Will Moriarty Return in 'Sherlock' Season 4?

It's been a long, long wait for fans of the BBC series Sherlock, and the wait for season 4 of the series goes on. Fortunately, news about the content of the long-awaited new episodes continues to trickle out, sustaining hope that it will all be worth the wait.

It's been nearly two and a half years since Sherlock's season three aired, and due to the busy schedules of stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, season four has had a difficult time getting off the drawing board. Production on the new season began early in the spring of 2016, however, and an air date for the new season sometime in 2017 seems likely.

News this week confirmed that Toby Jones will come on board the series to play the character of Culverton Smith, a villain who first appeared in the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Dying Detective," which was published in 1913. In that story, author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described Smith as "small, frail, twisted."

More intense speculation, however, surrounds the possibility that arch villain Jim Moriarty might return in season 4. When last we encountered Moriarty, he appeared to be dead, but fans of the series have learned not to underestimate the villain's resourcefulness. Creator Steven Moffat has all but confirmed that Moriarty will return, but the timing and manner of his return is still very much a matter of guesswork on the part of fans.