Grade: A

This was a Season 4 Christmas Special of the hit BBC show “Sherlock”. It features the main characters in an alternate timeline as they travel to Victorian-Era England to solve the mysterious case of the abominable bride, a woman who has come back to life after a her very public murder – to begin her killing spree.

This full-feature episode stars; Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Una Stubbs, Andrew Scott and Amanda Abbington, was directed by Douglas Mackinnon.

It was actually Martin Freeman that drew me to this one – I had just completed season one of “Fargo” and his performance was excellent. Knowing the greatness of Cumberbatch already, the thought of what they could do together was an appealing one and it certainly did not disappoint.

With the alternate timeline the need to go back and watch the prior seasons was nonexistent, and the dynamic between the characters, and their differences in personalities was conveyed early on. Cumberbatch and Freeman were both excellent and their chemistry with one another was compelling from start-to-finish. They played extremely well off one another and delivered their lines with skilled precision.

There interactions were humorous, clever, extremely witty, and the switch between banter and intellectual dialogue, was seamless. The writing was exceptional and created a highly enjoyable, albeit wild mystery that takes the viewer on a fun ride.

The locations and wardrobes were all perfect and effectively pull the viewer into the settings of the story. With some stylistic camera techniques, the flow between the past and present is fantastic, and provides some nice visual appeal to an intricately written murder-mystery.

This was a fun time and I’m going to give Sherlock: The Abominable Bride an (A). This was a very polished mystery, filled with excellent writing, performances, set-pieces, and locations. The script grabbed my attention, immersed me into the story-line and held it throughout. After seeing what Cumberbatch and Freeman can deliver as a duo, I will certainly make the “Sherlock” series jump up onto my list of shows to check out.

Time: 89 min

Rating: TV-PG/14