Do We Now Know the Date of the Sherlock Series 3 Premiere?

A source has reported that the long-awaited series 3 premiere of Sherlock will take place on January 1, 2014, on BBC One.

Cameron K. McEwan of Blogtor Who, a heretofore reliable source for news and information on Doctor Who and related series, tweeted the information ahead of this week’s Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival:

Sherlock Series 3 Ep 1 is set in November and will air on Jan 1, 2014.

— Blogtor Who (@BlogtorWho) August 21, 2013

This news has not been officially confirmed, so definitely take it with a grain of salt, but the premiere airing on January 1, 2014, would be fitting, as that date will mark exactly two years since Sherlock’s January 1, 2012, premiere of series 2. As you can see above, the premiere will also be set in November, and that part of the story reportedly came directly from the mouth of Steven Moffat during a Q&A session in Edinburgh.

A previous rumor had the premiere date set for November 24, 2013, but that was never confirmed. The only semi-official premiere date wasn’t really a date but more of a season: Winter 2013. It would certainly be understandable if the newly busy careers of Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman (along with the equally busy career of Moffat, with trying to wrangle the new Doctor, and all) had caused scheduling conflicts that pushed the premiere back a bit.

If this is, indeed, the correct UK premiere date, US fans may not have to endure the months-long wait to which we have grown accustomed; not if Cumberbatch was successful in lobbying for this season/series to air simultaneously in the UK and the US. What we do know for certain about the first episode of Sherlock‘s third series/season is that it is written by Mark Gatiss, directed by Jeremy Lovering, and titled “The Empty Hearse“. We also know that we and our fellow Sherlockians simply cannot wait!