Creepy 'Sherlock' Christmas Special Airs January 1: Expected to Crush Records

Sherlock fans' appetites will be in a frenzy by Friday, when the standalone Christmas special titled "The Abominable Bride" finally airs after months of speculation and excitement. The BBC (who is airing the special in the UK) says they're expecting the special to have a record-breaking 13 million-plus viewers in the UK alone when it airs on January 1.

While the report doesn't name U.S. estimates, it's safe to assume they will be comparable. The show is a "global phenomenon," according to The Guardian, with viewers in over 200 countries. A whopping 98 million people in China were said to have viewed season 3, for instance, despite being available there only online.

The long-awaited Christmas special will follow all of the familiar characters. Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman's Dr. Watson especially, as they solve a case seemingly involving the ghost of a man's dead wife. Of course there is a twist, the characters are now set in the Victorian era, as opposed to modern day.

The episode will act as a standalone event, and will not follow the plotline of season 3 or the upcoming season 4.

To fit with the Victorian theme, co-creator Steven Moffat told Yahoo the episode would be creepier than the standard issue Sherlock episode. Explaining the decision, he said:

"There's something about ghost stories that suggests Victoriana, isn't there? It's the one element of Sherlock that faded a bit when it became modern-day. Even when we did "[The Hounds of] Baskerville," it was a conspiracy theory rather than a curse. That's the modern equivalent. So when we looked at what we were going to do, we thought going scary was what to do with a Victorian Sherlock. Because that's the thing that we don't really get to do much in the modern one."

Moffat also provided confirmation that season 4 would be a way off yet, saying of filming, "It's happening. April." He teases that fans will enjoy season 4 more for having to wait so long.

In the meantime, fans in the UK and U.S. can catch the 90-minute Christmas special (so called because it was supposed to air on Christmas but was pushed back to January) on Friday, January 1 on BBC One and PBS, respectively.  Be sure to come back and tell us what you thought of the special.