Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were both snapped by trusty #setlock fans wearing the same period costume as in the preview image released by the BBC in November (see above).
Underneath that handsome top hat, Cumberbatch is sporting a shiny slicked-back hair do that, as does his costume, bears a strong resemblance to that worn by Jeremy Brett in the 80s-90s Granada Television Holmes series. Martin Freeman was also photographed in his David Burke-as-Watson-style brown suit and ‘tache (which, seeing how much the actor reputedly didn’t enjoy wearing his lip warmer in The Empty Hearse, must be going down a treat).
Cast
(Image sourced from @Derya_Yavuzz. Please get in touch if you know the original source so we can properly attribute.)
As noted above, we can expect a male mime artist to appear in the episode, as well as other "physical theatre" specialists. Could part of the Special take place in a circus or perhaps, Covent Garden?
It appears that Misfits' Natasha O'Keeffe will be appearing in the Special, thanks to this image snapped of her in what looks like a floral bridal headdress on the Bristol set.
A read-through for the Special took place in central London on Tuesday the 25th of November, before filming began this January. So far, the confirmed cast includes leads Cumberbatch and Freeman and regulars Amanda Abbington as Mary Watson (Morstan - well, nee something undisclosed beginning with an A but you know what we mean), Louise Brealey as Molly Hooper and Jonathan Aris as Anderson. We can expect more of the regulars to turn up as filming progresses, including the likes of Una Stubbs and Rupert Graves.
Lately, we've learnt that Blackadder alumnus Tim McInnerny (he most famously played Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the BBC comedy) will be appearing as Sir Edwin, a name shared with Simon Kunz' character from His Last Vow. Is that just a coincidence? It would seem unlikely.
We learnt in the same news story that Stephanie Hyam will appear as a new character called Jane, and that David Nellist will return as Mike Stamford (the mutual friend who brought Sherlock and John together in episode 1).
Creative team
The script has been co-written by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, with Douglas Mackinnon (Doctor Who, Line Of Duty, Jekyll) directing the episode. Production Designer Arwel Jones is back of course, while Suzie Lavelle (Doctor Who, Ripper Street) joins the team as the Director Of Photography.
What we don’t know
At present, we don’t yet have a title, synopsis, list of characters and cast, air date, or an explanation of why Cumberbatch and Freeman appear in Victorian dress. Despite the episode being repeatedly referred to as a Christmas Special, we’re yet to even have confirmation that Christmas 2015 is the planned air date. (If it is a Christmas story, the obvious choice would be The Adventure Of The Blue Carbuncle, of course).
In fact, Mark Gatiss told us in September, “It’s not a Christmas special. It’s a special, but we honestly have no idea when it might be on. We’re making it in January but we don’t know when it’s going to be on. Christmas would be nice. The scheduling is not up to us. I don’t think even the schedulers know [laughing].”
That er, doesn’t give us a great deal to go on, which leads us to…
