Sherlock Season 4 News Update: 'The Abominable Bride' To Air Jan. 1; ‘Sherlock’ Season 4 Release Date On January 2017?

Sherlock Season 4 News Update: "Sherlock" is set to air its special Victorian-themed holiday episode titled "The Abominable Bride" on New Year's Day.

Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) and Martin Freeman (Dr. Watson) are going back in time. The upcoming episode will find Sherlock and Watson back in 1890s London. "Sherlock: The Abominable Bride" will be a one-off episode and will not be connected to the upcoming fourth season.

Sherlock season 4 will begin production next spring. There are only 3 episodes per season for Sherlock. The 3 episodes are only once every two years. Show runner Steven Moffat told Variety the upcoming season to Entertainment Weekly will be devastating, causing analysts and fans alike to assume that Mary Watson, who is played by Amanda Abbington, will be killed off because the character dies in "Sherlock," the original story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

There also rumors of a spin-off series that will include Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes and Lara Pulver's Irene Adler.

"Sherlock is Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat's passion project. If it fits to have her back, I know they'll write it; if it doesn't, I trust them to get it right," "Sherlock" season 4 star Lara Pulver told RadioTimes.

"We've got, I think you can safely say, the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson of a generation - we want to see them do it in the proper outfits, just once," Mark Gatiss told iDigitalTimes.

Mark Gatiss also admitted that there would be no time-traveling in the special edition.

"Of course, it's far too early to say what's coming, but we're reasonably confident that the very next thing to happen to Sherlock and John, is the very last thing you'd expect," Steven Moffat, BBC Producer, told iDigitalTimes.

"Sherlock" first aired on BBC on Oct. 24, 2010. It has run a total of 15 episodes in 3 seasons.