Check out all of our ongoing coverage of the TCA 2016 Winter Press Tour here. (Not familiar with the TCAs? Read our handy explainer).
The most recent Sherlock Christmas Special, a la “the Victorian one,” ended largely where Season 3 did, teasing Moriarty, and Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) flying off to dig into the chaos he's left behind. (I wanted to love it, but didn’t quite — you can read my recap here). Though most of the characters got to play a different side of themselves, Lestrade (Rupert Graves) was more or less the same, and it was a little disappointing that we weren’t able to get more with him as a Victorian inspector.
But, while promoting ABC’s upcoming drama series The Family (the pilot of which is the start of a pretty tantalizing mystery — more to come on that), I got the chance to speak to Graves briefly about Sherlock Season 4. The new season is set to start filming in spring of 2016, though Graves said that they haven’t seen scripts yet. When asked if he has any hopes for his character and his connection with Molly (Louise Brealey), though, he said:
Image via PBS
“I think definitely Lestrade has got the hots for Molly. So maybe they’ll develop that. We don’t know what happens until we see the scripts, and that could literally be a couple of weeks before you film.”
Yes, Molly and Lestrade shippers, you read that right. Of course, that doesn’t mean anything will actually happen, but still. The hots! Besides, it’s not like Lestrade will be busy solving cases or anything, let’s be real ... even Graves agrees. When asked how Lestrade would fit in with the cops of the twisted and complicated Family, he said,
“He would be on the telephone to Sherlock right away. He can’t operate that well without Holmes.” Although he also added, quoting Arthur Conan Doyle’s original conception of the character, “he’s not on the same level as Sherlock, but he’s the best of that lot, and I sort of approach him like that.” Showrunner Steven Moffat has also said of Lestrade, “We tried to make sure that he was actually wise. Lestrade absolutely gets it. He gets what Sherlock Holmes can be on a good day, and what he might be on a bad day. That’s quite a key character.”
Moffat made those comments back in July, and Graves told us back then too that Lestrade’s relationship with Sherlock will likely change now that it’s been revealed that Sherlock is not, in fact, dead. However, “I think it will deepen their love."
Bring on Season 4! Sherlock fans, what are some of your hopes for the new season? Any particular stories from the canon that you hope they explore?
