Series co-creator Stephen Moffat confirmed to Entertainment Weekly yesterday that the iconic detective and his erstwhile companion will indeed return to their original stomping grounds for a one-off special episode of Sherlock, to air on the BBC around Christmas time. So what's the deal? Have Holmes and Watson become time travellers? Is this a nicotine patch-induced fever dream? Apparently not - just a good old-fashioned one-shot.
"The special is its own thing," Moffat told EW. "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. 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."
Elementary, really. I for one think this is a great idea. Audiences these days get far too hung up over what is "canon" and what isn't. The idea of Cumberbatch donning his Deerstalker and marauding around the sullied streets of Victorian London sounds fantastic - and perfect Christmas viewing. But what say you?