When Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were photographed in Victorian garb as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, most people assumed their SHERLOCK characters would be attending a fancy dress party during this year's Christmas Special, or we'd be treated to a fun dream sequence paying homage to the character's 19th-century roots. It turns out neither of those fan theories are true! Instead, the show's Christmas special will take place in Victorian London... just because.
Steven Moffat, co-creator, speaking to EW:
"The special is its own thing. We wouldn't have done the story we're doing, and the way we're doing it, if we didn't have this special. It's not part of the run of three episodes. So we had this to do it -- as we could hardly conceal -- it's Victorian. [Co-creator Mark Gatiss] and me, we wanted to do this, but it had to be a special, it had to be separate entity on its own. It's kind of in its own little bubble."Intriguing. I like how they're treating this 90-minute special as its own unique entity; a one-off crazy event, with no bearing on previous or subsequent episodes. It's just a fun lark! This happens more with UK comedies around Christmas time, with non-canonical flights of fancy worthy of the term "special", but applying that to drama is more unusual. Can't wait to see Cumberbatch and Freeman running through a classic London pea souper.
