Holmes and Watson will be back on the case soon – but not how you imagine. For the upcoming Sherlock Christmas Special, series creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat are sending the world’s greatest sleuth back to his native era, Victorian London, and today the BBC have unveiled the first clip for this year’s standalone feature.
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as the aforementioned pairing, the footage – which is steeped in the grimy atmosphere of the period setting – sees Holmes and Watson return to the instantly recognizable 221b Baker Street presumably off the back of a mission, with Freeman’s endearing John Watson left carrying several sensitive items. Una Stubbs also reprises her role as the loveable, quick-witted Mrs Hudson.
Speaking in a recent interview with UK outlet Express, Mofatt touched upon the reason behind the temporal shift, and why he felt that it was befitting to pay homage to the origins of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary character.
“The first few days we were just so excited because we saw our show with Benedict and Martin in the proper gear and his extraordinary sideburns and you think ‘why didn’t we always do this? Why did we make that silly mistake of updating it?’” Moffatt said. “But by the end we slightly missed the modern iteration. Maybe we’ll just alternate them all. Mark [Gatiss] and I think we should do the 1940’s propaganda German version.”
Considering that BBC’s Sherlock has established a reputation – not to mention an award-winning streak – for modernizing Doyle’s sleuth, it’ll be interesting to see how the creative pair handle the historic setting.
Sherlock will reunite stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman for a brief period – season 4 isn’t expected until 2017 – when it airs on BBC over the festive period. Tell us, what do you think of Gatiss and Mofatt’s decision to whisk the great detective back to his native era? Let us know your early impressions down below.
