Before you ask: no, we still do not have an official airdate for Sherlock‘s forthcoming-they-swear Christmas Special (that they sometimes don’t call a Christmas Special, because mysteries). But the folks behind the Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman-fronted Tumblrgasm have let us in on one little secret: the whole thing is going to be simulcast at movie theaters around the world (yes, even China)! Holy cats and dogs, Watson.

The 90-minute, Victorian themed episode has already gotten many tongues a-wagging with its mysterious setting (uh, since when was this your time-travel show, Steven Moffat?) and even more curious non-airdate. Clearly, someone out there in the Sherlock-iverse knows exactly when this thing is going to air if they’re working with theaters to simulcast it. My money is on actual Christmas Day, but hey—take that with a big ol’ grain of salt because the Moff is nothing if not tricky and evasive for effect.

But all is not lost! There was, buried in an interview with Amanda Abbington (who plays Mary Watson), a little tidbit about how she will begin “filming series four of Sherlock in April.” There was also a fun bit about how the special is “not what you think” and that even though “people say the perfect thing was that Sherlock was modern day,” she knows “what’s happened. [And] there’s more to this… Although I can say that it’s great.”

So, hey: looks like we’ll have to wait a heck of a lot less time to get all elementary with Benny C-Batch and Marty Free. Heck, maybe we’ll even get a new season by the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017! At this point, we’ll just take what we can get, frankly.

What do you think about this latest development? Let us know in the comments below.

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HT: RadioTimes; RadioTimes
Image Credit: BBC

Alicia Lutes is the Associate Editor of The Nerdist and totally, 100% just as clever as Sherlock Holmes. Find her deducing the shit out of, uh, shit, on Twitter (@alicialutes).