Writer left
baffled by
Sherlock’s
popularity

The executive producer of the BBC1 show admitted he was still at a loss to explain its success as the show’s third series bowed out with an average audience of 8.8 million watching the last episode.

Viewers saw the programme finish with the prospect that Moriarty may be still alive, after he appeared to die at the conclusion of the second series.

Moffat, the executive producer and co-creator of Sherlock, said: “It isn’t supposed to be like this. Sherlock began life as a surprise hit, and now in its third series, it’s rating higher than ever.

“This show, which we all thought would be our vanity project destined for three million in the ratings and possibly an award from an obscure European festival, has become a barnstorming international phenomenon.”

Moffat, who wrote the series with Mark Gatiss, went on: “If I live to be a very old man, I might be able to explain how any of that happened – drop me a line in about 40 years, I’ll do my best.”

Previous episodes have been hugely successful on catch-up services. The New Year’s Day episode is said to be the most popular programme ever screened on catch-up services with a further 3.5 million watching the drama within seven days of it first airing, in addition to the 9.2 million who watched it live.

The final episode is expected to have a similar level of success.

The writers have talked of further programmes but may struggle as Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes) and Martin Freeman (John Watson) have become movie stars since the series began.

Sunday’s edition continued to be a family affair after Moffat’s son Louis played the great detective as a schoolboy, as Holmes and Watson took on media magnate Lars Mikkelsen’s blackmailer Charles Augustus Magnussen.

The show, which also stars Freeman’s real-life partner Amanda Abbington as his on-screen wife, also featured another appearance by Cumberbatch’s real parents.