The airdate for the forthcoming BBC "Sherlock" special, "The Abominable Bride," has finally been announced.

According to BBC One, the special will premiere on New Year's Day and it will appear in movie theaters worldwide, granting everyone access to the tenacious sleuth and his faultless comrade, Dr. John Watson.

"The Abominable Bride," the 90-minute Victorian era episode, will air Jan. 1 in the U.S. and the U.K., and it will be shown in cinemas across the world. BBC Worldwide called the highly anticipated big screen return of Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock a "global cinema event." While the full roster of countries displaying the episode has yet to been announced, it will be in movie theaters in China, and will likely take in millions of movie-goers.

In China, the series has earned millions of 'views' since it first aired in 2010. On the online TV platform YouKu, over 98 million Chinese viewers watched the series since its inception, and more viewed the series on BBC's iPlayer catch-up service. The upcoming episode will show the sleuth and doctor in London, 1895. Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss co-wrote the episode, and it features series regulars Rupert Graves, Una Stubbs, Louise Brealey and Amanda Abbington.  "Sherlock" is produced by Hartswood Films for BBC One and co-produced by Masterpiece. Also, Douglas Mackinnon ("Doctor Who" and "Line of Duty") directed the episode. The episode's producers and actors have teased that the haunting episode will be a "variation on Sherlock that's more in keeping with the original [Arthur Conan Doyle stories]." Amanda Abbington (who portrays Mary Watson) told Radio Times, "People say the perfect thing was that Sherlock was modern day. But I know what's happened. There's more to this ... I can say that it's great."

In another interview, Abbington indicated they'll filming series four of Sherlock in April. The series creators indicated the upcoming season will not air until 2017. Nonetheless, "The Abominable Bride" will air 9 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 1, 2016 on "Masterpiece Mystery!" on PBS and online at pbs.org/masterpiece.