Yes, that Saturday afternoon ITV schedule is a hotbed of quality programming. Best keep the racing away from that at all costs.

I certainly suspect they're trying to get a bigger audience for the Grand National and the Derby. The Cheltenham festival would be a certainty to be aired on ITV1 as would Royal Ascot, so they may be gambling that bigger ratings for certain key meetings will be worth the effort.

I think the thing with Sherlock is that last series got a consolidated rating of 12.7m which inflated Moffatt's ego, thus he begins to have too much free reign over the shows he writes for. Dr Who, Sherlock are now becoming too self indulgent and not written for the viewer.

And these types of dramas are hyped up to the max by the BBC only to be a let down once watched.

I missed Sherlock and so glad I did. My family told me it was dreadful and they have been counting the days to the episode. What a let down for the fans.

I must have really low expectations because this thread and Twitter suggest that it must be rubbish but I thought Sherlock was an excellent bit of fun last night and don't agree that it was anything near the mess that Moffat has made of Doctor Who.

Because every single issue is riddled with errors? Either because they're fed the wrong info or they don't check and double-check. Pretty unreliable publication these days which is all the more galling considering how pricey it is.

ITV's News at Ten is at 10.30 on Monday and Thursday next week - at least they can't complain about the BBC putting their news against ITV.

Haven't C4 got both F1 and racing this year?

Indeed. The itv deal starts on 1st January 2017.

Incidentally, isn't BBC Sport an oxymoron these days? It has virtually nothing left in the cupboard - Formula 1 gone; darts, snooker and athletics all disappearing imminently.

Sherlock was what it was. A one off yarn. Always advertised as such. I don't need my family, nor twitter, nor DS posters to tell me whether it was good or not. I went into the programme not expecting anything other than a seasonal one off and that is exactly what I got. It was neither self indulgent nor awful. It answered questions and raised new ones. It explained the Victorian setting and continued from where series 3 ended. How is that self indulgent? I enjoyed it. It was enjoyable. Possibly not the best ever episode, but I didn't ever think it would be.

Yes, you've summed up pretty much how I felt about it.

Exactly my thoughts. I had low expectations. It wasn't a car crash but it was a disappointment nonetheless. But a very well made one.

I'm a telly nerd and a Sherlock fan. I stuck with it. Millions of causal viewers will have voted with their remotes I fear.

Given the general ratings slump it was always going to rate well down on its peak. If folk abandoned it god knows what it got!

It may not even have topped the night!

I will admit there were sections of wtf moments as you had to work out what was going on, but it was so refreshing to see something as a standalone that was neither depressing or contrived. Sherlock has never been straight forward and whimsical and as such I can't see this particular episode being regarded any differently to the majority of viewers. I can see a healthy 8m for it and the show that will be heavily affected will be Mrs. Brown's Boys which is likely to get nothing more than 5m. I think perhaps the two yearly gaps between Sherlock may damage the series more than last nights one off. Perhaps it is the stars who are becoming self indulgent and egotistic rather than the writing itself?

Haven't there always been two-year gaps (or thereabouts) between series? It's managed fine, and on the whole Sherlock viewers seem to be more pragmatic and patient than Doctor Who viewers in waiting for new series.

Anyway, the way that the film careers of the two stars have taken off, I strongly suspect that Series 4 (or at a real push, Series 5) might be the last that will be able to be made.

cumberbatchforum ‏@cumberbatchfrm 1m1 minute ago
Terrific audience for @hartswoodfilms #Sherlock last night with a share of 34.7% and 8.4m tuning in to @BBCOne - highest of festive period

No tape-checking FYI

Hopefully that isn't a peak.

Sherlock was interesting, but I was glad the story returned to present day with half an hour to go.

Mrs Brown's Boys was completely wasted after Sherlock last night.

The jokes about Mrs Brown's Boys being another one of Sherlock's absurd dream sequences were obvious but so true. MBB was too much of a change in tone: you felt ready to lie down for a week after 'The Abominable Bride', not ready for questionable Irish slapstick.

I doubt many people turn off a BBC1 drama mid way through. You are talking as if it was absolutely dreadful which it wasn't. People may turn off a bad commercial TV drama as they get the opportunity to do so every 15 minutes.

TV Things on this year according to The Sun, Daily Mail and the Times

Maigret ITV Spring
Doctor Thorne ITV Spring
The Night Manager BBC1 February
One of Us BBC1 Some time this year
DC's legends of Tomorrow Sky 1 Some time this year
The Living and the Dead BBC 1 Sometime this year
Churchill's Secrets ITV Early in the year
Love Nina BBC 2
The Nightmare World of HG Wells Sky 1 with Ray winstone This year
Lucky Man Sky 1 february
Dark Angel ITV this year
Versailles BBC2 Spring
Tennison ITV Autumn/Winter
His Dark Materials BBC1 Towards the End of the Year
Victoria ITV Sundays in the Autumn according to the Times
The Crown Netflix Autumn
Vinyl Sky Atlantic Spring
Cold Feet ITV Autumn
Twin Peaks Spring
The X Files Channel 5 January 24th
Porridge BBC Sometime this year
Poldark BBC1 Spring the Sun says but they also think Doctor Who will be on in the Autumn so what do they know heh
Game of Thrones Sky Atlantic April
Top Gear BBC2 May
The other as yet unnamed Top Gear Amazon Prime Summer
The Great British Bake off BBC 1 Summer
The Secret Agent BBC1 Later in year
The Missing BBC 1 Later in Year
Line of Duty BBC2 Later in Year
Happy Valley BBC1 Later in Year
Close to the Enemy BBC Later In year
One Child BBC2 Later in year
Ripper Street Amazon later in year
The Collection Amazon Later in year
Fresh Meat C4 Spring
Indian Summers C4 Early in Year
Born to Kill C4 early in year

I switch Sherlock off mid way though of out of Sheer Boredom every time I try and watch it, don't know why I keep giving it another chance, baffled why its so Popular and why everyone thinks Benedict Stupid Name is a great actor when he really isn't.

Half the episodes - intentionally - only make sense when you've seen the last half-hour, so if people only bother with the first half that'd explain why half the population finds it so baffling. Well, that and insisting on playing Candy Crush while it's on, but only half paying attention to something and then complaining at the end that you didn't understand it is just a factor of our times.

I love Sherlock but a small guilty part of me can't help secretly wishing it had taken a slight hit last night so Moffat and Hartswood could've been forced to notice that the show needs to take a step back and breathe. Of course a likely 10m+ final figure in this day and age is to be commended, but peoples' patience won't last forever.

EastEnders started the year with a bang - 8.29m (33.4%) at 8pm.

Mrs. Brown's Boys got 5.58m (31.7%).

Any EastEnders ratings?