'Sherlock' Special Will Play In Some Movie Theaters, See The First Clip

The Sherlock panel at Comic Con 2015 wasn't full of revelations , because Steven Moffat hasn't started writing a fourth season yet, and consequently we don't even know when that fourth season might shoot. But there is special episode coming up, in which the cast of the modern-set series takes on a case set in the Victorian era. A great clip from the special was shown at the panel, and you can see that below.

Additionally, this Sherlock special will be even more unusual than you might have expected, as a theatrical release of some sort is planned for the one-shot.

First, here's the Sherlock preview, via PBS:

After showing the clip, Steven Moffat said "and didn't [that] look good on the big screen."

He went on to say that the Sherlock special "will play in selected cinemas around the world on the big screen." Whether that will be like a regular theatrical booking or something more like a Fathom event in the US we don't know. Given that Sherlock episodes tend to run 90 minutes, it would be right at home in a theater. Moffat said "details to be announced later... because I don't know them right now."

Sherlock producer Sue Vertue echoed that uncertainty later in the panel, though both were clearly excited about the prospect for a theatrical showing.

About the special itself, Moffat deadpanned, "We discovered there was some precedent for doing Sherlock Holmes in the Victorian era." Carrying on, he joked "we looked at the books, and realized we'd got it all wrong [on the show]."

He also mentioned that one constant early comment when doing the series was "how can Sherlock possibly survive in a world with an iPhone?" Later, doing the Victorian-era special, that was twisted into "how can Sherlock get on without his iPhone?"

"It's the same show," says Moffat. This clip makes that quite clear. But just in case, Sue Vertue echoed his sentiment. "It is unmistakably our show."