The return of BBC's TV show "Sherlock" has delighted one and all. The show returned with Sherlock Season 3 after a gap of almost two years with the answers to the questions that were left unanswered during Sherlock Season 2. To celebrate the much awaited return of genius detective Sherlock Holmes on TV and to enlighten the fans about the show's hero, here are a few interesting facts that you didn't know, about the character from the book.

Top 10 Interesting Facts You Didn't Know about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes

1. The much admired character Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He debuted in 1887 in author's first novel titled "A Study in Scarlet." The character has appeared in Sir Doyle's four novels and 56 short stories.

2. The author of the Sherlock Holmes stories was also a physician who studied medicine at the University of Edinburg. While studying medicine, the great author started writing stories including that of Sherlock Holmes.

3. It is said that the character Sherlock Holmes was going to be called Sherrinford and not Sherlock. It was only because Sir Conan Doyle was a huge fan of cricket and a cricketer bore the name that inspired him to name his character Sherlock. Sir Doyle was also a cricketer who played in the years 1899 to 1907.

4. Sherlock Holmes indulged in use of addictive substances like Cocaine and Morphine. According to the records, Dr. John Watson has referred to his friend Holmes' substance abuse habits in many stories. And according to Forensic Psychologist Dr. Thomas Dalby, he is one of the "first popular figures" to indulge in substance abuse.

5. Sherlock Holmes' first novel is said to be a failure of sorts. Sir Doyle was only 27 year-old when he wrote this novel in a span of 3 weeks. This novel was rejected several times, by several publishers before it was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual.

6. The fictional character Sherlock Holmes is stimulated by two characters. An important inspiration for Sir Doyle's detective is author Edgar Allan Poe's detective C. Auguste Dupin. It is said that this character has inspired many detectives of literature. Another important influence for Sir Doyle in creating Sherlock Holmes was his real-life lecturer Dr. Joseph Bell at the University of Edinburg. It is said this lecturer had the ability to diagnose a patient's disease by simply looking at them.

7. Sherlock Holmes was never described as wearing a deerstalker cap in the books by its original author. Also, he never used the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson," that is usually affiliated with the detective in its contemporary adaptations.

8. After retiring from his job of a detective he became a beekeeper in Sussex, a county in southern England.

9. As per the records, the character did die but in an unpublished story ("The Man Who Was Wanted") that was discovered with a note that requested that the story not be published.

10. Recently Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's genius detective Sherlock Holmes, who has inspired BBC's "Sherlock," and CBS' "Elementary" and many other movies and TV adaptations, has entered "public domain." This happened recently under a legal ruling by a federal judge. The ruling read: "A federal judge has issued a declarative judgment stating that Holmes, Watson, 221B Baker Street, the dastardly Professor Moriarty and other elements included in the 50 Holmes works that Arthur Conan Doyle published before Jan. 1, 1923, are no longer covered by United States copyright law, and can therefore be freely used by others without paying any licensing fee to the writer's estate," as reported by The New York Times.

For more news on Sherlock Season 3, read below:

'Sherlock' Season 3 Episode 1 'The Empty Hearse' Spoilers: How Sherlock Faked His Own Death -- The Answer to Reichenbach Fall Revealed

Sherlock Season 3 and Reichenbach Fall: Two Days Before the Return of Benedict Cumberbatch, Internet Explodes with Theories of Holmes Faking Death

Sherlock Season 3 Spoilers: Will Irene Adler Return? More about Benedict Cumberbatch's Return in Episode 1 'The Empty Hearse'