunner Steven Moffat backs up Benedict Cumberbatch's misunderstood quote about the show ending

"Sherlock" season 4 has not even started and yet a lot of things have already been said about the future of the show past the upcoming installment. With rumors of the series already coming to an end, showrunner Steven Moffat has decided to come forward and clarify everything in terms of the fate of the Benedict Cumberbatch-led show.

The news of the show ending in four seasons started when Cumberbatch was quoted about the new year being the "end of an era." Obviously, his comments have been spun in all sorts of directions prompting the actor to even come out and make himself clear. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be enough to stop the rumors. Which is why Moffat, who is one of the primary movers of the show, wants to settle the debate once and for all.

"This is really worth saying because it's getting exhausting for us all," Moffat stressed when Entertainment Weekly asked him about the ongoing buzz. "That's not what Benedict said. That's what someone edited his words into the meaning of. It seems to be impossible these days not to be misquoted. He was quite specific about being keen to carry on. He went on to say he's hard to get us all together. We want to keep the quality up. We haven't even seen this [season air] yet. We don't know. We haven't sat down with the intent to anything yet. But we're always aware that it could be over. But the fact is Benedict did not say that."

It is no secret that "Sherlock" has had some production problems in terms of scheduling production and making sure that everyone in its cast is available to come back to the lore. This has particularly gotten harder with Cumberbatch's rise to fame in Hollywood with movie projects lined up left and right. And with him being the most integral part of the show, filming just would not work without him.

Needless to say, everything was eventually polished and "Sherlock" season 4 was filmed and completed earlier this year. The outing will only be released by the turn of the year on Jan. 1, which marks the first episodic content from the series since season 3 wrapped up in 2014. As per usual the whole run will only consist of three episodes and will air on BBC One.