Just the other week, Sherlock‘s fourth season came to an end – and potentially took the whole show with it. That’s right, our favourite show might have ended after only 13 episodes over seven years.

So, to mark this sad occasion, we are asking the big one – just what is the best episode of Sherlock? In case you’ve forgotten, you can read our primers of each episode below before voting for your favourite in the poll at the bottom of the post. Happy voting!

 

A Study in Pink

Written by Steven Moffat

Directed by Paul McGuigan

BBC synopsis: A war hero, invalided home from Afghanistan, meets a strange but charismatic genius who is looking for a flatmate – it is London in 2010, and Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes are meeting for the first time. A string of impossible suicides has Scotland Yard baffled – and only one man can help.

 

The Blind Banker

Written by Stephen Thompson

Directed by Euros Lyn

BBC Synopsis: A mysterious cipher is being scrawled on the walls around London. The first person to see the cipher is dead within hours of reading it. Sherlock plunges into a world of codes and symbols, consulting with London’s best graffiti artists. He soon learns that the city is in the grip a gang of international smugglers, a secret society called the Black Lotus.

 

The Great Game

Written by Mark Gatiss

Directed by Paul McGuigan

BBC Synopsis: A strange clue in an empty room, a blood-soaked car, a priceless Old Master, a deranged bomber. With the clock ticking, the curtain rises on a battle of wits between Sherlock, John and the shadowy stranger who seems to know all the answers…

 

A Scandal in Belgravia

Written by Steven Moffat

Directed by Paul McGuigan

BBC Synopsis: A case of blackmail threatens to topple the monarchy itself, but soon Sherlock and John discover there is even more to it than that. They find themselves battling international terrorism, rogue CIA agents and a secret conspiracy involving the British government.

But this case will cast a longer shadow on their lives than they could ever imagine, as the great detective begins a long duel of wits with an antagonist as cold and ruthless and brilliant as himself: Irene Adler.

 

The Hounds of Baskerville

Written by Mark Gatiss

Directed by Paul McGuigan

BBC Synopsis: Something terrible has happened to Henry Knight – Sherlock and John investigate the truth about the monstrous creature which apparently killed their client’s father. A hound from hell? What seems like fantasy in Baker Street is a very different prospect in the ultra-secret army base that looms over Dartmoor.

 

The Reichenbach Fall

Written by Stephen Thompson

Directed by Toby Haynes

BBC Synopsis: James Moriarty possesses the greatest criminal mind that the world has ever seen. Sherlock and John knew he wouldn’t stay hidden for long. But even they never guessed the sheer scale and audacity of the crime that would propel Moriarty back into the headlines. The crime of the century. The Tower of London, the Bank of England and Pentonville prison – all sprung open on the same day, as if by magic! But Moriarty’s plans don’t stop there…

Sherlock and John lock horns with their old enemy in one final problem that tests loyalty and courage to their very limits. Sherlock must fight for his reputation, his sanity and his life. But is he all he claims to be?

 

The Empty Hearse

Written by Mark Gatiss

Directed by Jeremy Lovering

BBC Synopsis: Two years after the devastating events of The Reichenbach Fall, Dr John Watson has got on with his life. New horizons, romance and a comforting domestic future beckon.

But with London under threat of a huge terrorist attack, Sherlock Holmes is about to rise from the grave with all the theatricality that comes so naturally to him. It’s what his best friend wanted more than anything, but for John Watson it might well be a case of ‘be careful what you wish for!’

If Sherlock thinks everything will be just as he left it, though, he is in for a very big surprise…

 

The Sign of Three

Written by Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and Stephen Thompson

Directed by Colm McCarthy

BBC Synopsis: Sherlock faces his biggest challenge of all – delivering a best man’s speech on John’s wedding day.

 

His Last Vow

Written by Steven Moffat

Directed by Nick Hurran

BBC Synopsis: Sherlock Holmes encounters Charles Augustus Magnussen, the one man he truly hates, through a case of stolen letters. How will he tackle an enemy who specialises in blackmail and knows the personal weakness of every eminent person in the Western world?

 

The Abominable Bride

Written by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss

Directed by Douglas McKinnon

BBC Synopsis: What if the world’s most famous consulting detective and his best friend lived in a Baker Street of steam trains, hansom cabs, top hats and frock-coats? Welcome to ‘Sherlock’ in 1895!

Some things, though, remain reassuringly the same. Friendship, adventure and especially, MURDER…

Why is Thomas Ricoletti a little surprised to see his wife dressed in her old wedding gown?  Because, just a few hours before, she took her own life…

Mrs Ricoletti’s ghost now appears to be prowling the streets with an unslakeable thirst for revenge. From fog-shrouded Limehouse to the bowels of a ruined church, Holmes, Watson and their friends must use all their cunning to combat an enemy seemingly from beyond the grave and the final, shocking truth about…the Abominable Bride!

 

The Six Thatchers

Written by Mark Gatiss

Directed by Rachel Talalay

BBC Synopsis: Sherlock waits to see where Moriarty will make his posthumous move. One mysterious case in particular baffles Scotland Yard, but Sherlock is more interested in a seemingly trivial detail. Why is someone destroying images of the late prime minister Margaret Thatcher? Is there a madman on the loose? Or is there a much darker purpose at work? Something with its roots deep in Mary Watson’s past…

 

The Lying Detective

Written by Steven Moffat

Directed by Nick Hurran

BBC Synopsis: Sherlock faces perhaps the most chilling enemy of his long career: the powerful and seemingly unassailable Culverton Smith – a man with a very dark secret indeed.

 

The Final Problem

Written by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss

Directed by Benjamin Caron

BBC Synopsis: In the final episode of this series, written by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, long-buried secrets finally catch up with the Baker Street duo. Someone has been playing a very long game indeed and, alone and defenceless, Sherlock and Dr Watson face their greatest ever challenge. Is the game finally over?

 

Vote for your favourite below!