The WORST episodes of Sherlock

Every episode of Sherlock ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Sherlock!

Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. John Watson solve crimes in 21st century London.

Last Updated: 2/1/2024Network: BBC OneStatus: Ended
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The Six Thatchers
star
7.85
8164 votes

#1 - The Six Thatchers

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/2017

Why is someone destroying images of Margaret Thatcher? Is there a madman on the loose? Or is there a much darker purpose at work?

Directors: Rachel Talalay
Writer: Mark Gatiss
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Blind Banker
star
7.99
12730 votes

#2 - The Blind Banker

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 8/1/2010

A mysterious cipher is being scrawled on walls around London, and the first person to see it dies within hours of reading it. Can Sherlock and John solve the case?

Directors: Euros Lyn
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Hounds of Baskerville
star
8.09
10001 votes

#3 - The Hounds of Baskerville

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/8/2012

Sherlock and John investigate the truth about the monstrous creature which apparently killed their client's father.

Directors: Paul McGuigan
Writer: Mark Gatiss
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Final Problem
star
8.14
6982 votes

#4 - The Final Problem

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/15/2017

Someone has been playing a very long game indeed and, alone and defenceless, Sherlock and Dr Watson face their greatest ever challenge.

Directors: Benjamin Caron
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Sign of Three
star
8.28
8447 votes

#5 - The Sign of Three

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/5/2014

Sherlock faces his biggest challenge of all - delivering a best man's speech on John's wedding day.

Directors: Colm McCarthy
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Great Game
star
8.30
11424 votes

#6 - The Great Game

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 8/8/2010

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...

Directors: Paul McGuigan
Writer: Mark Gatiss
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Empty Hearse
star
8.34
9347 votes

#7 - The Empty Hearse

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/2014

Two years after his apparent death and with London under a terrorist threat, Sherlock Holmes walks back into Dr John Watson's life.

Directors: Jeremy Lovering
Writer: Mark Gatiss
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Study in Pink
star
8.42
14458 votes

#8 - A Study in Pink

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/25/2010

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.

Directors: Paul McGuigan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
A Scandal in Belgravia
star
8.45
11561 votes

#9 - A Scandal in Belgravia

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/2012

Compromising photographs threaten the monarchy, but for Sherlock and John the game is on in more ways than one.

Directors: Paul McGuigan
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Lying Detective
star
8.47
7500 votes

#10 - The Lying Detective

Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/8/2017

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.

Directors: Nick Hurran
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
His Last Vow
star
8.57
8393 votes

#11 - His Last Vow

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/12/2014

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?

Directors: Nick Hurran
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV
The Reichenbach Fall
star
8.68
10534 votes

#12 - The Reichenbach Fall

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/15/2012

Moriarty is back, with the most audacious crime of the century. But is Sherlock Holmes all he claims to be?

Directors: Toby Haynes
Watch Now:AmazonApple TV