The case is brought by a mutton-chop-sporting Lestrade, who introduces Holmes and Watson to the Abominable Bride herself (played by the phenomenal Natasha O’Keeffe), a wedding anniversary murderess-suicide who somehow appears to have risen from the dead to kill her husband-and happens to have killed herself in the exact same way we saw Moriarty kill himself earlier in the series. Immediately after, however, we were thrown into an immersive Victorian world, complete with a Doyle-heavy origin story and new-old versions of our favorite characters (with the exception of Vinette Robinson’s Sally, whom I was sad to miss).
The episode began with a confirmation of this in the form of a montage showing the viewer a quick timeline of everything that has happened in the series so far, surely a strange choice if the episode wasn’t going to connect to it. In recent days, a low-key change occurred, in which cast and showrunners began teasing a series connection after all. In the early days of publicity, we were told that the story would be a complete one-off, fully Victorian and unrelated to the series arc as a whole. Mycroft Holmes once asked, long ago, in A Scandal in Belgravia, “What might we deduce about his heart?” This episode answers that question. Instead, it’s about the things the heart believes are true, specifically the heart of Sherlock Holmes. The Abominable Bride is not really an episode about plot, though it has a good one, and it’s not about advancing the overall arc of the series very much. The poem 221B by Vincent Starrett is treasured among Sherlockians for its final line, which reminds young and old that “it is always 1895,” but Sherlock’s first holiday special turns my mind to the lines above even more. Only those things the heart believes are true. The Abominable Bride will air Jan 1st on BBC One in the UK and PBS Masterpiece in the US.The Babes have a lot of thoughts, and while you can hear them in more detail in our podcast reaction episode, below we have two reviews of the Sherlock special for your reading pleasure.Įngland is England yet, for all our fears– “I think we’ve not disappointed them in the past and this certainly won’t disappoint so I hope they enjoy it.” Speaking of how fans will take to the unusual episode, Benedict Cumberbatch said. And to have a different sort of moustache. “For me and Ben it’s quite something just to put different clobber on, you know. “The Victorian angle was very exciting to me,” Martin Freeman explains. “And part of the impulse came from me and Mark saying ‘wouldn’t it be a shame if we never got to see them do it in the authentic setting?'” “I suppose we can boast and say we’ve got the Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson of this current time,” says Moffat, on where the idea came from. “And then eventually when they told me the idea properly I thought that’s going to be stunning.” “I thought they’d gone bonkers,” producer Sue Vertue admits, when first told about the idea to rewind to Victorian times.
With the Sherlock winter special only 3 weeks away, the series’ official Youtube channel has whetted our appetites (like we weren’t already salivating) by releasing a new 3-minute behind-the-scenes look at the episode! Watch it below:Īlternatively, if you don’t fancy sitting through some Sherlocky goodness (personally, we can’t stop watching Rupert Graves’ massive muttonchops) we’ve picked out a few choice quotes.
“I think it’s because I’m in some of it now,” adds Martin Freeman, more succintly. “I think it is do with Conan Doyle’s extraordinary invention which has a universal appeal to all nationalities.” “I think the enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes has always been global, actually,” says Benedict. That was vaguely amusing for about four seconds.”Īnd the other puts the tough question to the cast of ‘why is Sherlock such a global success?’ While Martin himself backs up the statement by admitting, with characteristic drollness: “I slipped over yesterday. “Martin Freeman’s probably the funniest thing that’s happened on set recently,” says Benedict. The first sees the cast grilled on their favourite funny moments from filming The Abominable Bride. UPDATE: The Sherlock youtube channel have released two more behind-the-scenes features.