Benedict Cumberbatch excels where others perish. Thanks to Cumberbatch's maddening charms, his unparalleled acting abilities and his unbarred portrayal of detective Sherlock Holmes, he's been marked as an all-time favorite among the many to commit themselves to the role.

More than 70 actors, appearing in more than 200 films, have portrayed the cocaine-abusing sleuth with keen deductive reasoning skills. But, determining which Sherlock is the best is solely a matter of opinion, although "Sherlock" fans would insist that Cumberbatch is the absolute best, considering the millions flock to their screens to watch the BBC series.

Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett ("The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes") Peter Cushing ("The Hound of the Baskervilles"), Charlton Heston ("The Crucifer of Blood"), "James D'Arcy ("Sherlock: Case of Evil"), Christopher Plummer ("Murder by Decree), Jonny Lee Miller ("Elementary") and, of course, Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr. are just some of the actors who've tackled the role within the last century.

With the word 'century' in mind, many "Sherlock" fans feel that the premiere of the fourth season is something like a century away. During Summer 2014, BBC announced that filming for the fourth season would take place late 2015.

However, in May 2015, Steven Moffat announced that filming wouldn't begin until Spring 2016. Likely, the fourth season will not air until January 2017. Meanwhile, fans can enjoy the stand-alone special, which wrapped up filming during the second week of February. The special will air on Christmas day, and it will be set in Victorian London.

"The special is its own thing. We wouldn't have done the story we're doing, and the way we're doing it, if we didn't have this special. It's not part of the run of three episodes. So we had this to do it... It's kind of in its own little bubble," Moffat said to Entertainment Weekly. This stand-alone episode will probably remind fans why Cumberbatch continues to be a crowd favorite.

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