It is still uncertain when the popular BBC crime drama series, "Sherlock," will return for its fifth season. Nevertheless, the show's creators, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, are confident that the next chapter of the series will be opened someday, but it appears that the viewers will have to be more patient as the long wait may take some years.

As reported by Digital Spy, the "Sherlock" showrunners have recently teased a few details regarding the premiere of series 5. The two still could not give a more specific date of the show's return, although they confirmed that the next season of "Sherlock" will definitely happen.

In an interview with Radio Times, Moffat said that the "Sherlock" team still has no near-term plans for the series 5 production. Nevertheless, he shared that they are still very much dedicated to doing a follow-up season that it would be surprising if the show does not make a return.

"It's not the kind of show that has to come back all the time. It can revisit. Every time 'Sherlock' comes back it's a reunion show," Moffat added. At this point, it is settled that the BBC series will continue with a fifth season, but the question is how long the viewers will have to wait for the new chapter. It is already expected that the production of a new season takes a long time, considering that series 4, which aired on Jan. 2017, was released three years after the series 3 finale in 2014.

As for "Sherlock" series 5, the fans may need to wait longer as the showrunners are busy with another TV project, namely "Dracula." In the interview, Gatiss said that they will have to allot at least two years to produce the said TV series, thus leaving "Sherlock" in an indefinite hiatus.

"We're not going to do 'Sherlock' whilst we're doing 'Dracula'. So it's not going to happen in the immediate future. Never say never, but no — we don't have an idea," Gatiss said. According to Huffington Post, this could mean that series 5 may not be released until 2020, and there might be further adjustments in filming schedule as the "Sherlock" main stars, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, are still busy doing a set of movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).  The actors are set to appear in the upcoming Marvel films such as "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War."