There's very good news for fans of Sherlock Holmes. It has been confirmed that "Sherlock" will be back for Season 4. It was also confirmed by BBC One that there will be a Christmas special for the show, which will be aired in 2015 before the telecast of the three new episodes for Season 4, TV.com reports.

BBC One posted several teasing tweets about the possibility of a comeback for the highly popular TV series before they issued an official confirmation. They also said that this will be the most surprising and shocking season of the "Sherlock" series and that avid fans can expect the unexpected.

From what the show's executive producer, writer and co-creator Mark Gatiss has said, the new episodes will take Sherlock and John into deeper and darker territories.

It took some time for the production to sort out the schedule of the two main leads because Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch have become very much sought-after stars. Of course this is mostly due to the popularity of the "Sherlock" TV series.

Since the Christmas special will be shot in January, people think that the next season will likely air in 2016. There is no confirmation about this yet.

According to Telegraph, Martin Freeman had disclosed the confirmation of the special during an interview. However, due to the busy schedule of the actors involved in the show, the special can only be filmed in January, which means that it will be shown in December 2015. This effectively pushes the premiere of Season 8 to early 2016.

Steven Moffat, the show's creator had likewise disclosed that 221B Baker Street will again be used.

Amanda Abbington, who plays Mary, the wife of Watson, will still be around for the new season, which means that presumably her character will not die.