Sherlock Holmes bows out, but he will return for a third series

HAVING kept viewers on the edge of their seats throughout the latest series of Sherlock, the team behind the Victorian detective's thoroughly modern reboot produced another twist as the season came to a gripping climax on Sunday night.
 
After being non-committal about the detective's future, Steven Moffatt and Mark Gatiss revealed that there would, after all, be a third series of the hit show, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes and Martin Freeman as Watson. It had been feared that the pair, who are becoming established in Hollywood, would be unable to find the time.
 
Shortly after the credits rolled on the third and final instalment of his latest adventures Moffat tweeted: "Yes of course there's going to be a third series - it was commissioned at the same time as the second. Gotcha!" Gatiss posted a similar announcement.
 
The news will be welcomed by critics, who have been falling over themselves to heap praise on the show, which has been watched by audiences of 10 million.
 
In the last episode, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's adventure The Final Problem, the modern-day Holmes grappled with his nemesis Moriarty on the roof of St Bartholomew’s Hospital before apparently falling to his death. In the final shot Watson was seen laying flowers on Holmes's grave, only for the camera to pan back and reveal the great detective watching from the shadows.
 
Quite how Holmes had faked his own death was the topic of the day on internet message-boards, but the fact that a third series is to be made means the writers will have to explain how he managed it.

Sam Wollaston in The Guardian predicted a third series even before it was confirmed. "It may be due to public pressure, it's more likely to be the eight-and-a-half million viewers, but the BBC isn't going to go walking away from that just yet. I think we'll be getting more, and I for one am glad," he wrote.
 
Andrew Billen in The Times seemed overwhelmed by the quality of the programme. "I watched last night with an increasing sense of privilege as the detective story so transcended its genre by virtue of its acting, casting, direction and, above all, writing, that it deserved to be considered alongside British TV drama’s highest achievements."
 
The Daily Telegraph reviewer Sarah Crompton heaped praise on Cumberbatch, who plays Holmes. "The brilliance of his portrayal of Sherlock may soon obscure his other gifts; but for now he is riding the wave of what has been a triumph."
 
Even The Daily Mail, which usually takes a dim view of the BBC, seemed impressed and Kathryn Knight drooled over Cumberbatch. "An offbeat hunk he may be, but I defy any woman not to feel a frisson at the way he swirls his black coat." ·