![Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes. The 21st-century Sherlock might not wear a deerstalker (except as an in-joke), ...](/content/dam/images/g/t/k/r/y/m/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gtst6l.png/1484618808703.jpg)
Shadowy agents, serial killers, secret histories and a grief counsellor who was actually Sherlock Holmes's long-lost sister. Series four of the series was released globally this week and as usual fans of the high-functioning franchise had their brains scrambled by a succession of revelations, riddles and red herrings. But, as the final episode of the fourth series drew to a close, one fact remained indubitable: Sherlock is one of televisions best rating dramas. Elementary, my dear viewers.
The slick, contemporary adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories, which the BBC has sold to an astonishing 240 territories around the world - including Australia where it premiered on Stan simultaneously with release in the UK - was by far the most popular programme over the festive period in Britain.
However, it has not all been plain sailing. For every glowing review, social media rave and fan tribute to the flowing-coated charms of Sherlock himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, there has been a sceptical one about the self-referential script or labyrinthine plotting.
The third and final episode in series four, showcased all the elements that have made this modern-day reinvention such a hit - as well as those that have proved divisive.
![Better to maintain the sky-high standard than to churn out workaday cases for the sake of it. Hurry back, Baker Street boys.](/content/dam/images/g/t/k/r/y/l/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1484618808649.jpg)
Spoiler alert!
Titled The Final Problem, this roller-coaster thrill-ride of an episode began with a bang - a bomb blew 221B Baker Street to smithereens, propelling our heroes out of the windows with a huge fireball. Criminal mastermind Moriarty was back, despite having shot himself five years ago: alive and well and up to his old devilish tricks. However, this shock twist - just one of many - wasn't a resurrection but a rug-pulling flashback and Moriarty was merely a henchman to the main villain of the piece. A villain who was Holmes's darkest, deadliest adversary yet: his own sister.
Eurus (a star-making turn from Sian Brooke) had spent decades in a fortress-like facility for the criminally insane, located on a remote island to "contain the uncontainables". As Mycroft (Mark Gatiss) told "brother mine" Sherlock: "This isn't one of your idiot cases. This is family."
Except rather than being imprisoned, Eurus turned her guards (led by guest star Art Malik) into captives themselves. The lunatics had literally taken over the asylum. Now she set her estranged siblings a string of life-or-death dilemmas, aided by recordings of Moriarty from beyond the grave. "Miss me?" he kept asking. Yes, we did actually. Actor Andrew Scott swaggered, chewed scenery and palpably relished his return. Louise Brealey also shone in her sole, heart-wrenching scene as pathologist Molly Hooper.
Twists kept on coming in this Chinese puzzle of a story, co-written by series creators Gatiss and Steven Moffat. Sherrinford, hinted to be a third Holmes brother, wasn't a person but a place. The much-mourned Redbeard wasn't the family dog but a little boy: Sherlock's childhood chum with whom he played pirates, until jealous Eurus threw him down a well. Tense scenes of a young girl on a plummeting aeroplane turned out to be a metaphor for Eurus's fear and isolation. Highly implausible at times, but also powerfully effective.
![Benedict Cumberbatch has now clocked up 13 cases, drawing him almost level with the 14 of Basil Rathbone's (left)](/content/dam/images/g/t/s/w/u/j/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1484617925378.jpg)
Surprise ending
The dazzling script delivered laughs, excitement and emotion. Movie pastiches flew past, from horror tropes to Avengers' gentleman spy weaponry, and some smart Silence of the Lambs business with a glass cell. After the adrenalin stopped pumping, there was even a happy ending.
We were left with a wiser Holmes and Watson (Martin Freeman) - "the junkie who solves crimes to get high and the Doctor who never came home from the war" - back in a rebuilt 221B, ready to crack more crimes. It was like our beloved characters had been restored to factory settings. If this was the last-ever episode, which it surely won't be, it worked well as a sign-off.
The final frame featured a respectful nod to another era-defining Sherlock actor, the great Basil Rathbone: lofty, imperious and for decades considered the quintessential Holmes. This year, though, Cumberbatch has arguably replaced him as the definitive screen portrayal of Conan Doyle's detective.
![The final frame of episode 3, series 4, featured a respectful nod to another era-defining Sherlock actor, the great ...](/content/dam/images/g/t/s/w/u/t/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1484617763003.jpg)
The 21st-century Sherlock might not wear a deerstalker (except as an in-joke), prefers nicotine patches to a pipe, and wields an iPhone as well as a Stradivarius, but his sheer popularity is testament to how Cumberbatch's version has caught viewers' imaginations worldwide.
Sherlock isn't just Britain's top television drama but a blockbuster global hit, having won nine Emmys in America and generating fan fever in Asia. This has propelled Cumberbatch on to the Hollywood A-list and seen him cast as superhero Doctor Strange, but it's the even stranger sleuth who is likely to remain his signature role.
Cumberbatch has now clocked up 13 cases, drawing him almost level with Rathbone's 14 - although he still has a distance to go to match Jeremy Brett, who portrayed Holmes 41 times for Granada's Eighties adaptations.
Best Sherlock
![The third and final episode in series four, showcased all the elements that have made this modern-day reinvention such a ...](/content/dam/images/g/t/k/r/y/j/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1483386559927.jpg)
Opinions on the best Sherlock tend to depend on one's vintage. Middle-aged viewers might be devotees of Brett's flamboyant yet faithful rendering, while older fans favour Rathbone's wartime stint. However, Cumberbatch's charismatic super-geek incarnation has made a massive cultural impact. For viewers under 40 especially, he is Holmes: mercurial, mellifluous-voiced, sharper than his own cheekbones, and a man of action to boot. Conan Doyle, more forward-thinking than he's given credit for, would surely have approved.
After three Sherlock-less years, punctuated only by the 2016 disappointing standalone special, this series has roared back to form. In three pacy parts, we've had the death of Watson's wife Mary, memorable villains in Vivian Norbury (Marcia Warren) and Culverton Smith (Toby Jones), plus drugs, dogs, babies, disguises, the shooting of Watson (with a tranquilliser dart, it turned out) and countless canonical references.
Despite its commercial success, Sherlock remains critically divisive. There have been accusations of self-indulgence, smugness and over-complicated, clever-clogs plotting. Yet would a glorified Midsomer Murders really be preferable to this exhilarating, endlessly creative series?
Sherlock episodes are always feature-length but The Final Problem, directed by Ben Caron, felt particularly filmic. For that, it should be applauded. Seeing something of this calibre on our televisions is a treat, not a trial.
We would love more Sherlock, of course. Three episodes a year, if we're lucky, isn't enough. Yet when it's dependent on diaries aligning for the show's in-demand talent, we have to take what we can get. Better to maintain the sky-high standard than to churn out workaday cases for the sake of it. Hurry back, Baker Street boys.
The Daily Telegraph
The Telegraph, London