Benedict Cumberbatch has spoken about the imminent new series of Sherlock, saying his titular character will be “less of a dick”.
The fourth series of the show will begin on New Year’s Day on BBC One with the episode ‘The Six Thatchers’. It will air in the US on the same night.
The new episode picks up where series three left off, when Sherlock Holmes was briefly exiled from the UK, before returning as a “Did you miss me?” message from Moriarty spread across the country.
The cast of the show recently took part in a Q&A session in London after a screening of the first episode of series four. During the session, Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Amanda Abbington and creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss discussed the upcoming season and the show’s future.
When Cumberbatch suggested his character would be “less of a dick”, the cast joked it should be a tagline for the series, as Deadline reports.
The cast and creators also said the new series would grow darker throughout, although “not in an entirely unfunny way”, according to Gatiss.