'Sherlock' Christmas Special: Cast and Synopsis of Benedict Cumberbatch Victorian BBC Episode!

Over the past few years, Benedict Cumberbatch has gone from BBC Sherlock actor to Star Trek villain, Oscar nominee and Marvel superhero, but his Sherlock Holmes (alongside Martin Freeman's John Watson) forever holds a place in fans' hearts - and the show's Victorian Christmas special, "The Abominable Bride," is just around the corner!

According to The Independent, the Victorian episode will air in the United Kingdom on January 1^st, marking the New Year with a bang on BBC One at 9 p.m. local time, and it will also be playing in theaters across the country.

Little is known about the Christmas special (which didn't air on Christmas, so the name is fairly misleading) other than the fact that the two leads of the original cast will come back, which is to say Cumberbatch, Freeman, Amanda Abbington, Mark Gatiss and Una Stubbs. For now, it's unknown whether fan favorite Andrew Scott, who won a BAFTA for his portrayal of Holmes' nemesis Moriarty, will be reprising his role in this re-imagining of the show.

It's been almost two years since the last season of Sherlock aired, first on the U.K. and later across the pond, and while showrunners Gatiss and Steve Moffat have already announced there's a new season in the works, the one-off special, set in the times Sir Arthur Conan Doyle originally wrote Sherlock Holmes, is a breath of fresh air for fans of the series.

"Why is Thomas Ricoletti a little surprised to see his wife dressed in her old wedding gown? Because, just a few hours before, she took her own life... Mrs Ricoletti's ghost now appears to be prowling the streets with an unslakeable thirst for revenge," reads the episode's synopsis, via Screen Crush. "Holmes, Watson and their friends must use all their cunning to combat an enemy seemingly from beyond the grave and the final, shocking truth about... the Abominable Bride!"

For the first time ever, PBS will actually air this Sherlock episode on the same day as the U.K. release - so happy New Year to us all!