and turns than a dozen corkscrews, in short it was a triumph. Starting with a Victorian-era impossible murder with an even more impossible murderer, guest appearances by all the previous supporting cast including a massively-bloated Mycroft, surely a homage to Sydney Greenstreet and the return of the master-criminal we've all missed, a premonition of another husband-slaying in a big old house after dark, a recreation of the real Reichenbach Fall climax of yore, an ingenious denouement anticipating female suffrage years later but perhaps the best thing of all was the promise of a new series to come.As ever, the technical aspects of the production were great, I'm a sucker for the multiple camera-angle, 360 degrees perspective, time-freezing, computer graphics and microscopic zoom shots employed. There was humour a-plenty and hosts of references to the Conan-Doyle original, including, if I'm not mistaken, the first time this Sherlock has ever said "Elementary my dear Watson".The playing by Cumberbatch, Freeman and Andrew Scott as the three main protagonists was never better. I'm sure there will be Sherlock-oligists who can pick apart the complexities of the plot, which for sure seemed at times like a read-across from Moffat and Gatiss's other re-creation Dr Who, but let them, they won't spoil it for me. This was the best "Sherlock" I've yet seen and sets an almost impossibly high standard for what may come after this.Doesn't matter if they don't however, this one was so good it really was the perfect after-Christmas present.

settled for the comfort of predictability and made the whole plot so ordinary and boring. Before shooting at the TV screen and calling it 'stupid', one may want to watch it one more time and there will be that "a-ha" moment!

this episode is asking us a lot of questions that i hope they answer . AMAZIIIIIIING ! oh now we can cry , we are gonna wait to 2017 :

little contrived at times, and as is the nature of the show it did seem a little wrapped up in its own smuggness at times, but I was utterly enveloped in the story, it had me wrapped from start to finish. Beautiful cinematography, great direction, awesome production values. It managed to feel fresh and exhilarating once again.Cumberbatch was definitely on fine form, I loved the altered appearance, suited him, I noticed a few Jeremy Brettisms, not sure if anyone else did, maybe the hair and some of the body language. The scenes between Holmes and Moriarty once again were simply amazing, Andrew Scott is just unbelievable, he is such a charismatic performer.Crazy, fun, Gothic, energetic, waited a long time, and it was worth the wait. 9/10

solid ending. I am sure most of the viewers would complain about how the makers tried too hard to pull off a "SHERLOCK" ending. It just needed to be enough to quench the beaming desire of the fans for another year as they wait to see their favorite detective on his adventures.What I did enjoy about the episode is as is the case with every sherlock episode is the dialogs. They take a moment to seep in and when they do: wow. The references to the main series are also enjoyable. For the first 1hr the episode hits the high standards it has set since its inception, but where it does falter is in the last 30 minutes where just needs to wrap it up in good solid way. No matter for that, Sherlock fans will definitely enjoy it. To sum up, the episode as Moriarty would say if he was to represent the whole series: MISS ME

believe in ghosts… a mystery indeed. The plot thickens when she is implicated in more killings including a man who Sherlock and Watson had been protecting. Will our protagonists be able to solve the case or is it too strange even for them?Moving the action to Victorian London was an interesting idea which at times did get a little convoluted; after almost an hour we are told that everything we've seen is part of Sherlock's 'Mind Palace' then later Victorian Holmes tells Watson that the twenty first century scenes are actually his speculation about how technology will progress… just as the camera pans outside to show a modern street scene. This may be annoying for some people but I found it rather fun… just like most of the episode. The central case was interesting with a satisfying explanation; it should keep most viewers guessing. There are plenty of strangely amusing moments such as the doctor in the morgue who is clearly a woman, despite an impressive moustache, that only Watson spotted and an enormous Mycroft who was eating himself to death as part of a bet with Sherlock. It wasn't all laughs though Moriarty makes a return in a way that threatens Sherlock's life or sanity. As expected the cast do a fine job; Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are great as Holmes and Watson and are ably supported by the likes of Rupert Graves, Mark Gatiss and Andrew Scott. Overall a fun special episode that nicely mixed mystery, humour and drama.

television programs and I would say enjoyable enough to watch more than once.

sort of advance the general storyline of the show, or rather simply to explain it to those bewildered by the ending of the 3rd season. If it did anything, it definitely killed Morianty for the good, this time.General insight:Firstly the clever use of the original Conan Doyle and his stories. This show is able to innovatively turn Doyle's 1800's originality into elements advancing the plot. While some might argue it is downplaying Doyle's contributions, I beg to differ. While the use of some references to his original work might appear random, nothing is further from the truth. Particularly the interpretation of the death scene that Conan Doyle originally wrote to get rid of his famous detective is used here to advance the story and to further resonate one of the themes of this episode: that however much we would like to see a legitimate Morianty return from the grave, it is not going to happen: he is simply dead. Secondly, all who whine about the dialog being "too clever". The story was set in 1880s, the dialog is supposed to be "cleverer" simply because the expressions and the manner of speech which were commonplace then and employed in the show are not widely used anymore. Such a manner of speech and acting simply echo the historical context of the time thus reflecting more on the attempts to maintain historical authenticity of the episode rather than writers who are "trying to be too clever". Additionally, the acting was excellent, nearly sublime at times. Theatrical every so often, yes, but again for the sake of historic authenticity it simply adds value to the episode. Whereas I simply don't like the idea of a placeholder mainly taking place in an addicts head aimed to alleviate the pains of desperate fans, there is some general logic to this composition. It surprised me with its content and the actual attempt to somehow be useful for the general plot. All in all, the Abominable Bride is a great watch. It engages you to no end and is definitely entertaining to watch if you are a Sherlock fan. Acting is great, costumes are good and the cinematography is as has become traditional with Sherlock: of an extremely high order both technically and artistically.Despite all this, due to the placeholder's nature of the episode, I can not bring myself to rate it any higher than 8/10.

following and complaints that the women are sidelined. Such as Mrs Hudson just showing people upstairs and Mrs Watson left on her own when Watson and Sherlock team up to investigate the latest case.As Sherlock investigates this Gothic crime which includes consulting Mycroft Gatiss in a fat suit and make up in The Diogenes Club, take note to the reference to Billy Wilder, director of The Private life of Sherlock Holmes. We get increased hints that something else is looming large and Victorian Sherlock will collide with modern day Sherlock.I found this episode amusing and fascinating. It was finely structured for the first two thirds of the episode and then got slightly messy. As with Moffat's version of Doctor Who, it becomes rather timey-wimey even Inception like.The mystery of the Bride is resolved. I liked the sleight of hand that she was holding two guns. However the episode with mind maps, drug use and two time periods can appear to be self indulgent as you lose the fact that Sherlock is using an unsolved mystery from over a 100 years ago to deal with a present mystery regarding the apparent death of Moriarty in the previous series.It was still enjoyable, very amusing and off the wall.