Entertainment

'Sherlock's Epic Cliffhanger Paid Off

by Alanna Bennett

BBC's Sherlock premiered in the UK Wednesday night, if you were wondering why you could hear your Internet screaming/crying/whimpering for most of the evening. As a direct result of this — as well as the fact that Sherlock is a damn good show — the premiere of Sherlock raked in insane ratings. A tremendously impressive amount of viewers had their reunion with Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

The episode, called "The Empty Hearse" and boasting Sherlock Holmes' return after faking his death two years ago, brought in 9.2 million viewers between the hours of 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., which is impressive in America but even more impressive in Britain, where the total population is about 63 million. The Season 3 premiere of Sherlock does not air in the states until Jan. 19, so these numbers also don't factor in 1) the people (like your mom, my mom, and people very devoted to public television's viewership) who are waiting for it to air on PBS, and 2) the people not in Britain who watched it through... other means last night.

Overall, that's a shit ton of people right there.

This makes sense, as it's a popular show that ended on an incredibly heartbreaking cliffhanger, then took a two year hiatus — a hiatus of which is not uncommon in Britain, but which was stressful internationally nonetheless. Welcome back, Sherlock. Welcome back.

Image: BBC