BBC 'Sherlock' Season 4 Air Date & Premiere: An Unaired Pilot & Eleven Other Things You Never Knew About 'Sherlock' [Watch]

BBC's "Sherlock," which is looking toward the 2016 premiere of the fourth season of the series, has garnered a devout fan base in its three-year stint.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are the frontmen for the dark drama, which consistently surprises fans time and time again.

1. Benedict Cumberbatch was the only star considered to play Sherlock. After Moffat saw Cumberbatch's fierce performing ability as he played an aristocratic rapist in "Atonement," Moffat realized he'd found Sherlock. Of course, Cumberbatch still had to audition, but it was apparent that they wouldn't have to look any further.
2. Matt Smith of "Doctor Who" auditioned to play the role of a different doctor, Dr. Watson. Smith, obviously, didn't get the opportunity to play second man to the sociopathic and asexual doctor, but he confessed that he thought he'd be "too skewed" for the part anyway. The role was later won by Martin Freeman, who was Tim on U.K.'s "The Office."
3. Steven Moffat, one of the series' head writers and creators, doesn't visit the set. He's stated that he only arrives on set when something has gone wrong. Whenever the cast and crew see him, it's likely a bad day for all. Head writer Mark Gatiss, however, is more often on set.
4. Benedict Cumberbatch read all of the original Arthur Conan Doyle books. However, Andrew Scott who plays Moriarty did not, because he wanted to portray a unique version of Moriarty and he wanted to base his performance solely on the script.
5. Amanda Abbington, who plays Mary Morstan, is Martin Freeman's real life partner. And many of the other players on the series are family members of stars. Benedict Cumberbatch's real life parents play Sherlock's parents and young Sherlock is played by Steven Moffat's son. Mark Gatiss' husband plays the lawyer from "The Reichenbach Fall" and Holmes' dog actually belong to the Freemans. Steven Moffat's wife produced the series and his mother-in-law writes for the series. His new fiancée, Sophie Hunter, may appear on the series.
6. "Sherlock" is the eighth highest rated series on IMDB and it has begged the interest of big stars who want to appear on the series. But, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss prefer lesser-known actors. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are bigger names, of course, but prior to the beginning of the run, the two didn't have household names. They both gained various blockbuster franchises following the premiere.
7. "Sherlock" has made an impact beyond the U.K., and there's a great deal of interest coming from Asia. That said, the series is banned in China, so the 69 million people who've seen the show in China have done so illegally. SHINee, a K-pop band, used "Sherlock" as inspiration for their comeback song.
8. "The Empty Hearse" is the most viewed episode of "Sherlock." The episode showed how Sherlock survived the fall has earned 12.72 million views. The episode gave explanations, but it left ambiguity.
9. "The Blind Banker" is the lowest viewed episode. It had an audience of 8.07 million, which is the second episode of the series. But ratings for the series later picked up.
10. The use of first names when referring to the characters is new. Holmes and Watson were the usual method of referring to everyone's favorite detective duo. The use of the first name was done to give the show a modern feel and to shift the dynamic of the pair a bit.
11. Watson's limp may be psychosomatic because the specifics of his injury make very little sense. He was shot in the shoulder, and yet his leg was affected. Also, it's one of the show's incredibly involved references to the original books. Throughout Doyle's collection, Watson's injury varied. The injury started in his shoulder and moved to his leg.
12. An unaired pilot was produced prior to the actual series. "A Study in Pink" is the first episode of the series, but prior to that a 60-minute pilot was developed. The pilot has a similar pilot to the first episode. The episode was actually meant to be aired, and the episode was so impressive that the show creators remade the episode to add in an additional 30 minutes. The pilot can be seen on the DVD for the first season, and it can be viewed below:

Ssherlock 2010 [Unaired Pilot] by UnknownArchiveTV--