sj4iy wrote:

Sherlock Holmes wrote:

..and not let Sherlock become a rubbish show like the last season of Doctor Who was.

I loved the last series of Doctor Who. It's all down to perspective.

Of course, it comes down to perspective; but, yes, the developments in Doctor Who over the last years have been regarded with quite some trepidation by long-term Whovians.

So what now? Re-boot or abandonment? It requires courage to turn something around, to strive for excellence again, ... better to fail but be sucessful? This is a hard one.. especially seeing how invested we are in this show!

Interesting discussion and I can see both sides.
I think there's a diference between change and knowing when to stop.
I think it partly depends on your source material and what you want to do with it.
Looking at BBC shows:
Case 1:  Merlin.
Although they did rather embellish, at the end of the day, they were dealing with the well covered tales of Arthur and his knights.
When it was announced it was ending, there was an outcry from fans.
But I boldly went on Twitter and said : no, I'm sorry, I enjoyerd it, but it's run it's course.

Dr Who:  the limit is The entire Universe...so limitless!
I have watched Who form the beginning and change has indeed been good.
I am no mad Whovian and never even saw Matt's departure(tho I may have cried if I did).
But I like it when I do see it.

Sherlock.
Well the base source is the ACD canon.  But Mark and Steven have always said they were willing to go beyond this.
Incidentally, I was the one who said she loved Moriarty, but he had run his course and had to go...so we'll see!

Last edited by besleybean (January 21, 2014 6:38 am)

IMO it all should depend on the upcoming success of the show and of that what writers AND actors want. Writers couldn't stop because of their pigheads, actors were getting bored, which mostly didn't affect their performance but in Interviews you can hear it. I don't want to hear Benedict or Martin saying:"Yeah, Sherlock was a good show but..." while they still have to do it.  I know series which went on far too long and just died because of lack of quality. Who is fine with a show which has a reputation but just is run by habit? Right, there is a difference between 20 episodes of 45 minutes in one series and our Sherlock with its three 90 minutes episodes.
I can't say " Let it end with S4, 5 or 6." But I hope they decide it right and end it before it gets worse.

But there is no guarantee for it. Of course I would love it to be like that.

SolarSystem wrote:

...
At this point I would assume that in the upcoming series the biggest problem might be with schedules, simply because Benedict and Martin most likely will have lots of other work to do. But as long as the writing is brilliant, I'm sure Benedict and Martin will love to come back to do "Sherlock" again and again and again. It all depends on the writing.

Ok, of course you are right. I also don't think that Benedict and Martin will get bored too soon but I think after 6 series or so that could possibly happen. I really want both sides, Mofiss and Benedict and Martin, to say:" Ok, that's it. It was fantastic but now the time has come..." early enough.

SolarSystem wrote:

I think many tv series run without end and eventually far too long because the people involved basically don't have much else to do. So they just continue doing it. Of course ratings are also an important factor, but with "Sherlock" I would think that everyone involved, let that be the lead actors, Moffat or Gatiss, has lots of alternatives besides the show. So maybe that will eventually make it easier for them to not overstay their welcome.

Good point. I think if they have to be stuck to "Sherlock" all the time because they didn't get any other offers they would be fed up much earlier. A lot of actors and writers are reduced on the one and only (successfully) show they once created. Thank god it's different here.

I just don't see any point in stopping. If they stick to the current timetable they have another 6 years before Ep 16 even airs. And if for example Benedict becomes even more in demand they can take 5 years out.
As Gatiss/Moffat have said Sherlock and John can still be solving cases in their fifties.
Its hardly like a regular series/season anyway. More event television.