Sherlock Series 4: 10 Things You Need To Know
2. It Might Feature Sherlock's Other Brother
Though we don’t have the title for Series Four’s finale yet, we do have a teaser word, revealed at San Diego Comic-Con. And the word is… Sherrinford.
If that made you squeal, congratulations - you know your stuff. Though never appearing in Conan Doyle’s writing, Sherrinford Holmes is a popular figure in stories by other writers. The eldest Holmes brother, he is usually depicted as even smarter than Sherlock and Mycroft.
The character was previously hinted at in Series Three. In His Last Vow, Mycroft admitted to a colleague: “I’m not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. You know what happened to the other one.”
Since then, fans have campaigned for none other than Tom Hiddleston to be cast in the role. What's more, co-creator Mark Gatiss teased that this was actually happening when he tweeted a photo of himself, Hiddleston and Amanda Abbington with the caption ‘Blud.’
Is the incredibly busy Hiddleston really joining Sherlock? Does Sherrinford even refer to what we think it does? Or are Moffat and Gatiss sending us down the wrong track deliberately? Answers on a postcard, please.