Sherlock – A Triumph

After last week’s dog’s dinner, last night’s final episode of Sherlock was a triumph in every way. Razor-sharp writing from Mark Gatiss and terrific performances from the cast. And typical of Gatiss’ audacity to leave us with a cliffhanger ending in the form of a standoff between Holmes and Moriarty.

As written by Gatiss and Moffat, Moriarty is the evil twin of Holmes – anti-matter and matter, with the very real danger of an annihilating explosion in the final moments of the episode when they meet face to face.

In a nice touch, Gatiss sprinkled references to the original Conan Doyle stories throughout the episode. And yes, the plot required suspension of disbelief a number of times – for example, I know the night sky over London is not deep black and filled with stars, more a yellow sodium glare with occasional appearances by the moon – but it didn’t matter. The energy of the production propelled the whole thing along with great verve and excitement. I can’t wait for the next series – and to see how Gatiss resolves the final standoff.