BBC One's Sherlock – captivating, high class drama

After his fairly lacklustre Doctor Who season 5 I’d started to wonder if Steve Moffat had lost his mojo – thankfully last night’s Sherlock (BBC One) proves that’s not the case.

Witty, fast-paced, well directed and emotionally charged, Sherlock was everything Moffat’s debut Who series failed to be.

It does however have one thing in common with Doctor Who – great casting. Benedict Cumberbatch was outstanding as Holmes and Martin Freeman’s Watson has to be one of the more rounded and personable portrayals of the character TV and cinema have ever dished up.

Last night’s story – no details in case you’ve not yet seen it – rolled along at a decent speed and although Holmes fans will have easily guessed the identity of the mystery stranger, I suspect the majority of the audience enjoyed the big revelation.

Transplanting characters to new times or places is a risky business, but Moffat and co-creater Mark Gattiss have pulled it off here. London in 2010 is every bit as dangerous, thrilling and mysterious as it was when the original Holmes novels were written.

I could have done without the onscreen captions and SMS messages which detracted just a mite from the drama’s atmosphere but they’re a price worth paying for an exceptionally good TV drama of the kind rarely to be found in the schedules.

If only I could have been this excited about Moffat’s Doctor Who…