'Sherlock' season 4 special air date, time: Special 'The Abominable Bride' episode to air on New Year's Day

"Sherlock" will be featuring a special episode in the opening of the new year. Given the title "Sherlock: The Abominable Bride," the Christmas special will premiere on Jan. 1, 2016 at 9 p.m. EST on Masterpiece on PBS.

The television series will be 90 minutes long, and iDigital Times reports that a theatrical release with an extra 20 minutes will be released come Jan. 5, 2016. In the special episode, "Sherlock" fans will see Sherlock (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. Watson (Martin Freeman) going back to the Victorian Era.

The special episode has nothing to do with the main story line of Sherlock, and is a completely different plot in itself.

Talks about the Victorian-themed special episode started when Cumberbatch and Freeman were spotted filming in 19th century clothes and sets. Show creator Steven Moffat confirmed the rumour in an interview with Variety, revealing the plan to create the old victorian version of the contemporary series.

Talking about the fourth season following the special series, Moffat described the upcoming season to Entertainment Weekly as 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.

"We've practically reduced our cast to tears telling them the plan ... we're probably more excited that we've ever been about Sherlock." said Moffat in the interview.

"Sherlock" is a crime drama series, which is a modern adaptation of the classic detective story "Sherlock Holmes." The show has received mostly positive reviews from critics. Metacritic gives the show has a score of 85 out of 100 for the first season, 91 out of 100 for the second season and 88 out of 100 for the third season.

The series first aired on BBC on Oct. 24, 2010, and currently has run a total of 15 episodes in 3 seasons.