Sherlock
The Final Problem
TV Flash files “The Final Problem” as a desk essential hour — Sherlock (2010–2017) on BBC/PBS, season 4, episode 3, aired 2017-01-15, 90 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E03: listed hour 12 of 12 in the Sherlock guide, last listed hour of season 4. It aired 2017-01-15 (90 min). The listed hour before it is “The Lying Detective” (S04E02). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “The Final Problem”. The Final Problem spends the last hostage situation: hiatus culture finally gets a named ending, not another wait.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Sherlock and John confirm that Eurus is still alive, and go to Sherringford to meet with her. However, they soon discover that it is all part of Eurus' master plan.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Final Problem sit in the Sherlock guide?
S04E03 is listed hour 12 of 12 — last listed hour of season 4, season 4 episode 3.
When did Sherlock S04E03 air?
The Final Problem aired 2017-01-15 and is listed at 90 minutes.
Is it set in Victorian London?
No. Contemporary update: smartphones, blogs, text overlays. Doyle's characters and cases, Gatiss/Moffat's London now.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Holmes in texting-era London: Cumberbatch and Freeman as a global double act, mind palaces, on-screen texts, Moriarty as fandom sport. Gatiss and Moffat's movie-length BBC/PBS events made hiatuses feel like hostage situations. Modern Doyle for the GIF age — appointment mystery with waits that became part of the phenomenon.
The coat first. Benedict Cumberbatch's consulting detective in texting-era London, silhouette as a brand, Victorian arrogance cut against smartphone flair. Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat's BBC One series — *Masterpiece* in the U.S. — premiered July 25, 2010 as a contemporary Doyle update. Martin Freeman's John Watson blogs beside him. Episodes run like movies. Andrew Scott's Moriarty, Una Stubbs's Hudson, Rupert Graves's Lestrade, mind-palace overlays: detective television dressed as a global double act. **This…
Filed against
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes
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- Martin Freeman as John Watson
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- Una Stubbs as Mrs. Hudson
Una Stubbs’s Mrs. Hudson kept Sherlock’s Baker Street human while Cumberbatch and Freeman turned texting-era London into a global double act. Mind palaces, on-screen texts, Moriarty as fandom sport, Gatiss and Moffat’s movie-length…
- Rupert Graves as Greg Lestrade
Rupert Graves's Greg Lestrade kept Sherlock's texting-era London honest — Cumberbatch and Freeman as a global double act, mind palaces, on-screen texts, Moriarty as fandom sport. Gatiss and Moffat's movie-length BBC/PBS events. TV Flash…
- Andrew Scott as Jim Moriarty
Andrew Scott’s “hot priest” on Fleabag detonated fourth-wall confession into global discourse — faith, desire, and a cigarette that still starts fights. Short-run perfection needed his ache. TV Flash still looks at the lens when he walks…
- Amanda Abbington as Mary Watson
Amanda Abbington’s Mary Watson walked Sherlock’s texting-era London as the partner the GIF-age double act could not treat as furniture. Cumberbatch and Freeman, mind palaces, movie-length BBC events, hiatuses like hostage situations. TV…