Fans may disagree, but Martin Freeman thinks that 'Sherlock' hitting screens in brief spells is a good thing when it comes to its appeal, as it's not easy to get bored of a show that only comes around for a few weeks a year.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in 'Sherlock'
[L-R] Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman to return to 'Sherlock' this year

'Sherlock', starring Martin Freeman as Dr. Watson and Benedict Cumberbatch as a modern Sherlock Holmes, is one of the BBC's most loved shows, but even though it started back in 2010, there have only been nine episodes across three series so far, plus the 2013 Christmas mini-episode. The next instalment will arrive at Christmas, despite the fact that's it's already been a whole year since the last one.

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'It's not eight months of our year, and it's not every year. It's so intermittent', Freeman told The Independent in an interview. 'That's what for me makes it do-able. I don't know about Ben but certainly for me it would soon lose a lot of its appeal if we were schlepping that around for eight months of the year, every year. A bit of the sheen would have gone off it.'

It probably wouldn't be possible for Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat to start building up more regular episodes due to both Freeman and Cumberbatch's insane workload. Both actors recently finished up on 'The Hobbit' trilogy, but since then Cumberbatch has been working on Alan Turing biopic 'The Imitation Game', crime drama 'Black Mass', Shakespeare series 'The Hollow Crown' and let's not forget he's been recently announced to star as Doctor Strange in the next Marvel movie. Meanwhile, Freeman has been working on war dramas 'The Eichmann Show' and 'The Taliban Shuffle', though, regrettably, he won't be returning for the next season of 'Fargo'.

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As of January 2015, the Christmas special of 'Sherlock' has begun production.