We’re getting ready for the start of Season 3 of Sherlock, which is set to air in the UK on BBC One on New Year’s Day and in the U.S. on PBS Masterpiece on January 19, 2014. But while we wait, the BBC will treat us to a special mini-episode, to be released on Christmas Day.

The minisode, titled “Many Happy Returns,” will take place two years after the events at the end of the Season 2 finale “The Reichenbach Fall.”

The BBC posted the news to Twitter, with a hint at what the story will involve:

"#Sherlock has been gone for 2 years. But someone isn't quite convinced that he's dead." Many Happy Returns will be available this Christmas

— BBC One (@BBCOne) December 3, 2013

Yesterday, BBC One posted to Twitter the photo at top of Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes, the presumed dead private detective.

After the New Year’s Day UK premiere of episode one of Season 3, titled “The Empty Hearse,” airs on BBC One on January 1, the second episode “The Sign of Three,” follows on January 5, with the series finale, “His Last Vow,” debuting on January 12, 2014. On December 15 in London, The British Film Institute will screen “The Empty Hearse.” Once the season completes its run in the UK, it will air on PBS Masterpiece in the U.S. on January 19, 2014 at 10pm ET.

[Source: BBC America]

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