Sherlock‘s feature-length special The Abominable Bride is scheduled to air to U.K. and U.S. audiences on Jan. 1, marking a stop in the two-year long series break that fans have so painfully endured by transporting them back in time to Victorian England.
But, it turns out, star of the show Benedict Cumberbatch wasn’t as keen to take the modernised detective drama to the 1800s as we once thought.
“I thought they’d finally lost the plot, jumped the shark” Cumberbatch tells The Guardian, discussing his thoughts upon first being approached for the Victorian special. “Then they expanded the idea and pitched it to me properly and I think it’s fantastic. Absolutely brilliant.”
And thank God, because we were not ready to wait until Season 4 for more mind palace insights.
Cumberbatch also spoke about pleasing fans (oo-err) with the special: “We haven’t disappointed [them] in the past it seems so hopefully this won’t – I hope they enjoy it.”
Oh, we will.
The Abominable Bride airs on Jan. 1 on BBC One in the U.K. and PBS Masterpiece in the U.S. Watch the full trailer here.