Benedict Cumberbatch, you busy bee. Just days after hanging around the comic shops of NYC dressed as Doctor Strange (and presumably some filming as well), the Sherlock star is already back in action for Season 4, popped collar and all. Check out the first look at Sherlock Season 4, courtesy of writer Mark Gatiss!

Following the announcement of production last week, Gatiss shared an off-screen photo of Cumberbatch back in the role that arguably made him famous. The hair looks a bit shorter, and the coat perhaps new, but either way, London’s favorite detective is back to business (and hopefully cleaner than when last we saw him).

Its premiere sometime in 2017, with the first of three new feature-length episodes to be helmed by Doctor Who and The Flash director Rachel Talalay, so reads the first synopsis:

Sherlock will return to screens with three brand-new episodes promising laughter, tears, shocks, surprises and extraordinary cases…

Series four begins with the nation’s favourite detective, the mercurial Sherlock Holmes, back once more on British soil, as Doctor Watson and his wife, Mary, prepare for their biggest ever challenge - becoming parents for the first time.

And a quote from writer-executive producers Gatiss and Steven Moffat:

Sherlock series four - here we go again! Whatever else we do, wherever we all go, all roads lead back to Baker Street - and it always feels like coming home. Ghosts of the past are rising in the lives of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson bringing adventure, romance and terror in their wake. This is the story we’ve been telling from the beginning. A story about to reach its climax…

When last we heard, showrunner Steven Moffat had plotted through a potential fifth season of the series, to say nothing of additional specials in the vein of The Abominable Bride. Along with the surprise resurrection of Season 3 finale “His Last Vow,” Moffat also specified that Sherlock Season 4 would likely see increased roles for the women of the series, particularly Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey) and Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs).

In the meantime, we’ll see Sherlock and Watson hanging around the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Martin Freeman’s role in Captain America: Civil War, and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange, but stay tuned for the latest Sherlock Season 4 updates.

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