‘Sherlock’ season 4: Episodes 1 and 2 titles revealed

“Sherlock” season 4 episodes now has titles. With the UK show finally concluded production, BBC revealed on Monday the titles of the first two episodes of the season. The third and last episode is still a mystery, though, probably so to avoid giving away spoilers.

As both BBC One and the official “Sherlock” Twitter page posted, season 4 episode 1 is called “The Six Thatchers,” while season 4 episode 2 is called “The Lying Detective.”

The first episode is also curiously the title of Dr John Watson’s (Martin Freeman) blog post in December about a murdered art student who created six pottery figures of Margaret Thatcher. If it is the same case, then, as Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) described it, it would be “disappointingly simple.”

The title could also be a play on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1904 “Sherlock Holmes” short story “The Six Napoleons,” which is about a criminal destroying Napoleon busts.

The second episode title, “The Lying Detective,” could be a play on Doyle’s “The Dying Detective,” published in 1913. The short story tells of the time Sherlock feigned suffering from a fatal illness to force a murderer, named Culverton Smith, to confess to his crime.

As Screenrant previously noted, the traditional clue words given for “Sherlock” season 4 were “Thatcher,” “Smith” and “Sherringford.” With the first two episodes’ titles already revealed, it’s somehow clear what “Thatcher” and “Smith” mean. That leaves the “Sherrinford” clue still open, and this could mean that the third and last season 4 episode has something to do with a third Holmes brother.

Sherrinford was one of the names Doyle considered for the detective before settling on Sherlock. Doyle himself never used the name for any of his characters, but other “Sherlock” writers made Sherrinford as Sherlock and Mycroft’s eldest brother.

Read more: Sherlock’: The problem with Tom Hiddleston playing a third Holmes brother

Meanwhile, series co-creator Mark Gatiss, who also plays Mycroft, has said fans have missed some “blindingly obvious” clues. He has claimed that they have already left obvious clues about what to expect in “Sherlock” season 4, but fans still missed them.

‘Sherlock’ season 4: Mark Gatiss says fans have missed ‘blindingly obvious’ clues [VIDEO]

“Sherlock” season 4 will air in 2017.