Sunday sees the end of Sherlock series 3 – a three-part series comprising feature-length episodes, the second of which saw a remarkable change of pace for the show. And you can expect more of the pace changes, as the show’s creators, Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have confirmed that seasons 4 and 5 are going ahead; and not only that, they feature some of pair’s best work yet.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin FreemanBenedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in Sherlock

“Rather excitingly, Mark and I, for no particular reason, we just got out of the rain and sat at the top of the [Sherlock] production bus… and we just started plotting out what we could do in the future,” Moffat explained. “And we plotted out the whole of series four and five.” (Metro)

The latest episode of Sherlock featured Watson’s glamorous wedding day, at which Sherlock was the best man. The speech, of course, was the main event, given the man delivering it, and Sherlock managed to solve a mystery while giving the fractious address.

“So we have got plans – but our plans don’t tend to be ‘Let’s blow up the world or cast the most famous person in the world’ they tend to be “What exciting twists and turns can we add to this?” And I think we’ve got some crackers! ‘The ideas we had that day, I thought were the best we’ve ever had,” added Moffatt of the upcoming series.

This’ll come as great news for Sherlock fans, who will have been justifiably worried that the show’s key stars, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, would be leaving the small screen for the big as they’ve recently – and successfully – done. But despite a whirlwind 2013 that saw the pair star as antagonist (Smaug) and protagonist (Bilbo) in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the British actors remain keen to stick to the franchise that helped them break Hollywood.