Poor Benedict Cumberbatch had a crazy schedule during the awards season. He kept having to fly back and forth to LA for several months, all while trying to film the Sherlock Christmas special. He just had to film one episode – they aren’t going to film the new “series” (three episodes) until next year, probably. But in December, we’re going to get some kind of Sherlock special, and as we saw from the set photos, it looks like the special episode is going to be VERY true to the original Arthur Conan Doyle canon. As in, it’s set in Victorian England. Some of the super-fans were trying to figure out how this could happen within the current Sherlock world, but Steven Moffat appeared at SXSW yesterday and he made it sound like it’s simply a one-off, with no connection to the normal Sherlock series:

For the eagerly anticipated Sherlock special episode, Holmes and Watson are essentially going back in time. Co-creator Steven Moffat has now confirmed the special will take place in Victorian London, validating fan assumptions about the episode. Last month the show’s stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were spotted filming Sherlock in 19th century clothes, causing fans to wonder if perhaps the crime-fighting duo attended a costume ball, or perhaps it was just some kind of dream sequence within the special. But no: The 90-minute episode literally takes place more than 100 years ago.

“The special is its own thing,” Moffat told EW before attending a panel at the South by Southwest conference on Monday. “We wouldn’t have done the story we’re doing, and the way we’re doing it, if we didn’t have this special. It’s not part of the run of three episodes. So we had this to do it – as we could hardly conceal – it’s Victorian. [Co-creator Mark Gatiss] and me, we wanted to do this, but it had to be a special, it had to be separate entity on its own. It’s kind of in its own little bubble.”

The special is pretty much finished, Moffat added, and he’s very pleased with the result. No air date is set by Sherlock networks BBC and PBS Masterpiece, but the special is widely expected to air in the UK around December.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

I feel like this is an interesting hint at the story: “We wouldn’t have done the story we’re doing, and the way we’re doing it, if we didn’t have this special.” I feel like that means the original story would have been too difficult for a modern adaptation. But they’ve already done The Hound of Baskerville, The Reichenbach Fall/The Final Problem, and they’ve done A Scandal in Bohemia/Belgravia. Those are some of the most iconic stories from Doyle’s canon. I wonder what they’ve adapted for this special… hmm….

Meanwhile, Benedict was seen jogging in Cotswolds a few days ago, looking like an ‘80s reject. GO HERE to see the photos. I kind of love that Benedict wears dated ‘80s fleece jackets. I feel like his mum probably gave it to him.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.