12 Hugely Disappointing Seasons Of Beloved TV Shows

Sherlock has been a phenomenal success for the BBC, but sadly this widely-loved show has now lost its way.

Seasons one and two were magnificent and benefitted from being low-key mysteries. Subsequent seasons have insisted on bringing in many ludicrous elements involving spies, global organizations and unrealistic mind tricks. Season three was still very good, but the New Year special, The Abominable Bride, was where the cracks started to show. These warning signs were confirmed with Sherlock season four.

The middle episode, The Lying Detective, which saw John Watson dealing with grief and a brilliant villainous turn from Toby Jones, was a good one but the other two episodes lacked considerably. The Six Thatchers was fairly tedious and The Final Problem was a completely ridiculous series of Saw-style tests overseen by a painfully over-the-top villain.

The problems which had previously been hinted at were now in full flow; a "Look at me I'm so clever" vibe, convoluted mind games, ludicrous storylines and a focus on plot twists instead of psychological depth. After this, it's difficult to feel too much enthusiasm towards another season. Given how busy Cumberbatch and Freeman now are, we always have to wait two years or more for a new season and clearly it's not going to be worth the wait anymore. They've also definitively killed off Moriarty, the show's best character and one of the best TV villains of all time, which makes one even less keen to see Sherlock come back.