Sherlock: Every Episode Ranked Worst To Best

Moriarty is Sherlock's most popular villain, Magnusson pushed Sherlock to his limits, and Eurus was insane. But the most evil villain of them all is Toby Jones' electrifying turn as Culverton Smith.

The comparisons to Jimmy Savile and Harold Shipman were obvious, and because such a monster as Culverton Smith is more realistic than Moriarty or Eurus, it makes your skin crawl that Sherlock would go to hell and back for John and face off against someone so repulsive who is actually based on real people.

Whilst The Lying Detective is a rather delicate and well-done examination of John processing his grief over Mary's loss, his guilt and his bitterness at Sherlock, the episode is absolutely Jones'. After the mess of The Abominable Bride, this episode does a better job or portraying Sherlock's drug-addled viewpoint, but this episode would not be as high in the list if not for Culverton Smith.

The cliffhanger reveal of Sherlock and Mycroft's secret sister manipulating the duo behind the scenes feels tacked on and loses its impact because of the exhausting experience we've been through experiencing Smith, our hearts breaking for John, and our heads hurting from Sherlock's mindbending drugs trip that seems to last most of the episode.