The highly-anticipated season 4 of the BBC’s modern take on Britain’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, is finally seeing the light on January 1st, 2017. Sherlock season 4 will also see the return of Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington), Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves), Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs), and Sherlock’s brother Mycroft Holmes, played by Mark Gatiss, who also serves as screenwriter and executive producer along with Steven Moffat.

In preparation for its release, the BBC has been sharing trailers and photos that tease some big changes not only in John Watson’s life, but also in Sherlock’s, such as a the new member of the Watson family. Season 3 left a bunch of unanswered questions, and the Christmas special The Abominable Bride gave way to multiple theories of what is going on with Sherlock’s mind – questions and theories that will hopefully be answered in this new season. Until then, the BBC is treating their loyal fans with behind-the-scenes videos to further ignite excitement.

The one-minute video seen above takes us back to April, to the first week of filming Sherlock’s season 4. Mark Gatiss serves as a sort of tour guide at Pinewood Studios in Wales, where we can see the crew hard at work building the sets. Gatiss then takes us to a read-through, where we can briefly see Sherlock Holmes himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, as well as John Watson (Martin Freeman) and the always merry Mrs. Hudson.

Sherlock Season 4 - Holmes and Watson header

The above Sherlock video offers a quick glance at Benedict’s first day in full Sherlock costume for season 4, as well as footage of the interior of the Watson’s house and a look at the new member of the Watson clan. Gatiss narrates all of this, while also touching on the experience of going back to the show's sets for another season.

Season 3 left the big question of what really happened with Sherlock’s archenemy Jim Moriarty after his death (or supposed death?) on Season 2’s finale 'The Reichenbach Fall' and where this will take Sherlock. Fans no doubt recall that Sherlock was supposed to be exiled from the UK instead of being tried for the murder of Charles Augustus Magnussen, the villain on Season 3’s finale 'His Last Vow'.

The latest trailer for the new season teases the reveal of Sherlock’s “darkest secret”, pushed by villain Culverton Smith (Toby Jones), followed by Sherlock saying “I love you” – something extremely uncommon for a character like Holmes. It all points at this season being the darkest of the series so far, and promises to be an even bigger game changer than the unforgettable season 2 finale.

Sherlock returns with ‘The Six Thatchers’ on BBC1 in the U.K. and PBS in the U.S., on January 1st, 2017.

Source: BBC