While fans of BBC One's detective drama, "Sherlock," will have to wait for a while until season four airs, the production team is reportedly putting together a special episode that will be screened during the Christmas of 2015.
Filming of the episode will resume sometime in early 2015, Martin Freeman, who plays Dr. Watson in the series, disclosed to the Telegraph.
"If that's going to be a special - I'm speaking off-message here; if this was New Labour I'd get fired - I think that might be for next Christmas. A Christmas special. That's what I understand," he said.
Freeman's wife, Amanda Abbington, who plays his on-screen spouse, will also return for the next season. But because the drama is loosely based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books, Mary will be shown as dead, as the story progresses.
"While we play fast and loose with the original stories, we generally follow the trajectory of what Conan Doyle did. So Watson gets married, and then Mary dies - so at some point, presumably, she'll die," Freeman explained.
Since "Sherlock" began in 2010, the careers of both Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch (playing Sherlock Holmes) have skyrocketed, leaving them no time to complete filming of the detective drama. This is one of the reasons why fans have had to wait for almost two years between seasons.
"Funny enough, two years seem to go very quickly when you're making it," producer Sue Vertue told Collider about keeping fans waiting. "You do think, 'Are they still going to be there?' But the figures were up half a million in the UK, from the year before, so they haven't gone anywhere, by the looks of it."
She added that although it was not ideal to keep fans waiting for such long periods, it's the best they could do.
"But, the will is there. They want to do more. It's just trying to get everyone free, at the same time," she added.
Show creator Steven Moffat echoed similar sentiments and noted the unique format of the show helped them retain viewers.
"If we made Sherlock the ordinary way, and did a run of 6 or 12, it would have been over by now. It would have been done because Martin and Benedict would never have been able to find the time, after the first (season). It would be done.
"This model of the TV series will happen again. Because we all love it so much, this could go on for a very, very long time. You'll get to see an awful lot more of it," he said.
