Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington - who play husband and wife Dr John and Mary Watson in BBC’s Sherlock - recently confirmed that they have ended their relationship after 16 years together. 

The pair met in 2000 on the set of their film Men Only, going on to star in a number of productions together, as well as welcome two children.

Read more: How I’m handling Christmas as the adult child of a messy divorce

Now, in a revealing new interview with The Telegraph, Abbington has opened up about their split for the first time.

The 42-year-old actor said: “Martin and I remain best friends and love each other, and it was entirely amicable.

“There was no hostility, really, we just said that we couldn’t live together anymore, so we put everything in place, he moved out to a flat in north London, I stayed at home and we’ve started a new chapter.”

Abington added: “It is sad and it is upsetting, because you think you’re going to be with someone forever, but you either do that or you break up, and we both came to the decision that splitting was best for us. 

“We’ve been really lucky to make it such a clean break, especially for the kids.”

Read more: Kate Beckinsale opens up about co-parenting with ex Michael Sheen

Freeman, meanwhile, addressed the split in an interview with The Financial Times.

“I’m not with Amanda any more,” the 45-year-old said. “It’s very, very amicable – I’ll always love Amanda.” 
 

Both Freeman and Abbington will star in the forthcoming fourth series of Sherlock, which will see their characters introduce their baby daughter, Rosamund Mary Watson.

The new series will consist of three episodes, the first of which - titled The Six Thatchers - will air on BBC One this New Year’s Day at 8.30pm.

While little is known about the plot (the cast and crew are very conscious of spoilers being leaked to the show’s dedicated fans), it has been widely reported that the episode will unveil a series of terrible secrets about Watson’s past.