Martin Freeman has again hinted that Sherlock could next be returning as a Christmas special next year.

The actor told The Telegraph that filming in early 2015 “looks pretty likely”, apparently indicating that he doesn’t expect this to be for a full three-part series.

He commented: “If that’s going to be a special – I’m speaking off-message here; if this was New Labour I’d get fired – I think that might be for next Christmas. A Christmas special. That’s what I understand.”

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Producer Sue Vertue previously revealed: “You might not always have three [episodes per series], possibly, but they’ll stay that [90-minute] length.”

Freeman teased earlier this year: “Mark Gatiss may beat me up, but there is an idea for this one-off special that’s such a good idea… It’s a fantastic, really mouth-watering idea.”

> Here’s everything we know about Series 4 so far.

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