Each year, it seems as though time speeds up at the end of September. Before we know it, Halloween is upon us and before you know it, we’re shopping for Thanksgiving turkeys and then its on to Christmas shopping, tree buying and decorating and suddenly it’s New Years Eve. Caught up in the warp speed of time myself, I’m not trying to rush things further, but really – is it January yet? There are so many good things coming to telly that it’s hard to be patient.
Of course, topping the list as my personal favourite is the Sherlock Christmas Special. Not only will Sherlock, John, Mrs. Hudson and Mary return, but they’ll be in Victorian London – Huzza! The holiday special, The Abominable Bride, will air on Friday, January 1, 2016 in both the US and the UK – Happy New Year, indeed.
From an October 24, 2015 RadioTimes article:
Sherlock creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have a history of taking the titles of original Arthur Conan Doyle stories and putting a spin on them. A Study in Scarlet became A Study in Pink, The Sign of Four became The Sign of Three and the Empty House became The Empty Hearse. Meanwhile, they’ve also given cheeky nods to cases that are mentioned in passing by the original Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson but were never actually written, such as the giant rat of Sumatra and the Aluminium Crutch.
What they haven’t done is put the two together – until now…
As Mark Gatiss told us when he revealed the title of the Victorian-themed Sherlock special, The Abominable Bride, at London ComicCon on Saturday, it’s inspired by Holmes’s throwaway reference to the case of “Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife”.
The mention comes during the Sherlock Holmes short story The Musgrave Ritual, which begins with Holmes sorting through some old case files with Watson.
“Here’s the record of the Tarleton murders and the case of Vamberry, the wine merchant, and the adventure of the old Russian woman, and the singular affair of the aluminium crutch, as well as a full account of Ricoletti of the club foot and his abominable wife,” says the detective.
And that’s pretty much that, meaning that we know almost nothing about Ricoletti and his wife – beyond the fact that he had a club foot and she was, apparently, abominable.
It looks fabulous, as you’ll see for yourself by watching the official trailer here. So nice to know that the game will soon be afoot once more.
Next up is the final season of Downton Abbey airing in the US on Sunday, January 4, 2016. As the photo above demonstrates, everyone’s got their coats on, but where are they all going? It appears that we’ll have to wait and see.
You’ll find a fabulous five minute long video compilation of the best of the past five seasons ending with a teaser for the final season here.
The cast members become emotional as they discuss filming the final scenes in this clip.
If you need to need to be reminded of why we love the Dowager Countess, watch this.
PBS offers a slideshow of photos highlighting scenes from the final season here.
And if you can bear it, watch the Downton Abbey Final Episode Trailer here.
Finally, Ricky Gervais will return as host of the 73rd Annual Golden Globes on January 10, 2016 which, depending on your personal preference, can either be a good thing or a bad thing. As Variety reported:
“We’re excited to have Ricky Gervais back to host the most enjoyable awards show of the season in his own inimitable way,” said NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt in a statement. “Disarming and surprising, Ricky is ready to honor — and send up — the best work of the year in film and television. Fasten your seats belts.”
Gervais, who hosted the Globes for three consecutive years from 2010-2012, will take over for co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who also saw a three-year stint.
The Emmy-winning star of “The Office” and Netflix’s “Derek” had previously sworn off hosting the Globes again after his controversial jokes, which included a dig at Jodie Foster’s sexuality, raised a few eyebrows at the Beverly Hilton ceremony.
“Actors aren’t just loved here in Hollywood, they are loved the world over,” he said in 2012, holding one of his trademark pints of beer. “You could be a little Asian child with no possessions and no m
oney. But you could see a picture of Angelina Jolie and you’d think, ‘Mummy!’”
Gervais later responded to the backlash by saying, “I’ve told my agent to never let me be persuaded to do it again though. It’s like a parachute jump.”
But his final hosting stint drew mostly positive reviews and nearly 17 million viewers, which NBC noted in its press release.
