Sherlock Victorian Special and Season 4 Release date & Rumors: Is Mary Watson “The Abominable Bride”?

By Mark Rollins
Sherlock goes Victorian
Sherlock returns on New Year's Day 2016 with a Victorian special BBC One

Fan of the BBC show Sherlock have enjoyed seeing Sherlock Holmes and James Watson solve cases in modern-day London England, but a new Victorian Special known as "The Abominable Bride" will put the characters respectively portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman back in their Victorian roots.  This is what is known about the Sherlock Victorian Special and Season 4 release date, as well as a new trailer for The Abominable Bride.

The title of The Abominable Bride for the Victorian holiday special was recently announced at London ComicCon by show creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat.  Unlike most episodes of Sherlock, it doesn't appear to be based on any original mystery written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and it leads one to wonder who is the titular Abominable Bride?  According to Radio Times, Gatiss says that the title has something to do with a throwaway reference that Holmes gave with "Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife". 

The new trailer has a woman in a bride's outfit, who looks to be unconscious or dead.  It is possible that the bride is a reference to Mary Watson (Amanda Abbington), who eventually was revealed to be a very shady character on Sherlock.  Is the special meant to pit Watson and Holmes fully against her?  If so, Mary could meet an ending that is very grim. 

After all, the one-shot special is not meant to tie-in to the Sherlock show in any way.  It isn't like these are ancestors of Watson and Holmes fighting crimes in 1890 England.  Season 4 of Sherlock will begin shooting in the Spring of 2016.  As for what to expect for that, CNET reports a BBC One tweet saying that Sherlock and Watson go into "deeper and darker water than ever before...The Game is on-again". 

There are also reports that a "legendary story to be re-told" in Season 4, but it is not known which one.  This is the season that Mrs. Watson might die, but that won't be confirmed until that episode airs.  Considering that Sherlock is following the stories of the legendary Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, that is certainly possible. 

There have been reports that Tom Hiddleston, who is now famous for playing Loki in Marvel's Thor and Avengers films, will be joining the cast, and he could be playing another brother of Sherlock. 

There is also news that Lara Pulver might return to reprise her role as Irene Adler, and the love interest tease to Holmes will continue to draw interest from fans of the show for sure.  It is known that Janine, another love interest for Sherlock, will be making a return. 

Fans of the show have wanted to see the modern-day Holmes and Watson together again for a long time.  Sadly, waiting times between seasons are often two years, but the result are three movie-length episodes that are more thrilling than most television mystery shows. 

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