Fans of "Sherlock" are downcast after it was teased by star Benedict Cumberbatch himself that season 4 may be the last installment in the long-running series.

In an interview with GQ Magazine, the "Sherlock" actor gave his two cents on the possibility of the series ending with season 4. "It might be the end of an era. It feels like the end of an era, to be honest. It goes to a place where it will be pretty hard to follow on immediately," said Cumberbatch.

However, he was quick to point out that the door for him to play Sherlock Holmes will always be open and he'd gladly come back to it given the chance. For now, though, everyone is busy with their own projects, so committing to another full season may not be in the cards. But for Cumberbatch, the character will always be a huge part of his life.

"The idea of never playing him again is really galling," he said of the role that launched his international career.

In other news, the titles of the first two episodes have been released. This does not follow the pattern adopted by BBC One with previous seasons, but two is better than nothing.

According to Entertainment Weekly, the first episode is titled "The Six Thatchers," which may be a play on "The Six Napoleons." In "The Six Napoleons," Sherlock solves a murder that starts off with someone destroying bust sculptures of Napoleon.

The second episode is titled "The Dying Detective," which was perhaps taken from "The Lying Detective," wherein Sherlock feigns dying of a rare disease.

As previously reported, season 4 of the highly acclaimed and popular series has already finished filming. The upcoming season will see Toby Jones as the embodiment of "the darkest villain we've had." And the likes of Moriarty (Andrew Scott) and Magnussen (Lars Mikkelsen) pale in comparison to Jones' "horrific" character.

"Sherlock" season 4 will air in 2017.