Benedict Cumberbatch: "I'd love to keep it going for as long as possible, I think we all would" : Benedict Cumberbatch confirms fourth season of Sherlock (MIRROR)

Star added that next episode - explaining detective's survival after roof plunge - is "an absolute stonker"

Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed that he and co-star Martin Freeman are on board for a fourth season of the BBC1 hit drama.

The 36-year-old said that he would love for the series to continue for “as long as possible” as he picked up the television drama prize for Parade’s End at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards.

"We've agreed to two more series but I could get into trouble for saying that," he told radiotimes.com.

"All I know at the moment is I'm doing these three [episodes of the upcoming series] and another three."

And although keen to carry on with more episodes beyond the next run, Cumberbatch did admit that the show’s future did depend on the availability of not only himself and The Hobbit star, but writer Steven Moffat too.

"We love doing it as we are doing it at the moment in the format we are doing it," he said.

"I'd love to keep it going for as long as possible, I think we all would."

READ MORE: http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/sherlock-benedict-cumberbatch-confirms-fourth-1759185

Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston win new awards and their loyal fan armies rejoice (Gazette)

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Christopher Tietjens in Parade's End, a BBC/HBO/VRT co-production. (HBO)

British actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hiddleston have both won awards at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards, Tuesday, March 12, 2013, in London.

Strictly speaking, Cumberbatch’s award was an indirect one. He starred in Parade’s End, which won the Best TV Drama Award. Would it have done so if he were not in it? Would it have garnered as many viewers?

I don’t think so, and neither does Susanna White, who directed the series. She told Britain’s Radio Times:  “I think Benedict is one of the finest actors of his generation. And we were really lucky to get him because without him, Parade’s End would be nothing like it is.”

Parade’s End is set in the days before, during and after World War I and is based on a series of novels by Ford Madox Ford. It can be still be seen on HBO and HBO Canada. (Click to see the HBO schedule, or the HBO Canada schedule.)

As for Tom Hiddleston, The Guardian reported that he: “. . .picked up the Times breakthrough award for his acting in The Hollow Crown and films including War Horse and Avengers Assemble.”

The Hollow Crown was a four-part BBC series of Shakespeare’s plays: Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; Henry V. Tom Hiddleston was in all of them except for Richard II. He played Prince Hal, son of Henry IV, and then went on to play Henry V. The series was shown in Britain in 2012 as part of that country’s Olympic celebrations, and will be shown on PBS in the U.S. (much) later this year.

Hiddleston played the troubled villain Loki (fangirls love to love him) in Thor and the film that’s simply known as The Avengers in other countries.  It’s called Avengers Assemble in Britain to distinguish it from the TV series that starred Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee. (Oh! The Internet says that Macnee is 91. Bravo! )

READ MORE: http://blogs.montrealgazette.com/2013/03/12/benedict-cumberbatch-and-tom-hiddleston-win-new-awards-and-their-loyal-fan-armies-rejoice/