By Lacy Baugher for Drama on October 26th, 2016

'Sherlock' Season 4 Has an Official Air Date!

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman in "Sherlock" Season 4. (Photo: Courtesy of Todd Antony/Hartswood Films 2016 for MASTERPIECE)

Get excited, everyone - Sherlock Season 4 has an official air date at last! 

And better yet - the new episodes will begin on the same day in America as they do in the U.K! 

Sherlock Season 4 will premiere exactly when most of us predicted it would - on January 1, 2017. This really did seem the most obvious guess, as once the series became a mega-hit, it tended to keep to roughly the same broadcast schedule. Both Seasons 2 and 3 also first first aired on New Year's Day, if you'll remember. 

Sherlock will return in The Six Thatchers on January 1, 2017. #Sherlock pic.twitter.com/s6RJdaOZdI

— Sherlock (@Sherlock221B) October 26, 2016

The best part though is that finally the full season will be airing on the same day in America as it does in the United Kingdom.  To be fair, when the Victorian one-off special The Abominable Bride aired last year, it did broadcast on the same day in both countries. But that was one episode, and no one wanted to get our hopes up too much that the same luck might strike again for a full season. But, happily, it looks like it has.

Here's that fabulous same day-and-date transmission tidbit straight from the folks at Masterpiece. (Sure, the tweet is exactly the same. But take a minute to revel in the fact that the tweet is exactly the same!) 

Sherlock will return in "The Six Thatchers" on January 1, 2017 on MASTERPIECE on @PBS. #SherlockPBS pic.twitter.com/kFpQ58bHjl

— Masterpiece PBS (@masterpiecepbs) October 26, 2016

What's up with that eerie broken violin string, do you think? 

The new season will once again be comprised of three feature-length episodes. We know the names of two of them - The Six Thatchers and The Lying Detective - but the third remains a mystery. (We've speculated a bit about what it might be, though.) As per usual with this series, plot details are sketchy at best. We've seen a trailer, which looks pretty dark and ominous. We know Toby Jones is guest starring, ostensibly as the season's Big Bad. (Everyone thinks this is Culverton Smith from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle canon, by the way.) Andrew Scott's Moriarty may or may not be dead. And's kind of it. 

Are you excited for the return of Sherlock? Do you have theories about what's going to happen in Season 4? Hit the comments and let's start spectulating! 

By Lacy Baugher for Drama on October 26th, 2016
Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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