Elementary's John Noble won't be a series regular for season 5

Elementary will look a bit different when it returns to CBS in the autumn.

It's been confirmed that John Noble - who plays Sherlock's father Morland - will not be returning as a series regular.

"This was always the plan, that we would have John aboard for season four and he would then exit," executive producer Rob Doherty told TVLine.

"We wanted Morland - and by extension John - to help us define season four, and he absolutely did that.

"I feel like we told the one long story we wanted to, but we [also] got to tell a lot of smaller stories about Sherlock and his father, and then Morland trying to develop a relationship with Joan. We feel like we did everything we set out to do."

In the season finale, Morland left New York City to protect his son and Joan - but that doesn't mean it's the last we've seen of Noble's character.

"We've also left the door very open to seeing John again next year," Doherty teased.

Elementary airs on Sky Living in the UK.