Sherlock, the hit modern adaptation of the legendary detective starring Benedict Cumberbatch, might have been away from our screens for five whole years now, but the show’s popularity apparently hasn’t diminished one bit, after the BBC announced a string of lucrative deals for the property’s streaming rights.
As per Variety, BBC Studios has closed a deal with Prime Video for the streaming platform to handle non-exclusive SVOD global rights to all four series of the hit crime drama, along with 2016 special “The Abominable Bride.” This excludes the U.S., Australia, and greater China. Instead, Sherlock will be available exclusively on Tencent Video in China, while Japanese network AXN Mystery channel has acquired the exclusive pay TV license.
Elsewhere, Russian fans can catch the show on Kinopoisk, which will be its co-exclusive SVOD home. Cosmote has landed exclusive pay TV and non-exclusive SVOD rights for Greece, with Spain’s RTVE Play service securing non-exclusive FVOD rights. Finally, non-exclusive agreements with CBC Gem and BBC First have been made in Canada.
Co-starring Martin Freeman as John Watson, alongside the likes of Rupert Graves, Una Stubbs, Amanda Abbington, Louise Brealey, and Andrew Scott as Moriarty, Sherlock was co-created by Doctor Who scribes Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (who also features as Sherlock’s older brother, Mycroft). It ran for 13 feature-length episodes from 2010-2017, with its final season premiering half a decade ago this very month.
Sherlock has never been officially cancelled, though, with talk of a fifth season or a one-off special routinely discussed. However, Cumberbatch and Freeman’s busy careers have ensured this hasn’t happened yet. Both actors have major Marvel blockbusters coming out in 2022, for example. Cumberbatch leads May’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, while Freeman returns in November’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Sherlock is currently streaming on Prime Video in the US.