Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have scripted a first-ever live 'Sherlock' game.

Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch

'Sherlock: The Game Is Now' will open its doors in London later this year and give fans of the BBC detective drama the chance to experience an escape room game based on recreated environments of the series.

Speaking about how the new venture came about, Steven said: "Sue Vertue [Sherlock's producer and Steven's wife] is always looking for treats that we can provide the fans while we don't have a show, which is, in the case of 'Sherlock', most of the time.

"She rather loves, as we do, the Locked Room thing so we talked to Time Run about it.

"It comes from asking 'What can we do, given that we're not making a show right now?'

"That will be properly 'Sherlock', because she's very strict on what 'Sherlock' can be and can't be. It fits very well into this format."

Steven admitted the game is not an "absolute recreation" of the BBC One show - which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular sleuth, and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson - but insists it's "bloody good".

He added: "There's 221b [Baker Street, Sherlock's home and base of operations].

"Our designers were involved, so it's pretty damned authentic. There are certain elements that are configured to work as a game as opposed to an absolute recreation - but it's pretty bloody good."

The 90-minute immersive game - which fans can look forward to from October - will see groups of four to six solving puzzles, challenges and mysteries against the clock whilst interacting with some of their favourite characters along the way in the form of specially-recorded videos and audio.

Josh Ford, the co-founder of Time Run - the brainchild behind some of London's famous escape room games - said: "We're going to empower you to think like Sherlock and be the hero in your own real-life episode of the TV series.

"This is a fantastic opportunity to bring to life a brand that fits live gaming perfectly, and we're incredibly excited about it. Our games provide a moment of true escapism."