'Sherlock' Showrunner Might Take a Big Breather

Sherlock showrunner Steven Moffat is a divisive figure in television. Some love to hate him, some hate to love him, but regardless of how you feel about him, he runs two of the biggest British shows out there right now — actually, arguably two of the biggest shows out there in general. So when it comes to Doctor Who and Sherlock , which ship will Moffat jump first? Now we have our answer.

We've long been wondered when Moffat would choose to leave his reign over Doctor Who — which he inherited from Russell T. Davies, who championed the show's 2005 reboot. "Eventually, I'll stop doing Doctor Who because it stops me doing anything else," Moffat said in a recent interview.

So, no helpful date yet, and he doesn't seem to be thinking of this departure occurring immediately. So what about Sherlock? "Sherlock doesn't swamp my schedule," he said.

It's a fair point: Sherlock's tradition is to film whenever the schedules of all its biggest guns (Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, Moffat and co-creator Mark Gatiss) are free from their other professional responsibilities; with Sherlock's third season that meant waiting until Freeman had wrapped The Hobbit and Cumberbatch had wrapped Star Trek Into Darkness, The Fifth Estate, and the myriad of other projects he took on last year (including The Hobbit). Doctor Who, in contrast, functions on a much more regular, and thus hectic, television schedule.

"I could imagine we'll come back and do Sherlock fairly often for many years, rather than very often for a few years," he said.

And, frankly, this is Moffat exactly where I (selfishly) want him: Ditching Doctor Who (sooner rather than later on that one, please), and keeping Sherlock chugging along for all eternity.

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