'Sherlock' season 4 release date and updates: Benedict Cumberbatch hints end of series

BBC's "Sherlock" had quite a run ever since its conception and it was responsible for the current popularity of actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. However, the fourth season of the "Sherlock Holmes" reboot may just as well be its last.

Talking to GQ Magazine, Cumberbatch commented on the possibility of "Sherlock" ending.

He said, "It might be the end of an era. It feels like the end of an era, to be honest. It goes to a place where it will be pretty hard to follow on immediately. We never say never on the show. I'd love to revisit it, I'd love to keep revisiting it, I stand by that, but in the immediate future we all have things that we want to crack on with and we've made something very complete as it is, so I think we'll just wait and see. The idea of never playing him again is really galling."

"Sherlock" premiered in BBC back in 2010 with subsequent seasons airing in 2012 and 2014. It may have been easier for Cumberbatch and Freeman to star in the series back then but the pair has steadily reached A-list levels, making it hard for them to schedule a TV series.

Freeman has gained new popularity as the younger Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's new "Hobbit" trilogy. On the other hand, Cumberbatch has gotten more movie roles, including the lead role in Marvel Studios' "Doctor Strange."

Some fans have opted to stay more positive, thinking that the production is taking "a few years off" only to eventually revisit the show once the principal actors and crew has their schedules in place.

Even showrunner Steven Moffat thought that the show ending at season four was "unlikely," as revealed in an interview with The Telegraph last July.

Will "Sherlock" eventually end at season 4? Only time would tell.

The fourth and possibly final season of "Sherlock" airs sometime in 2017.