Thomas Gibson as Hotch
Thomas Gibson as HotchCBS / Criminal Minds

Fans of CBS's crime-drama "Criminal Minds" will get to see an all new avatar of their favourite show once the series returns for its 12th season. There will be several changes as veteran actor Shemar Moore left the series after the previous season.

According to TV Guide, showrunner and executive producer of the show, Erica Messer, said that the work on Season 12 has already begun and show's writers will start on the story this month. She added that the production of Season 12 will begin in the second half of this year.

"It's going to be a really fun, different year. We're excited to catch these bad guys all over again," Messer said.

Messer also said that some of the familiar UnSubs might be featured in Season 12, especially Mr. Scratch, who is also known as Peter Lewis (portrayed by Bodhi Elfman). Mr Scratch is a serial killer, hacker and stalker who debuted in "Criminal Minds" Season 10. In Season 11, he escaped with 12 other serial killers and his whereabouts are currently unknown.

As reported by MNR Daily, Mr. Scratch is notorious as the Behavioural Analysis Unit's (BAU) most wanted criminal, who once manipulated Hotch (Thomas Gibson) psychologically and made him believe that Mr. Scratch was the one who murdered Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Rossi (Joe Mantegna), and Morgan (Moore).

However, it was revealed that all of them were alive and Mr. Scratch put Hotch into the trance so that Hotch thought they were dead. Afterwards, Scratch tried to make Hotch shoot the real Reid and Rossi. Just when he was about to shoot them, Hotch came out of the trance and shot at Scratch.

Messer has said that it has not been yet confirmed which of the Unsubs will be in Season 12 as it will depend on the actors' availability.

"We do know that we want Mr. Scratch to be part of season 12 in some capacity, or at least the idea of Mr Scratch being out there," Messer said.

CBS is yet to announce the air date of "Criminal Minds" Season 12.