We’ve been hearing about the Sherlock Victorian special for quite some time now. We’ve known Watson would be sporting a ridiculous mustache and that the special episode would not be canon, but now there’s some real, extensive footage from the series, courtesy of the BBC. You can check it out, below.
From the start of the trailer to the end, we know it’s not practical that this version of Sherlock and Holmes would ever actually be in the universe that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle originally envisioned. However, there’s something fun about seeing the two characters traipse around in period gear, taking carriages from place to place to solve the mystery. Despite the fun, everything about the tone of the Sherlock trailer is different than the original show, not to mention the clip PBS released a short time ago. It’s a lot darker and very gothic-feeling, for instance, with women disappearing beneath dimly-lit street lamps and flashlights being pulled out in creepy areas. It's all really quite exciting.
We even get a glimpse of Sherlock wearing the traditional deerstalker cap fans knew and loved before the modern Sherlock came in. He’s also smoking a pipe, which makes for entertaining imagery.
The show’s signature humor does become apparent near the end, and its precisely because of the deerstalker cap. Martin Freeman’s John Watson convinces Sherlock to wear the cap, stating:
You’re Sherlock Holmes, wear the damn hat.
Unfortunately, the lengthy minute and a half long trailer does not tell us exactly what the episode will be about, although Holmes will most certainly still be residing over on Baker Street. We do know that this one-off special will simply tide us over before Sherlock does eventually return to the BBC for Season 4. We also know that Sherlock is not planning on addressing the temporary time change and will return to the present once we get the next season, which should be comprised of three episodes.
In addition, also unfortunately, the BBC still doesn’t have a date set for the special, which is simply noted to be “coming soon.” Whenever it does come, it’ll head to the BBC in the UK and should eventually air on PBS in the US, hopefully sooner rather than later.
