PBS has announced its slate of programs for the Winter and Sprint 2014 schedule. This has revealed the long awaited return date and time of Steven Moffat's hugely successful adaptation of Sherlock. The show's third season, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the legendary British freelance detective Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as his ever loyal partner John Watson, will premiere on Sunday January 19 at 10 p.m. ET.
According to IGN, Season 4 of Downton Abbey, which debuts with eight new episodes on January 5 on Masterpiece, will lead into the premiere of Sherlock. This marks the first time the U.S. airdate has been announced prior to the U.K. release date but the January start indicates that the premieres of both shows will run significantly closer together than in previous seasons.
Production of Season 3 of Sherlock was delayed earlier this year and split into three sections due to the increasingly demanding schedules of the two lead actors. Cumberbatch had a commitment to "Star Trek: Into Darkness" while Freeman had landed the role of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's latest trilogy based on the books of J.R.R. Tolkein "The Hobbit." An interesting side note about The Hobbit is that Cumberbatch will also be doing the voice of the dragon Smaug in the second film.
In addition to the lead cast having time commitments, the show's co-creator Moffat has a commitment to his other popular British series Doctor Who.
Moffat's adaptation of Sherlock takes place in present day and re-creates some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories with a modern twist. The seasons do not follow any typical American television format. Each of the two season only span three episodes long, however, each episode is 90 minutes long containing one long story. Tune in early 2014 to see how Season 2's big cliffhanger will be resolved.
