The New Year’s Day episode of Sherlock was the most viewed TV programme of the festive period, drawing in an average overnight audience of 8.4 million, official figures have shown.
Sherlock: the Abominable Bride, the 90-minute standalone feature from Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, aired on BBC 1 at 9pm and peaked with 8.9m viewers.
The Victorian-era special of the popular detective show, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, beat its closest contender EastEnders. The highly anticipated episode of the soap, which centred on the dramatic wedding celebrations of Mick and Linda Carter, attracted an audience of 8.3 million.
In comparison, the final episode of Downton Abbey, which aired on ITV on Christmas Day, was watched by 6.6 million, while the Queen’s speech, the most watched programme of Christmas Day, received a combined BBC and ITV audience figure of 7.2 million. And Then There Were None, the popular Agatha Christie adaptation starring Aidan Turner and Charles Dance, appealed to 5.31 million viewers on 28 December. The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special had 6.5 million.
Despite the high ratings, Sherlock was met with mixed reviews and was down by about 800,000 viewers in the overnights compared with episode one of series three of the show, which aired on 1 January 2014, and was watched by 9.2 million people. But the 2014 episode received only 33.8% of the overall TV audience share, compared with Friday’s 34.7%. BBC iPlayer figures have yet to be counted.
The Abominable Bride saw the cast of Sherlock jump between Victorian and modern-day London as Holmes attempted to solve an old mystery. The Guardian review called it “fast, fun, flashy, and fantastic”. But while some fans said it was “the best episode ever”, others expressed confusion over the plot.
pretty much the only part i understood of that episode #Sherlock pic.twitter.com/vn54Plf7yJ
— mol loves ashton ◡̈ (@beanieirwins) January 1, 2016
I will quite happily fight anyone who didn't like that. #sherlock
— Jenny Colgan (@jennycolgan) January 1, 2016
"....and that's how this episode worked" #Sherlock pic.twitter.com/57o1kSGrKv
— my baby followed (@chaneljdfb) January 1, 2016
After watching the #sherlock christmas special pic.twitter.com/B4OFcqG496
— sh spoilers | laura (@rmusIupin) January 1, 2016
The feature was also released in 100 cinemas across the UK and debuted on US television on the same day.
Filming for series four of Sherlock is expected to begin in the spring, with a broadcast date likely in 2017.
