“The stage is set, the curtain rises: We are ready to begin.” Good to have you back, Holmes. Sherlock fans who can’t wait for season 4 will have their appetites whetted by a new trailer for the forthcoming Victorian special.
As previously teased, Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch), John Watson (Martin Freeman) and the gang are firmly in 19th century England. Sherlock seems a little more put-together than his modern version and is better mannered, whereas Watson is nearly the same, save the new mustache.
The trailer also offered glimpses of a retro Lestrade (Rupert Graves) and teased some gothic horror (but probably not to the level of Crimson Peak). Though set in a different period, fans should expect the same beats from their beloved characters from the show’s contemporary reimagining of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tales.
“We discovered there was some precedent for doing Sherlock in the Victorian era,” executive producer Steven Moffat quipped at San Diego Comic-Con 2015. “When we first did Sherlock, press asked, ‘How can Sherlock possibly survive in world with an iPhone?’ and when doing the Victorian, the press came in and said, ‘How can he do this without his iPhone?’…
“It’s very much the show you know, ” Moffat continued. “It’s the Sherlock as you know it, but in the correct era. It’s one of the best ones we’ve made. I think it’s really terrific.”
But don’t go looking for a reasonable explanation for the characters’ temporal relocation; Moffat and co-creator Mark Gatiss threw out early ideas for a dream sequence or Victorian-themed house party to explain the change in era.
“We never bother to explain why Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are in the modern world in the normal series; why should we bother explaining now that we’re back in Victorian times?” Moffat told EW.
The deerstalker cap never looked so good, Holmes — especially back in the Victorian Era. The special will air later this year on PBS. The more intense season 4 is slated for a 2016 debut.
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