PBS to pair 'Downton Abbey' with 'Sherlock' on Sundays

Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock is heading back to PBS in January, paired with Downton Abbey in a powerful one-two punch for the network's Sunday lineup.

Season 3 of Sherlock will air Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT starting Jan. 19, following the fourth season of Abbey, which returns two weeks earlier, Jan. 5 at 9, for an eight-episode run. Both British dramas are under PBS' Masterpiece umbrella.

Three 90-minute episodes of Sherlock star Cumberbatch (now in theaters as Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate) as the world-famous sleuth, and Martin Freeman as his loyal aide Dr. Watson.

PBS Wednesday also announced new shows including Chasing Shackleton, re-creating explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition (Jan. 8, Wednesdays at 10 ET/PT); Salinger, a profile of the reclusive author J.D. Salinger (Jan. 21); and Hawking, a biography of Stephen Hawking (Jan. 29).