Sherlock Season 4 Premiere Tops UK New Year's Day Ratings

Sherlock has been a grounded-breaking crossover hit for The BBC, as well as a career making hit for stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit). After more than two years waiting for the show to return for season 4, fans finally got their wish on New Year's Day 2017, as the first episode, "The Six Thatchers" finally aired.

...And according to the ratings report, Sherlock is still going strong with its fanbase.

Sherlock's season 4 premiere garnered a reported 8.1M viewers, according to Deadline. Those are, technically, declining returns for the show; the season 3 premiere (aired on New Year's 2014) had 9.2M and the 2015 one-shot, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, had about 8.4M.

However, the season 4 premiere still received high enough ratings to end up as the UK's most-watched program of the New Year's holiday. Fan and critical response to "The Six Thatchers" has been strong; the episode's ending, in particular, has struck a strong emotional chord that fans across the Internet are echoing. So keep you head down if you don't want to get SPOILED!

Sherlock season 4 continues with "The Lying Detective" on January 8th and "The Final Problem" on January 15th.

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