PBS Announces a Premiere Date For the New Season of Benedict Cumberbatch’s ‘Sherlock’

PBS has just unveiled its slate of programming for the Winter/Spring 2014 season, and with it a U.S. premiere date for the highly anticipated third season of “Sherlock,” Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ hit contemporary adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s work, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson.

“Sherlock” season three, which will consist of three installments, will premiere on PBS on January 19th at 10pm, following after “Downtown Abbey,” which will begin airing its fourth season on January 5.

“It’s clear that our 2012-2013 season was a real turning point for PBS, with ‘Downton Abbey’ on MASTERPIECE growing in popularity and a rise in overall general viewership ranking PBS among the top 10 U.S. networks,” says Beth Hoppe, Chief Programming Executive and General Manager for General Audience Programming, PBS. “With our winter and spring schedule, we continue to enhance our already popular drama and non-fiction nights, and offer potential new viewers a wide range of exciting, timely and topical programs.”

New additions to the network in the upcoming season include “Chasing Shackleton,” a three-part series premiering on January 8 in which five adventurers retrace the death-defying Antarctic sea-and-land journey led by Sir Ernest Shackleton in 1914. Also making their broadcast premieres are the biopics “Salinger” (as part of American Masters) and “Hawking,” in which the physicist discusses his life and career in his own words.

For a full rundown of the network’s lineup for the upcoming months, you can check out the PBS official website.