Sherlock special 2016: What to expect from The Abominable Bride as Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman return

Cumberbatch promises it will be 'absolutely brilliant' but it's time to see if he's right

Jess Denham
Friday 01 January 2016 11:45 GMT
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Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in Sherlock
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson in Sherlock

It’s finally time for what will arguably prove the TV highlight of 2016 on the first day of the year.

Sherlock is returning at 9pm tonight for one-off Victorian special “The Abominable Bride”, with lead actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman donning suave period suits and moustaches especially for the long-awaited occasion.

Plenty of hype is riding on the episode, with creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat keeping the storyline tightly under wraps. The odd hint has dropped here and there, however, so let’s remind ourselves of what we know so far and what can be expected from this evening’s comeback.

The basic synopsis sounds delightfully creepy

In brief, a recently widowed Thomas Ricoletti (mentioned in “The Reichenbach Fall”) is shocked when he spots his wife Emilia wearing her old wedding dress just hours after she killed herself. His sighting turns out to be her ghost and she starts haunting the streets hell-bent on revenge.

Holmes, Watson and the gang must pursue the ghost across London, defeat her and reveal a disturbing truth.

It’s going to be gothic

“Horror is a very big part of Sherlock Holmes,” Gatiss told USA Today. “[The special] has got all our favourite gothic things - foggy London, hunting caps, spooky houses, everything. It’s nice to indulge all that.”

The traditional Sherlock trademarks will be there

Being set in the past doesn’t mean it’s going to be all serious and boring. Gatiss promises that the sensibility, tone, fast pace and humour is all the same as past series you know and love. They’ve just gone all 19th century on us.

The Sherlock Christmas special will return the detective to a Victorian-era setting

Plenty of recurring characters are taking part

Other than Sherlock and Watson, fans will see the likes of Mycroft, Mary, Mrs Hudson, Lestrade, Mike Stamford, Philip Anderson and Molly Hooper in the special, so it’ll be just like old times.

Cumberbatch thinks the whole thing is ‘absolutely brilliant’

“I thought they’d finally lost the plot, jumped the shark and all the other cliches of television gone mad with itself,” he said. “Then they expanded the idea and pitched it to me properly and now I think it’s fantastic; absolutely brilliant.”

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride airs tonight, Friday 1 January at 9pm on BBC One.

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