Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (2016) lifts the series out of its own time and puts it in 1895. A woman kills herself in the street, shoots her husband the same night, and witnesses keep seeing her after her death. Holmes and Watson set out to solve the impossibility. The episode was made as a standalone Christmas special between the third and fourth series. All the show's humour and cutting speed survive; only the period changes, with telephones becoming telegrams and text messages becoming handwritten notes. Its actual idea is not about the period. The Victorian setting is used as a frame and the episode connects back to a question in its own time. That structure divided viewers; some found it clever, others a trick that interrupts the story. Its strongest material is the argument it builds about the invisibility of Victorian women; servants, wives and witnesses are constantly present and nobody notices them. Douglas Mackinnon directed. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman continue in their roles. It was made for television and also played in cinemas in many countries. It runs 90 minutes. Good for: viewers of the series, period pastiche, and fast dialogue. Less good for: without the series the second half is meaningless. The structure is deliberately tangled and the shifts between layers happen without explanation. The solution to the mystery is buried under the atmosphere the episode built.