Fans of the BBC hit series "Sherlock" will be overjoyed to learn that production will be starting early next year for its much awaited fourth season, which is expected to premiere in 2016.

Showrunner Steven Mofatt has recently confirmed with Collider that the series is on track to start shooting in April. He also shared that writer Mark Gatiss has already started working on several episodes of the show. When asked, however, whether he and Gatiss have written any other scripts for Sherlock, the executive producer was quick to say no.

"Mark will be starting very soon. He may have started. I've got to finish my 'Doctor Who' Christmas special, and then I'll be straight onto Sherlock after that. We haven't started, but we've planned. We know what we're doing. Or we think we know what we think we're doing. There are a couple of things we've got lined up that are really quite strong surprises, but we'll see."

Meanwhile, Mofatt dismissed the rumors of a possible Sherlock crossover with another BBC hit sci-fi show, "Doctor Who." He said that although it was alright for the Time Lord series, it would change the way things were going for Sherlock and the gang.

"If he met the Doctor and knew that time travel was possible, he'd have to factor that into every crime he solved. And do we really think that Sherlock Holmes lived through a Dalek invasion? I don't think he did. I think he'd have mentioned it by now. It's not going to happen. That's just the truth of it," he said.

On a different note, BBC has announced that the "Sherlock Christmas Special" will be screened in theaters worldwide, including China. Entertainment Weekly reports that this would be part of the network's "global cinema event."

In the special, Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman) travel back to Victorian London, the source material's original setting. Amanda Abbington, who plays Mary Watson in the series, gave a hint to RadioTimes about its mysterious plot.

"It's not what you think. People say the perfect thing was that Sherlock was modern day. But I know what's happened. There's more to this... Although I can say that it's great," Abbington shared.