"The stage is set, the curtain rises, we are ready to begin..."
The BBC has officially released the first trailer for the upcoming Sherlock Christmas Special, which features Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson reprising their roles...but in Victorian London.
We see the familiar setting of 19th Century England, horse-drawn carriages, cobblestone streets, and men in top hats and derbys, as Holmes and Watson investigate the murder of someone that Holmes promised to keep safe.
"Well, Holmes," says Watson, sporting a thick, traditional era mustache, "Surely, you must have some theory."
"We all have a past, Watson," replies Holmes. "Ghosts -- They're the shadows that define our every sunny day."
"Every great cause has martyrs," Holmes remarks later on as we get a quick glimpse of a group of figures (bodies?) in black robes with pointed hoods and Watson sitting with his wife Mary (Amanda Abbington). "Every war has suicide missions, and make no mistake, this is war."
"What made you like this?" Watson asks Holmes in another fleeting scene.
"Oh, Watson...Nothing made me. I made me."
After seeing flashes of Rupert Graves as Inspector Lestrade and Una Stubbs as Mrs. Hudson, we have a small exchange between Holmes and Watson, who hands Holmes his traditional deerstalker cap. "This one," Watson tells Holmes, who asks why. "You're Sherlock Holmes -- Wear the damn hat." Holmes dons the deerstalker, then steps outside to presumably face the public.
Interestingly, the Christmas Special is listed as "Coming Soon" instead of Christmas, so perhaps we won't see it until early 2016? In the meantime, you can check out the trailer below thanks to the official Sherlock YouTube account...