‘Sherlock’ Season 4 Spoilers: New Episodes To Reportedly Kick Off With 2015 Christmas Special

“Sherlock” fans can officially get excited for the fourth season now that a shooting date and episode order have been released by the BBC. On Twitter, the BBC announced the hit series would return with a special and a three-episode season.

The network tweeted at 2:21 BST (9:21 p.m. Tuesday EDT), and true fans know that Sherlock Holmes lives at 221B Baker Street. The network did not give any official dates, but noted that the special would film in January while the rest of the series would be filmed later in 2015.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Martin Freeman (John Watson) said, “If that’s going to be a special - I’m speaking off-message here; if this was New Labour I’d get fired - I think that might be for next Christmas. A Christmas special. That’s what I understand.”

If it is a Christmas special, it won’t air until December 2015, but the network could be planning an Easter special or even a non-holiday special. Once an announcement is made, Americans will still have to wait to find out when the special will air on PBS, which started running the third season the week after its finale aired on British television.

Most of the actors have yet to comment on the news, but Freeman's real life and on-screen wife, Amanda Abbington, tweeted her excitement shortly after the announcement.

No official cast announcements have been made, but it seems likely that Abbington would return to her role as Mary Watson for the fourth season. Moriarty (Andrew Scott) is definitely coming back. The only hint we have from the network about the new episodes is this tweet:

Why is Moriarty on every screen? What else do you hope to see in Season 4 of “Sherlock”? Share your ideas in the comments.