Sherlock – Picture: BBC
One of the biggest BBC shows of all time and one of the best British shows on Netflix looks like it could be making a departure from the streaming service in May. All 4 seasons of Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman will depart Netflix on May 15th, 2021.
The modernized adaptation of the Conan Doyle characters sees Sherlock Holmes living in the 21st century solving crimes in London.
All four seasons consisting of 16 episodes total will leave as part of May’s removals.
In case you didn’t know, Netflix licenses a lot of its content and as such, essentially only rents the show to be available for a fixed period of time. It’s hard to predict when these contracts come up although in Sherlock’s case, it seems to be 4 years to the day after the most recent season was added.
The removal date currently applies to Netflix in Canada and the United States. It also applies to most international regions too including Israel, France, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Netflix UK doesn’t currently show a removal date for Sherlock so it would appear it’s safe there for now. Although in that instance, the series is also currently streaming in full on the BBC iPlayer.
Many would’ve been hoping for season 5 of Sherlock coming to Netflix but that doesn’t appear to be in development given how busy the two main actors are.
Where will Sherlock stream after it leaves Netflix?
Should Sherlock leave Netflix, you may be wondering where its next streaming home will end up. There’s no definitive answer just yet but we’ve got a few guesses. HBO Max seems the most logical home after the service managed to acquire some of the BBC’s biggest titles for launch in 2020. It could’ve been the case that Sherlock was included once the rights expired.
You’ve also got BBC’s own efforts in the US with BritBox but it’s likely the BBC will want the highest bidder for this one.
In other regions, it’ll likely be the highest bidder but for the moment, no lists currently reveal a new home.
Of course, if it does leave Netflix could swipe the rights back. After all, it has a vested interest in the Sherlock Holmes universe with Enola Holmes and a sequel on the way, The Irregulars and the upcoming Sherlock Junior movie too.
It’s not the only BBC series set to leave Netflix on May 15th either. Two kids series that first aired on CBeebies in the UK also are set to leave with Learning Time with Timmy and two seasons of Twirlywoos consisting of 100 episodes also set to depart.
Will you miss Sherlock once it leaves Netflix? Let us know in the comments.
