Benedict Cumberbatch just told us all the fun things about the Sherlock holiday special

Every episode of Sherlock is a special episode, but this upcoming one might be the MOST special. Even though we aren’t getting a full season of Sherlock this year, we’re still getting a little bit of Sherlock Holmes and his best friend John Watson in a Victorian-era set tale. It’s not even like this is the next best thing to a new season of Sherlock, because this episode itself sounds like one of the best things to ever happen to any Sherlock’ed superfan.

Though we might be excited, Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch, wasn’t so much at first.

“I thought they were mad. I thought they were truly crazy,” he explained to the UK’s Express of writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss  The idea of sending Sherlock and Watson back to the 1890’s took a little getting used to, but once he got over his initial shock, he was totally on board.

“The minute I read it, it was clear what they were trying to do and I thought it was fantastic,” he explained. “In fact it’s thrilling, because a lot of the heavy lifting is done for you. It’s Holmes in his natural time and era. I don’t feel like I’m trying to carry the thing that the modern version does, where he’s a Victorian man in a modern era.”

Cumberbatch also explained that even when he’s not shooting Sherlock — you know, those long periods of time where us viewers just sit and WAIT for new episodes, which sometimes spans YEARS — he’s still got a little bit of Sherlock in him.

“Mum [Wanda Ventham, who plays his mom on the show, too] says I get a bit more impatient when I go home,” Cumberbatch jokes. “I shoot from the hip a bit faster. I’m alert to detail. That might just be because I’m cramming all the time; my brain’s really active and sharp. But I don’t get more brilliant because I’m playing someone more brilliant than me, sadly – if only that were the case!”

While he won’t tease any specific details about the holiday episode, rest easy knowing that it’ll be the same Sherlock we’ve come to know and love over the last three seasons, simply in different clothing. Because you can take the Sherlock out of the current era, but you can never take the Sherlock out of his own Mind Palace.

(Image via BBC)