Fans of BBC's "Sherlock" who were hoping that the team would go big in the romance department for Benedict Cumberbatch's character in what is possibly the popular series' last season might as well give up hope now as it seems that there will be no future for Sherlock with the ladies.

It can be recalled that Irene Adler (Lara Pulver) has been the only potential romantic relationship for Sherlock but when that didn't pan out, Sherlock was noticeably not given another love interest.

Anthony Horowitz — who continues writing Sir Conan Doyle's detective series for the author's estate — explained that it was really the series intent for Sherlock not to have any romantic entanglements aside from Irene Adler and he will abide by the rules that Sir Conan Doyle himself established for the book series.

If this is the case then there is a strong possibility that series creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss will also abide by their source material and shy away from a romantic arc for Sherlock.

Meanwhile, rumors are rife that "Outlander" actor Sam Heughan will take on the role of Sherrinford Holmes, the older brother of Sherlock and Mycroft, iTech Post reported.

The rumors sparked after a Twitter exchange between Mark Gatiss and Heughan in which the two seemed to be setting up a meeting. The role was earlier rumored to be offered to Tom Hiddleston, but no confirmation has been made as to which actor will play the part.

It has been reported that Sherrinford is the most intelligent of the Holmes brothers, but he is more inclined towards evil. Should he appear in the upcoming season, he will most definitely become a handful for his brothers to deal with.

Meanwhile, after reports that season 4 could well be the series' last, Cumberbatch may have given fans hope that there could be more after he dismissed earlier reports that had him pegging season 4 as the final season. The actor said that the journalist may have tried to sensationalize his earlier statement.

"We love doing the show and all I'll say about it is that we're all very busy, we're all doing other things now and you'll have to see the fourth season to realize why, for now, it's not going to happen again at the same regularity that it has been happening...But we'll see, we'll never say never and when it's right, if it's right, we'll do more," he said.