Filming of "Sherlock" Season 4 will not start until next year, but actor Martin Freeman and series creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have begun teasing fans about the upcoming installment of the Emmy-winning show.
Freeman, who plays the role of Dr. John Watson in the British crime drama series, said that the next season of the show will be full of surprises not only for viewers but also for the whole cast and crew.
"It's going to be full of surprises for you, and for us and for everybody," the 42-year-old British actor told BBC Radio Wales. "I think we just know to expect the unexpected now."
"The plans they have got for the overarching series - oh man, it's just so exciting!" he added.
"Sherlock" was a big winner at the 66th Primetime Emmys Awards, which was Monday, Aug. 25, at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, Calif. Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the titular role in the series, won the Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries, while Freeman won the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries. Co-creator Moffat also got the Emmys for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special, NME reported.
In the same interview with BBC Radio Wales, Freeman, who was absent at the awards ceremony, expressed his "delight" at winning his first-ever Emmy. He said that he had learned of his win through a text message from his American agent.
Moffat, who was in attendance at the awards night, was asked if they could outdo the show's last season, and he answered: "We have a plan to top it. And I do think our plan is devastating. We've practically reduced our cast to tears telling them the plan ... we're probably more excited that we've ever been about 'Sherlock,'" according to Entertainment Weekly.
Fellow "Sherlock" creator Gatiss, who also plays Mycroft Holmes in the show, also teased about Season 4 at the HBO after-party.
"We're going to try to take it somewhere we've never been before - and I don't mean outer space," said the actor who will also reprise his role as Tycho Nestoris in "Game of Thrones" Season 5. "It will be challenging place to go. We always start with a re-introduction that builds toward a darker climax - we might just be going darker [from the outset]. We got a very, very good set of ideas."
The three-episode Season 4 of "Sherlock" is set to be aired in early 2016, following a full-length Christmas 2015 special, which will go into production in January 2015, BBC reported.