Sherlock season 3: BBC/PBS premiere date rumors, director confirms fake scenes were staged to thwart observers

The overwhelming popularity of "Sherlock" had fans rushing to filming sites where the cast and crew filmed season 3, the upcoming series slated to premiere early next 2014.

In order to avoid the rush of fans that have been flocking to filming sites in London, director Jeremy Lovering revealed that some filming scenes had to be staged to purposely mislead observers.

"We did a few false shots. There will be things that people saw that have nothing to do with it. That's the way we handled it," Lovering said, according to Radio Times.

Lovering spoke to Flicks and the City in a recent interview for his new movie "Fear", in which he praised the "Sherlock" actors Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock, and Martin Freeman, who plays Watson.

The filming of BBC's hit series is almost complete but the popular detective drama still does not have an official release date as of yet.

However, a rumored air date for the UK series has surfaced online, pointing to a premiere date in January 1, 2014.

The date stems from a tweeted by Blogtor Who, who wrote: "Sherlock Series 3 Ep 1 is set in November and will air on Jan 1, 2014." It is not clear whether the rumored premiere date is for BBC in UK or PBS in the U.S.

Prior to Blogtor Who's tweet, the series was rumored to premiere October 31, 2013, after it was listed on the IMBD website.

However, the October premiere date was dismissed by the show's producer, Sue Vertue, who said that the date is just a 'place-holder' and not at all confirmed.

Episode 1 of the season 3 premiere will be titled "The Empty Hearse." . Episode 2 of season 3 will be titled "The Sign of Three" and episode 3, "His Last Vow."

The season 2 finale of the series ended with Sherlock Holmes presumed dead, and the new title leaves fans wondering what happens to the detective.

A teaser trailer for season 3 (below) shows actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Sherlock Holmes, appearing to some of his friends in a 30-second clip.

"Sherlock" is a British television crime drama with a contemporary update to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. The show was created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson. Six episodes have been produced so far. The first three episodes aired in 2010, and series 2 aired in 2012. Production for series 3 started in March 2013.