“Sherlock” finally is returning to our TV screens, if only for a feature-length special. “Masterpiece” and PBS have announced that the movie, titled “Sherlock: The Abominable Bride,” will premiere in the U.S. and the United Kingdom at 8 p.m. CT Jan. 1.
It’s the first time “Sherlock” will be broadcast on both sides of the Atlantic on the same day. BBC airs the show in Britain. PBS today dropped an updated trailer (above) and some photos.
The special steps away from the modern retelling of the Sherlock Holmes story that fans have enjoyed for three seasons. The detective (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman) are working in 1890s London, the time period Sir Arthur Conan Doyle set the original tales.
Inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves), Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs) and Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington) join the detecting duo at 221b Baker Street in the film.
Not much is known about the mystery Team Sherlock will face, but the trailer may offer some clues with its images of a group of people in pointed hoods, a murder a distraught woman who scolds Holmes for not keeping someone safe as he promised.
Three quotes from Holmes suggest something from his past might be coming back to haunt him:
“We all have a past Watson, ghosts—they’re the shadows that define our every sunny day.”
“Every great cause has martyrs. Every war has suicide missions, and make no mistake, this is war.”
“Oh Watson, nothing made me. I made me.”
PBS also announced that Season 4 of “Sherlock” will go into production in Spring 2016. Creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss are working on scripts, according to a BBC tweet. No airdate has been announced.
Moffatt and Gatiss co-wrote “The Abominable Bride” and serve as executive producers. Other exec producers are Beryl Vertue, Sue Vertue and Rebecca Eaton for “Masterpiece.” “Sherlock” is a co-production of Hartswood Films for BBC One and “Masterpiece.”
Just in case your TV is taken over by football Jan. 1, PBS will air an encore of “Sherlock: The Abominable Bride” at 9 p.m. CT Jan. 10.